News of the Day:

I couldn't think of a creative title therefore "News of the Day" will have to suffice. I also don't feel much like writing a long post right now as it's late (midnight my time) and I am very tried, so I'm going to write the rest of this post bullet-point style. 

Here are the updates of my day:

• Started a course on publishing today in order to brush up on my skills and hopefully help me get the book I've been working on for so long finally shipped off to a publisher! (more on this subject later)

• Successfully eliminated 2,445 words from my manuscript. I still have yet to delete 2,857 words until I get down to my target 150,000. Though I'm worried that still may be far too many words. I guess we'll have to wait and see....

• I found a list of publishers I think could be useful to people. Most have very strict guidelines, others are for lit-magazines only, and some have specific genres they dapple in. Still, I highly recommend scrolling through them all. Who knows? You might find something that clicks with you! (I've added this link to the Favorite Links List too at the bottom of this blog under the official name "30 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Publishers") 

• Tomorrow is my dad's birthday which means I will not be posting or writing at all. This might actually be good for me because I've been going through my novel non-stop for the last few days the words are starting to blend together and read like jargon. Sometimes it's good to step away when this happens. I may even take a week or two off, even if this messes with my publication deadline even further. But at this point I'm now well over two months behind due to COVID, my editor dropping out on me, and other extenuating circumstances beyond my control. What's two more weeks, right? 

• On that same note—and I am dead serious about this—I have a few jobs available to anyone who may be interested. They are as follows: 
• Peer Reviewer: someone who will fully complete a peer trial-reading of my manuscript as is. There will be a small form to fill out along the way to provide feedback necessary for the novel's improvement and to ensure it is publication ready. Pay: $45*
• Elimination Aid: someone who will help me eliminate unnecessary elements from my manuscript in the state it is currently in. Pay: $55**
• Dual Position: someone who will act as both a peer reviewer AND an elimination aid, I will pay a slightly higher fee for this due to the nature of this job. Pay: $110*** 
  
  If you are interested in applying to any of the above, please comment down below with the following information:

• Your Name
• What you're applying for: Peer Reviewer, Elimination Aid, or the Dual Position
• A letter regarding your credentials in addition to any past work you've done that's similar or the same as the above, and a brief discussion on why you think you would be a good fit for the position you're applying for
• A list of 1-2 outside references, if you have them (this is not a necessity though it could prove beneficial) 

*To qualify, please note the review form must be completely filled out. If only half the form is filled out, you will be paid $22.50 so long as the answered aspects provide clear, concise and helpful information and exceed more than 10 words per answer when applicable. Anything less than half the form will not be seen as fit for completion and your performance as a peer reviewer will go unrecognized. This also applies to incidents such as if one worded answers are given throughout the entire form. Likewise Yes/No answers do not and will not count towards your performance and will be treated as unanswered responses  

**To qualify, please note > 850 words must be deleted, the manuscript must still be legible, characters stay as is, and the plot remains in tact. All deletions must be completed via GoogleDocs on a shared document using the "Suggestions" tool so that I can review all suggested deletions. If you cannot successfully delete the required 850 or more words you will still a receive a fee, but $5 dollars will be deducted from every 15 words that have fallen short of the minimum requirement (i.e. 835 words = $50). That being said, anything < 730 will result in a $15 gratuity fee no matter what, provided the number does not fall below triple digits. Should the number fall below triple digits your performance as an elimination aid will remain unrecognized 

***To qualify, please note > 950 words must be deleted, the manuscript must still be legible, characters stay as is, and the plot remains in tact. All deletions must be completed via GoogleDocs on a shared document using the "Suggestions" tool so that I can review all suggested deletions. If you cannot successfully delete the required 950 or more words you will still a receive a fee, but it will be reduced to $90 no matter what, provided the number does not fall below 500 deleted words. Otherwise your performance as an elimination aid will be unrecognized and you will simply be paid for your contribution as a peer reviewer but only so long as your performance of peer reviewer meets the criteria for completion/recognition

• I will eventually post this offer to Upwork probably in the next 5-10 days, and I will share the link once that's been completed. That being said, I wanted to reach out to my readers first regarding this offer so you could all have the first chance to [re]view it, consider it, and hopefully grab it before this goes to someone else. So there you have it. If you have any questions or suggestions on the subject, either write to me in the comments below or email me. I look forward to hearing from you!

• End of updates. Goodnight 😴