What we Do insert

The primary purpose of the Workshop is to exchange reviews of our in-progress novels.

To this end, each author makes a list of chapters available to all members of the Workshop. Members select from this list and provide in-depth critiques both to the author and to the Workshop.

These are almost always in-progress novels, not completed first drafts. Most members have full-time obligations outside the Workshop and only do a limited number of reviews in any week. At the rate of 4-5 chapters per week, most novels would take ten weeks or more to complete. If you have a completed draft and are looking for a beta reader to consider broad issues of structure, plot, character arc, and so on, the Workshop probably isn't the appropriate place. We've designed the Workshop so you can get feedback on your chapters as you write them.

It's entirely up to the Workshop members which chapters they will review. A few members try to review every chapter by every author. Others develop relationships with one or two other members, and exchange reviews with that smaller group. But the purpose is to exchange reviews, so we expect every member will both post chapters for review and review chapters posted by other authors.

While it's not expected that every member reviews every other member, it's often the case that every member reviews the first one or two chapters posted by a new member. New members should also reciprocate by reviewing back. It's through this kind of exchange that members can mutually decide whether or not to continue exchanging reviews. Most often, the exchange continues until one side or the other stops reviewing back--there's not usually a discussion.

Since our shared goal is commericial publication, there are also discussions of other topics, such as query packets, teasers and blurbs, finding an agent, and so on. But the primary goal is polishing our in-progress novels and making them the best they can be.