Weekly Notes
Notes for 10-Mar-2010...
Contents:
ALERT - Double week announcement
Fund drive update and thank yous
Barnes & Noble links
Vote for your favorites
Woohoos
MPC winners
Manuscripts
Standard notes
*** ALERT! *** ALERT! ***
Because I'll be tied up next Wednesday, this batch is a DOUBLE batch.
That means that there are a bunch more manuscripts, but you're expected
to critique TWICE AS MANY (one for each week). Critiques are due in two
weeks, but the sooner you do them the better! In other words, Critique
Early And Often!
-+-
Thank you for the donations -- we're 73.7% there! Thanks especially to
Ed Kratz
Shawna Smart
Daniel Malach
Morgen Marshall
for their recent donations to help keep Critters going. Much appreciated!
-+-
Barnes & Noble links instead of amazon... Well, Amazon fired all
4,000 of us affiliates who live in Colorado. The state passed a law
requiring online stores to collect state sales tax even if they don't
have a physical store but do have residents who market for them. I.e.,
affiliates. Amazon decided they would shut down all their affiliates in
Colorado, so I've had to change the affiliate links to Barnes & Noble.
I hope nobody minds. (Maybe nobody even noticed... :) And if anyone
is planning to buy books from B&N anyway, and if you happen to click
through the Critters link to get there, let me know so I can see how
this process works with some known data to see if it shows up, and how,
how long it takes, etc.)
Critters doesn't earn a lot from affiliate sales, but I certainly do appreciate
any clicks that come this way, as it helps keep Critters running. Thanks!
-+-
Keep voting for your favorite-ever books, short stories, authors, etc.:
http://critters.org/bestpoll
The more votes the higher quality the data gets for us all, so thanks!
-+-
Woohoo! Congratulations to...
- Richard S Levine, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The
Time of your Life" to Time in a Bottle Anthology. {This is a
reprint (originally in Raygun Revival online), but it will be
nice to have this story in print.}
- Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, whose short story, "Gifts of the
Morrigan" is now out in the current issue of Morrigan Books in
their anthology The Phantom Queen Awakes.
- Stephen B. Pearl, who sold his (Critter'd) novel, "Slaves
of Love" to Club Lighthouse Publishing. {Special thanks to Rob
Holden my Dr for this one.}
- Ian Creasey, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Prize
Beyond Gold" to Asimov's. {This was critiqued under the title
"Sliding Down the Asymptote"}
Please report your Woohoo!s via the www.critters.org/telldaworld.ht web page.
-+-
This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 8 critiques (at time
of judging), averaging almost 800 words each, goes to...
Gary Briones
And Instant Winner(s) (for 10 MPC-eligible critiques):
Carlo-Jesse Miozzi
To redeem an MPC, visit: www.critters.org/usempc.ht
Congratulations! To everyone else -- Crit early and often!
(For an explanation of the MPC award, see the www.critters.org/award.ht page.)
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This week we have... [available from http://www.critters.org/mss.ht ]...
Title Author
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Week of 10-Mar-2010 (Crits due [*] 24-Mar-2010):
SF No Better Yesterday for Tomorrow [mpc] Dwayne Minton -#17976
F Hidden Costs [mpc] Donald Jacob Uitvlugt -#17977
SF Life in Four Directions Fred Obermeyer -#17978
F Untitled, Chapter 3 Stephanie Pace -#17979
SF Virtual Affair -ch 14 (with introduction) Zvi Zaks -#17980
F Arabella of the Golden Eyes Russell Adams -#17981
F The Last Tears Do Not Fall Jonathan Thompson -#17982
F Speak Not the Name, Chapter 2 Bobbie Falin -#17983
SF Legacy Soldier, Chapter 11 Rob Gilliam -#17984
SF Awakened from the Dream of Life (working title) anatoly belilovsky -#17985
SF Diamond and Meltman: a Super Hero Story, Chapter 3 Ben Knox -#17986
SF Eye Spy Chris DeSantis -#17987
F Deus Ex Karma, Chapters 1-3 Moses Siregar III -#17988
F The Soulblade's Curse, Query Hannah Johnson -#17989
H Full Stop Will Wesley -#17990
SF Straight to the King Vince McLeod -#17991
SF Soul Safari Jakob Drud -#17992
H They're In There Robert W. Busler -#17993
SF The Slug You See Is Not Always the One You Should Be Afraid Of Elliza McGrand -#17994
SF Reflections of an Obsolete Man Paul Crawford -#17995
F Green Island, Chapters 7-8 Anne Nicholson -#17996
H The Requite Dinner Michael i Roberts -#17997
F Devils Night Rhonda Porrett -#17998
H Higher Learning Joe Mynhardt -#17999
F Acquisition Emma Madden -#18000
F The Bearer, Brief Outline and Chapter 1-10 Jodi Henry -#18001
H Call Me Late For Dinner Kelly Metz -#18002
H The Shadow Sleeps No More Steven Roy -#18003
F A Parodox of Pride Jonathan Myers -#18004
SF The New Creatio Anne Carly Abad -#18005
Standard notes:
HELP:
If you need help with anything, see http://www.critters.org/help -- there
are FAQs and a form to ask questions.
HELPING CRITTERS:
Critters is donation funded & volunteer run, so if you'd like to
help out with our current fund drive or otherwise, please visit
http://www.critters.org/donate.shtml -- Thanks!!
HOW TO SEND CRITIQUES:
Remember to send the critiques directly to me, critters@critique.org, so
I can forward them to the authors _and_ give you credit for your effort.
Please send only one critique per mail message (makes it easier to
archive). Please make sure the "#" symbol and manuscript number are in
the email Subject: line, like Subject: #1234. (Conversely, if you want
ol' Aburt to personally read the message, i.e., it's _not_ a critique,
don't put a "#" in the subject or I won't see it. Also -- put my current
anti-spam code word in there: see http://www.critters.org/antispam.ht .)
You may also send your critiques via http://www.critters.org/webcrit.ht .
DIPLOMACY:
Remember, authors and critiquers, we're all friends here. Be polite. Be
considerate. Be tactful. You can say you thought a story was drivel in a
courteous way. Try to point out the good and the bad; offer alternatives
if you can. Never, ever, attack the author -- only the story. Authors:
Remember that some reviewers may lack tact. Try to be understanding,
but if you get any that you feel are just plain mean-spirited, too short
to be of any use, or too "feel good," let me know and I'll withhold the
reviewer's "credit" for that story and/or cajole them into something
more insightful. See http://www.critters.org/diplomacy.ht for more...
CRITIQUE LENGTH:
If you want to send a short critique that you know is too short for
credit (200 words or less of your own meaningful content) please put
"NC#" in the Subject (NC=No Credit, like Subject: NC#1234) -and- say
something like "not for credit" inside your critique. (Remember also that
for MPC purposes, a critique must be 300 words or more.)
CHATTING:
Comments -other- than critiques (such as discussion of the critiques,
or Woohoo! announcements, or chit chat) should be posted to one of the
official Critters newsgroups, found on the news server news.sff.net.
(See the http://www.critters.org/newsgroups.ht web page for full info,
guidelines, etc.) Don't post stories or critiques (mail those to
critters@critique.org).
QUOTING:
Please pare the ms. down if critiquing in-line (don't quote the whole ms.!).
Other format rules are at http://www.critters.org/format.ht .
EVERYTHING'S ON THE WEB:
Past reviews are on the web page. The current week's manuscripts are
also there, as are prior mss. and even some rewrites. There's a Master
Page Index (site map) with tons of links to common items.
AUTHORS:
Authors for this week -- if you aren't getting email'd critiques from
me (as they come in) within a couple days -- ask me and we can verify
I'm sending them to the correct address. (Send me a phone# in case I
can't get email to you.) Check the format of your story ASAP to make sure
it's all there and readable.
EMAIL ISSUES:
If you want to change your email address or preferences (# mss. emailed,
SF/F/H type, or whether you get the huge critique batches at week's end),
point your browser to http://www.critters.org/admin.ht . Please don't
ask me to do this by hand, it's quite a chore! (E.g., if you're going
on vacation and want to suspend mail from me -- do this before/after
your trip.)
BACKUP SITE:
If you're unable to reach www.critters.org to get manuscripts, I've set up
an emergency backup site at http://computersecurityjournal.com/critters
where you can get the week's manuscripts (but not much of anything else :-).
Speaking of backups -- don't forget to back up your own manuscripts so
you don't lose them!
QUITTING:
If you want to quit or go inactive, drop by http://www.critters.org/admin.ht
for your choices.
DONATIONS:
Critters is funded by donations, so visit http://www.critters.org/donate.shtml
if you'd like to help out.