Top Shelf Editing has created a new writers’ group on Facebook! I know what you’re thinking – there are so many groups for writers on here, why do I need to join another one? Well, this one is slightly different.
First, it’s run and moderated by the team members of Top Shelf Editing. We plan on creating a forum for authors to not just get to know one another and talk about all things writing, but we are also providing tons of free tips, tricks, and advice to all members that we won’t share anywhere else. I’m talking tips and advice from industry insiders, such as publishers, editors, and literary agents. We have invited some top professionals to join our group so we can have skilled, experienced people in-the-know to answer questions authors may have. We want this to be a place where authors can feel free not only to share their writing journey (and how they’ve stumbled along the way) but also their experiences and things they’ve learned so we can all help each other out. Again, there are tons of groups out there for writers, true, but here are some things that will set us apart from the others:
- We will only allow book promotions on Fridays, which will cut way back on all those who simply join just to post “buy my book” on the feed.
- We strenuously monitor all posts (we have a PA to do this) for any hate speech, negative talk, or harassing comments. We won’t tolerate any negativity. If people can’t play nice, they’ll get the boot immediately. No questions asked.
- We will periodically have guest posters from inside the book biz (like publishers, editors, and agents) who will post some insider tips, tricks, and advice for free for all members.
- Authors can post anything writing-related and get quality, friendly, and professional feedback to their questions from other experienced authors and professional service providers like editors, cover designers, and more.
While we have an open-door policy, and we don’t make you jump through hoops to join (and answer silly, pointless questions), we are going to keep the group on the smaller side (preferably less than a thousand, give or take). We’re only sending out requests currently to authors we know and/or through groups such as this, where we know the moderators/admins and trust their group members. We again will stringently monitor the feed for any negative, spammy, or rambling posts so as not to clog up your feed with a ton of pointless posts that don’t help anybody.
We do want to offer our trusted members one day to promote their books (Fridays), but posts will be limited to one per week for each author. And since this will be a group of vetted, serious-minded authors, we believe the promos you do see will be books you would actually be interested in by authors who have done all the hard work to create a quality book we feel comfortable promoting in our group.
Finally, as the mods/admins, we will reserve the right to delete/remove any posts that either don’t adhere to our policy or conform to our mission statement (creating a comfortable place for authors to share ideas with one another). So you can rest assured this will be a group unlike any other writers’ groups out there and free from pointless, redundant posts with tons of nasty, negative comments all over the feed.
If you’re reading this article, you’re invited to join Creative Authors Network now! Simply click on the included link below or look us up in the search bar.
facebook.com/groups/creativeauthorsnetwork
No need to answer silly questions. Being a member of this group is all the vetting we need to do. We’d love to have you join our family, and we can’t wait to “meet” you. When you join, stop by and drop a quick post to introduce yourself. Let us know what genre you write and what (if anything) you’re working on now!
And stay tuned in the coming weeks for tons of “welcome to the group” freebies! We already have our first ready to fire off next week. Freebies will include links to amazing resources for authors we’ve discovered, as well as mini-books on writing topics such as “Creating the Perfect Setting” (the first one we’re publishing), “Creating Well-Developed, Three-Dimensional Characters” and “How to Properly Write Dialogue in Fiction.” See? Totally worth joining just for those freebies!
Thanks again for reading this article. And, as always, a huge thanks to Lisa Binion for her continued support of authors and service providers. Lisa, you are a true example and a rock for us all.
Talk soon,
Christina Kaye
Co-Owner/Editor
Thank you again, Lisa, for letting us guest post today! I can’t wait to meet all our new members very soon.