I need some volunteers.

[monocleostrich]

Do you like to read books? Do you like to correct typos and grammar? Have you been waiting for your opportunity to tell me how talentless and lame I am? THIS IS YOUR CHANCE

Comments

[burtonspaz]

i can do typos and grammar. i can find things that are worded in a confusing way. and i can say if i enjoy something overall

but i can't comment much on style. i can say if i like it or if i dont but i cant really say why

i have almost no background knowledge on egypt. i know pyramids, i know cats, i know hieroglyphics, i know ra. that's it

how many pages is your book? i'm afraid that if it's too long then it will be hard to notice little discrepancies in the overall story if i'm reading it 10 pages at a time

[burtonspaz]

oh and my gmail is scissorhands

and i do know proper grammar and punctuation. i just chose not to use it on the internet

[monocleostrich]

Cool, right on.

Yes, ten pages at a time will be weird for most people, so in a month or so I might instead put everything up at a SUPER SEEKRIT URL and let people read it there whenever their time permits.

Mainly with the first few readings, I'll want to know whether I have a strong "hook" in the first paragraph or so, and whether the first characters you "meet" are interesting or just kind of boring.

And telling me if you like it or not is totally fine - I don't need you to get all William Strunk on me.

WOOT! I will email you this weekend some time

Oh, I haven't finished the manuscript yet so I have no idea how long it will be, but seeing as how it's going to be a three-part book (not a trilogy, thank you) and seeing as how I really like to write, my guess would be around 120K - 150K words - that's roughly 500 pages paperback-style.

[burtonspaz]

sounds groovy :)

[monocleostrich]

Also your cat looks just like one of mine. <3

[karinny]

I enjoy attacking things with a red pen. fire away.

the only things I've proofread in the last 3 months are other people's online personal ads. and there's only so much that can be done...

gmail is kleefers

[monocleostrich]

Sweet, thanks!!

[kissare]

Don't take anything personally, feel free to ignore anything I say, and you can count me in.

[monocleostrich]

Super awesome.

No, I am totally down with being told JESUS THIS SUCKS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING. I need to hear it if I suck or if I'm not making any sense.

[burtonspaz]

because you want to know if you suck, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you dont suck. it's the ones who refuse to hear it that suck the most

[monocleostrich]

Yeah, I tend to agree with you there. But I'm not quite arrogant enough to think that there won't be problems, potentially significant problems.

GOOD TIMES!

Also, kitty pix will arrive some time.

[cranbonite]

I got paid to red-pen shit for a couple years (college writing center). Granted, that was mostly analytical essays, not fiction, but I do think I have a good mind for writing style as well. I will warn that I can tend to go overboard, but it's not in terms of harshness...more because I like to explain any comments/changes I make thoroughly so that the writer can seriously consider whether or not they want to use my advice.

I'm also a big geek for all things ancient, and would really enjoy reading such a book, though I haven't studied Egypt enough to be a really good fact-checker, but I have a really strong knack for picking out anachronism that most people aren't even aware of because of all my history study ;) I might be a bit slow but I will definitely work on it! firstname.lastname at gmail

[monocleostrich]

Yeah, I thought you might be interested due to all your history geekery! Good times!