Introduction of YoliW

[yoliw]

Hello All!

My name is Yolanda and I write military, space opera, sci-fi with a political thriller chaser. I am working on three trilogies within the same 'universe'. I have a co-author, who for now, must remain anonymous to protect their identity. 

I started writing in high school over a thousand years ago. However, as with a lot of teens, it took me awhile to figure out my voice and style. Now, more than 30 years later, I know the types of worlds, ships, political intrigues, and alien species that I want to create. 

And I have a blast doing it.

My goals for joining this group are to:
     

1. Help others with fair and clear feedback.
   
2. Receive constructive critique from the group.
3. Share whatever resource I come across which would benefit the members.

I plan to self-publish my novels. In today's traditional publishing climate, new and unknown authors have to submit a fully polished manuscript just to be considered for a contract. If I'm going to kick out that much money for content editing, line editing, etc...then I may as well call the shots through the whole process.

I found the forum a few months back, but honestly can't remember how I found it. I'm just glad that I did.

As for personal info, I've been married almost 26 years, have four sweet, funny, budgies, and am a fan of Da Bears (Chicago Bears football team)! I knit, read, and game on Xbox and mobile games for kicks and giggles.

I would definitely love to hang out on Discord. I'm on the WriteHive, Reedsy, Campfire Technology, chanels and a few others for fun. 

I truly hope I'm accepted here. I like being a part of an active critique group which is filled with creatives, who like me, want to grow as writers and help others along the way. 

[waxesnostalgic]

Hi, Yolanda, it’s nice to meet you. I think you will definitely fit in well here. However, on the questions to answer in your introduction, I believe you answered all of them except this one: Do you agree to follow all of the rules stated in the rules forum?:

It’s fine to freestyle it as you have done, though. 🙂

[roseblack]

Hi, welcome!

Just a quick point, self-publishing is a completely valid option and it's a great choice for lots of authors, but it's not necessary to have a manuscript professionally edited before you query. There are lots of pros and cons to both options, so it's important to weigh them up carefully and work out what's the best option, but paying for editing isn't necessary if you're going down the trad route.

[yoliw]

Do you agree to follow all of the rules stated in the rules forum?: Absolutely! I apologize. I thought I'd hit all of the questions.

Roseblack, in answer to your statement, you are correct. It's just that some of the TPs I've researched as well as agents are stickers for a polished MS. I have been contemplating using either BookBaby or Drafrt2Digital (a friend of mine just used D2D and another also recommends them). I should've been more clear in my reasons for SP over TP.

[roseblack]

Yeah, most will want a polished manuscript, but that mean several revisions, maybe with CPs or beta readers, as best the writer can. It's not a requirement to have any kind of professional edit done.

[waxesnostalgic]

Thanks! I’ve approved your membership, so you should be able to see all of the boards now. I’ll PM you a link to the discord server.