·          Join YouWriteOn.com for free

·          Review and rate a story by another member by clicking on the button to request a Reading Assignment on your My Page. This awards you a 'Reading Credit'. Click on the upload story button on your My Page to use the Reading Credit to upload your own Opening Chapters or Short Stories. Novel chapters must be fiction opening chapters between 6,000 to 10,000 words, and fiction short stories between 2,000 to 5,000 words, to qualify for the YouWriteOn Top Ten and a professional critique. You can upload non-opening chapters, but for member feedback only. The system will take you through the steps required to upload your story

·          Your chapters once uploaded will be automatically sent out for review to another member 

·          You can view your reader ratings after four reviews. You need 5 reviews to enter our chart system. Once you receive your first review, request a Reading Assignment of another members story on your My Page to receive more reviews. Each story you review will award you a reading credit and earn a review back for your story in turn. Assign your reading credits to your stories by clicking on the 'Manage My Reading Credits' button on your My Page. Each time you assign a reading credit it will automatically send your story out for review 

·          You can remove one unrepresentative review and rating every eight reviews 

·          You can edit your story and synopsis as you develop your work through feedback. Click on the pen symbol next to your story on your My Page to edit your story 

·          You can request 3 different Reading Assignments and remove one Reading Assignment every 24 hours. Click on the remove button next to a Reading Assignment on your My Page to remove it from your reading list - the story will then be sent out to another reviewer

·          On the first day of each month, the Top 5 novel openings in our Top Ten receive a free professional critique from  established authors and editors for leading literary agents and publishers, including Curtis Brown, Orion and Bloomsbury.

·          The Top 5 chapters/stories each month enter our Best Sellers Chart. The YouWriteOn Best Sellers Chart is a showcase for the highest rated stories on site. See the Top Ten and Best Seller Chart rules on our Top Ten page for details of the chart rules and how stories enter the Top Ten and Best Seller charts

·          YouWriteOn’s literary professionals decide on the winners for our Book of The Year Awards from all the stories that enter the YouWriteOn Best Sellers Chart each year. This includes the following categories: 3 adult fiction award winners and 3 children's fiction award winners. We also publish an anthology of the short stories that have entered the Best Sellers Chart each year for those that wish to be included.

YouWriteOn Book of the Year Award Winners have gone on to achieve excellent literary agent and publication success. Our first Book of the Year Awards in 2007 included one finalist, Caligula by Doug Jackson, achieving a six figure deal with Random House, and another winner, Bufflehead Sisters by Patricia J. DeLois, whom we printed ourselves through our publishing service, also achieving literary agent representation and a two book contract with a major publisher. All writers can publish through our publishing service if they wish, we advise getting feedback on site to develop your story and give your book its best potential.

We wish all new writers every success with their stories.   

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Developing Your Writing & YouWriteOn's Literary Professionals

Which leading literary agents and publishers participate on YouWriteOn.com?

Each month on YouWriteOn.com, the top five rated writers in our Top Ten receive free professional critiques from editors for leading literary agents and publishers, including Curtis Brown, Orion and Bloomsbury, who represent writers such as J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin and Elmore Leonard. YouWriteOn's other affiliated literary agents who consider highly rated writers also include The Christopher Little Agency and other leading agencies. New affiliated agencies who have contacted us so that they may view highly rated writers on YouWriteOn include The William Morris Agency, who represent many of The Times/The Sunday Times best-selling authors, as well as winners and nominees of such esteemed awards as the Man Booker Prize, The Orange Prize, Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and The British Book Awards. Also looking at highly rated YouWriteOn writers will be Bonomi Associates, who represent authors such as David Gibbins, John Humphrys, Simon Kernick, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, Andrew Pepper, Melanie Phillips, Terry Wogan,  Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie. 


How do I enter to win a free critique from YouWriteOn's editors for leading literary agents and publishers? 

To enter for the chance of winning a critique from the site’s literary professionals, simply join the site for free and upload your chapters to be reviewed and rated. Click here to view The Simple Guide to Getting Started to learn how to get your opening chapters reviewed and rated. 

At the start of each month, the five highest rated authors receive a free critique from our literary professionals, who include editors for leading literary agents and publishers, including Curtis Brown, Orion and Bloomsbury. The highest rated authors in the Top Ten enter the YouWriteOn Best Sellers Chart and are eligible for our Book of The Year Publishing Awards. 




How does the site help me develop my writing and help me come to the notice of publishing professionals? 

YouWriteOn.com enables you to get feedback from site members to help develop your writing by its simple ratings premise: you review and rate another member's opening chapters and in return you get your opening chapters reviewed and rated. The highest rated writers receive a free professional critique from our literary professionals who include established authors, and editors for literary agents and publishers such as Orion, Curtis Brown and Bloomsbury.

The majority of YouWriteOn writers who rewrite based on their collective feedback of what works well in their writing and what needs developing are higher rated by readers as a result. Members develop their writing most successfully by not just reading reviews for their own stories, but reviewing constructively and thinking about what works wells and what needs developing in other members stories as well.

How YouWriteOn helps writers come to the attention of publishing professionals: Each month, the 5 highest rated new authors receive a free critique from our literary professionals, who include editors for leading literary agents and publishers, including Curtis Brown, Orion and Bloomsbury. The highest rated stories enter the YouWriteOn Best Sellers Chart, which is a showcase for the highest rated stories on site. Each of these stories is eligible for the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards. 

YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards 2007   A number of our first annual Book of the Year Award Finalists are now represented by leading literary agents, including Curtis Brown. One of our finalists has achieved a six figure two book deal with a major publisher after achieving a free YouWriteOn professional critique from a Senior Editor at Orion books – View Details. View BBC News Site Story on the first YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards.

YouWriteOn publishes the winners of our book awards for those that wish to be published by us and gives all winners choice   All YouWriteOn members including our Book of the Year Award winners are free to be represented and published by the agents or publishers of their choice. Our critique system, book awards, publisher and agent affiliations, and publicity for new writers is intended to be a springboard for writers to use to their best advantage. We are delighted that several of our Book of the Year Award winners and finalists have achieved success with leading literary agents and publishers.


The YouWriteOn Top Ten & Best Sellers Chart

How do the YouWriteOn Top Ten & BestSellers Charts work?

Click here to view details of how the YouWriteOn Top Ten and BestSellers Chart work


The YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards

What are the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards?

Each Year on YouWriteOn our literary professionals consider all the year's entrants to the YouWriteOn Best Seller's Chart and choose six stories to be our Book of the Year Award winners. We recognise three stores in the adult fiction category and three stories in the children's fiction category.

YouWriteOn offers the winners the opportunity to be published by us. The main aim of the Awards however are to gain the winners and all writers on YouWriteOn publicity and traditional agents and publishers. The majority of the winners for our first Book of the Year Awards have gained representation from leading literary agents, including Curtis Brown. Our first Award's achievements include helping an Award finalist, The Emperor's Elephant by Doug Jackson, achieve a six-figure book deal. The Emperor's Elephant (now called Caligula) will be published by Transworld Books as a result of entering our Best Sellers Chart and receiving a free professional critique from one our editors. Another of our winners, The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke, will be published next year by The Friday Project. The Friday Project is run by Scott Pack, former head buyer of Waterstones, the UK's largest bookstore chain. Bufflehead Sisters by Patricia J. DeLois, an Award winner we published ourselves, received an excellent review in a leading Maine newspaper. Bufflehead Sisters entered the Amazon U.S. Top 5,000 as a result, and has been stocked by Maine bookstores, this is an excellent achievement out of the 2 million plus books published on Amazon. 

How do I enter for the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards?

Simply join YouWriteOn.com for free and upload your opening chapters. Each month the five highest rated stories in the Top Ten, and stories with over 25 days cumulatively in the Top Ten, enter our Best Sellers Chart. The top five stories in the YouWriteOn Top Ten receive a free professional critique each month from editors for leading literary agents and publishers, including Curtis Brown, Orion and Bloomsbury. All Best Seller Chart entries during the year are eligible for our Book of the Year Awards.


Reviews and Ratings on YouWriteOn.com

How does the YouWriteOn Ratings System work?

The YouWriteOn Ratings System uses an advanced system of maths called Standard Deviation to assess score results. The system has been advised upon by a University Statistical Consultancy. This is a more effective way of assessing representative results than averages and helps to negate unrepresentative scores. The Rating Results for over 200 books have been checked independently by the Statistical Department of one of the United Kingdom's top Universities.

The Overall Score for each story is displayed in five stars. This is the score which counts towards your chart rating and is assessed via Standard Deviation. The Ratings Breakdown for each story, which displays how reviewers have marked each facet of your story out of five stars - such as characters, settings, and themes - is assessed by simple averages.

The YouWriteOn system adds all new ratings to your story's Overall Score early during the following morning after you receive a new review. The system adds all new scores at this time as it more efficient for the smooth running of the site to do this compared to calculating new positions for the whole chart upon each individual review received. The system will add new scores immediately to your Ratings Breakdown however, as this functionality works separately from the YouWriteOn Chart System.

You can view the numerical Overall Score for your story by placing the cursor over the stars in your Overall Score. This gives you your precise numerical Overall Score result. For example, it is not practical to represent .7 or .8 in a star display, but by hovering your cursor over your Overall Score stars you will see your precise numerical Overall Score. For the purposes of graphic score displays, a numerical Overall Score of, for example, 3.7 will be represented as 3.5 stars in a graphic star display, and a numerical score of 3.8 will be rounded up to 4 stars. In each case, the precise numerical Overall Score is the score that is used when chart ratings are calculated.

How many reviews does it take before I can see my ratings and enter the YouWriteOn Charts?

You will be able to see your ratings after 4 reviews, which is the minimum amount of reviews required to begin to assess a representative rating for your story. After 5 reviews your story will enter the YouWriteOn book charts.



How do reviews help me develop my writing?

The majority of members who rewrite their story based on collective feedback of what works well and what needs developing in their stories are higher rated as a result. As in the publishing world, reader opinion, like your own opinions, will often be very diverse. It is useful to get least ten reviews to start to get an idea of collective opinion about your writing.

I've received a review that I didn't find helpful, can I remove it?

You can remove one review and rating that you consider to be unrepresentative for every eight Assignment Reviews that you receive for a story. An Assignment Review is a review of your story by a member randomly assigned your writing by the system to read. You will receive an email after eight reviews informing you how to remove a review, the remove-review button will appear beneath each review you have received. Free will reviews, in which members review your story by choice rather than assignment, do not count in the ratings to avoid ratings manipulation. Free will reviews can be kept or removed as you wish.

Each review will of course seem personal, it is advisable to view the process philosophically and look at your reviews overall to assess what readers are saying works well and what needs developing in your story. Reader Opinion, as in the publishing world and, like your own opinion about different stories, will be very diverse. We recommend getting at least seven to ten reviews to start to assess representative feedback from your readers. Remember, even the most successful writers receive critical feedback, and famous writers such as J.K. Rowling were turned down by several individual readers. It is a good amount of cumulative and collective opinion that will give you an idea of what works well and what needs developing in your writing. One of YouWriteOn's literary professionals advises the following when considering reviews, and it is advisable to take a deep breath and let a few days pass to reflect on whether a review has something valuable or not to say about your story.

Criticism has the potential to be both inspiring and fatal .. I'd suggest some rules of thumb. Spend a few days mulling on any criticism before drawing conclusions. If a criticism strikes a chord with you, act on it. If it doesn't, but if several critics have touched on the same thing, consider very carefully whether to act on it. If a criticism really doesn't strike a chord, and particularly if no one else has picked up on it, probably ignore it. Lastly, you may find critics evenly divided on an issue, as many pro as con. These are the trickiest to navigate: go with what your instincts tell you.

If you consider a review is completely unconstructive, you can report it via the report-review button beneath a review. We will not remove a review if a member expresses their opinion unless it is completely unconstructive, as this would encourage a site where members give anodyne opinion which does not help  writers develop their writing. We have learnt that the real publishing world is far tougher on stories than anything you will see on review sites, and it is useful to bear in mind the above advice from our literary professionals when considering reviews. The majority of writers who develop their stories after rewriting based on collective feedback of what works well and what needs developing in their writing are higher rated as a result.


I rose or dropped several places after one review, is this the result of that one review?

The YouWriteOn Ratings System uses an advanced system of maths advised upon by a University Statistical Consultancy called Standard Deviation to assess score results. This is a more affective way of assessing representative results than averages and helps to negate unrepresentative scores. 

A single review which seems to have a big impact on your chart position will usually instead be the result of the system looking at your complete range of scores. For example, a story may have two middle or lowish scores which the system of Standard Deviation may wholly or partly negate as they are unrepresentative of your score range compared to your other scores. If another middle or lowish score comes in, the system may then look again at your previous results and expand your score range to include the range of other middle/lowish scores. This is Standard Deviation explained in simplistic terms, but basically it looks at your range of scores collectively and not in isolation. So the impact of one review on chart movement is almost never just that of one review in isolation. Other scores may move your score in a different direction again.

Other factors for sudden chart movement include: new stories moving into the charts; other stories may be closely ranked together and a drop in your score may lead to your being placed below them; and that stories must attach a credit every 30 days to remain in rated position in the charts. The 30 day credit rule was requested by members to keep the charts displaying current stories. If you dropped in the charts due to not meeting the 30 day credit rule, you can resume your rated chart position the next day by attaching a credit.

If you find between the 10 to 20 review stage that it is hard to move your chart position, you may wish to consider starting afresh with a new upload of your story to counter the weight of collective scores which may be keeping your story from progressing. Many site writers, including Best Seller Chart members, have done this and progressed as a result.

The Rating Results for over 200 books have been checked independently by the statistical department of one of the United Kingdom's top Universities.


Do I need to attach reading credits to my story (gained by reviewing another member's story) to receive reviews and remain in the charts?

YouWriteOn works on a review-exchange mechanism, members review each other stories in order to gain a reading credit which entitles them to a review back for their story in turn. To feature in the Top Ten, members are required to attach one reading credit every seven days from when they enter. This is so that Top Ten members each continue to receive representative feedback. By popular member request, stories in position 11 to 30 are required to have attached a reading credit in the last 30 days to feature in these chart positions. This keeps the chart active and current. Stories that haven't attached a reading credit in the past 30 days will be archived to the back of the charts. If they reattach a credit and meet the 30 day rule they will be 'credit active' active again and enter the charts again.


My chart position isn't moving, what can I do?

If you find between the 10 to 20 review stage that it is hard to move your chart position, you may wish to consider starting afresh with a new upload of your story to counter the weight of collective scores which may be keeping your story from progressing. Many YouWriteOn Best Seller Chart entries have done this and progressed as a result. As in the real publishing world, opinion will be very diverse. Some stories may progress with higher amounts of reviews, others may find that a large amount of diverse opinion leads to a 'middle-spread' of ratings for their stories that prevents them progressing after receiving a large amount of reviews. A range of diverse opinion doesn't mean that your story may not be successful, but will often reflect the varied tastes of many readers as in the real publishing world.

The Rating Results for over 200 books have been checked independently by the statistical department of one of the United Kingdom's top Universities.

When does the YouWriteOn system calculate the new chart ratings for reviews received during the day?

The YouWriteOn system adds all new ratings to your story's Overall Score early during the following morning after you receive a new review. The system adds all new scores at this time as it more efficient for the smooth running of the site to do this compared to calculating new positions for the whole chart upon each individual review received. The system will add new scores immediately to your Ratings Breakdown however, as this functionality works separately from the YouWriteOn Chart System.

Are members positive on site, does it get competitive?

We've found that the overall majority of members are positive and constructive in their feedback for others. YouWriteOn's leading literary agents and publishers, who include editors for Curtis Brown, Orion and Bloomsbury, consider that the stories in the YouWriteOn Best Sellers Chart rated there by members are of a very high quality. The majority of members on YouWriteOn appreciate what it is to be a budding writer and to want to give and receive constructive feedback. As with any site, there will always be a minority that may not be helpful or enter into the spirit of the site, and mechanisms such as the remove-review system - see above - and other systems on site - help to ensure a constructive and positive feedback environment. A good story will usually always be recognised on site through the collective appreciation of readers, and this is borne out by the number of writers on YouWriteOn that have been rated highly by members and received leading literary agent or publisher recognition.

Editing/Pasting Your Story

How do I paste my story onto the site during the upload process?

To paste your story onto the site during the upload process, position the cursor inside the story upload box, and then click edit then paste at the top of the Internet Explorer or other Internet Browser menu. Another short cut to paste is to copy your text, position the cursor inside the story upload box, and then hold down the 'Ctrl' key while pressing the V key on your keyboard. This will paste chapters inside the story upload box.

How do I edit my story text?

To edit your story text, login and then click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page. This will take you first to a page with a button to verify your Reading Test, and then to a page to edit your story text.

How do I edit my Reading Test?

To edit your Reading Test, login and then click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page. This will take you to a page with a button to edit your Reading Test.

How do I edit my story synopsis?

To edit your story synopsis, login and then click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page. This will take you to a page with a button to edit your story synopsis.

How do I add a longer synopsis to my story?

To add a longer synopsis, login and then click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page. This will take you first to a page with a button to add a longer synopsis for your story.

Can I upload a new version of my story? 

It can be very beneficial to upload a new version of a story. If you find between the 10 to 20 review stage, or sometimes sooner, that it is hard to move your chart position, you may wish to consider starting afresh with a new upload of your story. Many YouWriteOn Best Seller Chart writers have revised their stories based on feedback of what works well and what needs developing in their writing and progressed as a result. As in the real publishing world, reader opinion will be very diverse. Some stories may progress with higher amounts of reviews, others may find that a large amount of diverse opinion leads to a 'middle-spread' of ratings for their stories that prevents them progressing after receiving a large amount of reviews. In this circumstances it can be beneficial to start afresh, as the majority of writers on site who revise based on reader feedback are higher rated as a result. A range of diverse opinion doesn't mean that your story may not be successful, but will often reflect the varied tastes of many readers as in the real publishing world, and some stories may have a large niche rather than mainstream appeal.

The Rating Results for over 200 books have been checked independently by the statistical department of one of the United Kingdom's top Universities.


Reading Assignments & Reading Tests

How may Reading Assignments can I request at one time/can I remove assignments?

You can request three Reading Assignments during a 24 hour period and remove one Reading Assignment every 24 hours. To request Reading Assignments, login and click on the button to request an assignment on your My Page. To remove an Assignment, login and click on the Remove button next to the Reading Assignment story title on your My Page.

How can I edit my story's Reading Test?

To edit your Reading Test, login and then click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page. This takes you to the functions to edit your story.
 
Can I request Reading Assignments according to my favourite genres?

Reading Assignments are sent randomly and will be from any genre. This is to help ensure all stories get reviews, and to enable writers to receive diverse opinion for their stories. You can request three Reading Assignments during a 24 hour period and remove one Reading Assignment every 24 hours. To request Reading Assignments, login and click on the button to request an assignment on your My Page. To remove an Assignment, login and click on the Remove button next to the Reading Assignment on your My Page.

I read a Reading Assignment thoroughly but the story's Reading Test was incorrect, what can I do?

If you consider that a Reading Test for a story is incorrect, click on the Contact Us button on the left hand column of YouWriteOn and send us details of the story title, the incorrect questions, and your YouWriteOn User ID so that we may look into this and send you a Reading Credit if we can verify the Reading Test was incorrect.

Reading Credits & Readers Assigned to Your Story

How can I check how many readers are assigned to my story?

To check how many readers as assigned to your story, login and then click on your story title on your My Page. This will take you to your story's Cover Page. This page contains buttons to view all details about your story, including a button to 'view statistics'. The statistics button takes you to a page to view various statistics about your story, including how many readers are currently assigned.

How can I help ensure that I don't receive delays in receiving reviews?

Reviews usually come in quickly on YouWriteOn and each Reading Credit you attach will always lead to a review back in return. If you sometimes experience delays in receiving reviews you should consider the following most common reasons to help ensure you receive as many reviews as possible.

In general, once reviewers receive an assignment after being randomly assigned, it is in their hands to review their story, and this decision can be affected by many different considerations, such as genre preference, time considerations, the complexity of a Reading Test, the layout of your text, and the immediate appeal of a story or synopsis.

Your Reading Test  Is your Reading Test correct/is it too complex? Remember that readers are not as familiar with you story as you and will generally notice big events that occur throughout your story, and not minor details such as what a character is wearing, or, for example, the colour of eyes. Consider your Reading Test from the viewpoint of a first-time reader and set questions that the reader will generally notice as they read along. Make sure that all the answers to your test are contained within your sample extract, especially after you edit your story test. To edit your Reading Test, login and then click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page.

Your Synopsis/Story Opening  Look at your story synopsis and opening and consider it from the point of view of a browser in a bookshop. For example, compare your story's immediate appeal with other stories on site that have received a lot of reviews. As with book store books, often a story's immediate appeal may draw the reader in. If your story is very genre specific, for example, a romance story, consider making the synopsis less genre specific so that it will appeal to a wider variety of readers.

Your Text Layout  So that stories can be read across a variety of Internet browsers, you should paste your stories onto the site with no indentation at the start of each paragraph and a line of space between each paragraph. If your text is all 'clumped' together in long paragraphs, this will affect the amount of readers you will receive. To edit your text to the correct format, login and click on the pen symbol next to your story title on your My Page. This will will take you to a page where you can edit your text. You edit your Reading Test first before you edit text to ensure that the Reading Test is still relevant.

A reader was assigned to my story but removed the assignment or their review deadline of 7 days passed, do I get my Reading Credit back?

If a reader removes a Reading Assignment or does not review in seven days, then your story will be reassigned on the same credit. The system is reader-led and writers may sometimes receive a 'bonus review' for a credit. If a bonus-reader is assigned and they do not review for any reason then they are not replaced as the Reading Credit previously assigned will have already received one review in return.


My Membership & Membership Details on YouWriteOn

Are my personal details completely confidential on YouWriteOn?

YouWriteOn complies with the UK Data Protection Act and all your details are completely confidential on YouWriteOn.

How do I edit my personal details on YouWriteOn?

To edit your personal details on YouWriteOn, click on the edit button next to 'Personal Details' on your My Page. Your My Page is confidential to you.

How do I change my contact email address, or display/choose not to display my email details on YouWriteOn?

To edit your email details, or display/choose not to display your email address publically, click on the edit button next to 'Personal Details' on your My Page. This will take you to a page where you can edit your email contact details, and choose to display or not display your email details. By default your email address is not displayed unless you choose to display it. Your My Page is confidential to you.

How do I add a bio to my page?

To add a bio about yourself to a publically viewable page, login and then click on the edit button next to 'Your Bio' on your My Page.

How do I delete my stories / cancel my membership?

To delete your stories on YouWriteOn, login and click on the pen symbol next to your Story Title on your My Page. This will take you to a page with a function to delete your stories. Once you have deleted your stories, if you wish to cancel your membership then click on the cancel membership button on the same page.