It’s Worldbuilders time! And once again, I’m privileged to be a part of it. This year, I’m helping out by offering not one, but two critiques of your writing — and with two different ways to win.
The first is the standard eBay auction, and here’s my auction page. The critique will be open for bidding until Sunday, Nov. 22 at 8:18 p.m. EST. I’ve raised over $1,000 via eBay auctions for Worldbuilders over the past two years, and I know all those generous scribes out there will make for another strong showing this year.
But hey, those auctions can get expensive, man. Thankfully, Worldbuilders has partnered with NaNoWriMo to give you another option. Surf on over to the WriMos for Worldbuilders page and donate whatever you can. Each $10 donation earns you one entry into a lottery for all kinds of books and other prizes — and critiques by me, author Joshua Palmatier and agent Jennifer Azantian. This particular effort is running until Monday, Dec. 14, after which they’ll draw the winners.
Which ever way you go about it, the result is the same: I’ll critique up to 25,000 words of your speculative fiction writing, and give you feedback. In the past, that’s meant commentary throughout your Word file, along with a separate written critique. And since folks are being awesome and generous with their money here, I’m quite willing to answer follow-up questions via e-mail. I really want to make sure you get your money’s worth, people.
I would also point you to all the other auctions Worldbuilders is running— there’s some fantastic swag in there that would make awesome holiday gifts, as well as other critiques and even a full manuscript copyedit by SF/F copy guru Richard Shealy, aka Shecky. (Shecky is awesome.) And there’s the Tinker’s Packs, officially licensed merchandise from Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle which you can straight-up buy without bidding.
All of this is in support of Heifer International, which is working to end hunger and poverty by helping folks create sustainable agriculture and small business around the world. It’s amazing what these folks can do with just a few bucks — and with your help, we’re gonna give ’em a whole lot of bucks.
And while I’m here, let’s give a huge thank-you to Pat, Maria and all the other folks who make Worldbuilders so great.
I hope you’ll think about contributing, whether it’s my critiques or anything else up for bid. Every bit counts. Thanks, gang.
#SFWApro
It’s the final piece of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and — perhaps unsurprisingly — Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is the best of the prequels and, if I may be a touch heretical, on a par with Return of the Jedi. It very much echoes what made the original trilogy special, despite having many of the problems that plagued the other prequels.
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Michael J. Martinez 