Novel Group Info & FAQ

BSFW has multiple novel groups, each held once a month, to allow novels and novellas to be critiqued by the same group of people over multiple meetings.
At each meeting we critique selections from up to four novels using the Clarion method.
As a reminder, this is a speculative fiction group. We don't define what kind of stories you can submit, since many of our writers defy genre classification, but the stories you critique will include science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal.
More details about BSFW can be found on our Members Page.

HOW DOES A CRITIQUE SESSION WORK?
We use the Clarion, or Milford Method for our critiques.. A full guide to our how to give and receive critiques is available as a PDF on our Members Page.

• Read the pieces before the meetup
• Do a written critique, normally by marking up the author's manuscript in advance. You can give the author a printout at the meetup, or type comments into their document and email it to them before or after the meeting. (If typing comments, please use MS Word's Track Changes in the Review menu, or type your comments in a different text color so they're easy to spot)
• Everyone takes turns giving a three minute critique of the piece
• After the critiques the author gets to ask the group whatever questions they want and there is an open discussion
• If you don't want the pressure of taking notes, you can record the session, with the permission of all the attendees

HOW DO I JOIN?
You can sign up for the next meetup without submitting a story, but you MUST critique the stories for that meetup.
This group polices "no shows." If you repeatedly RSVP Yes but do not attend, you may be removed from the writers group. If you RSVP Yes but cannot attend change your RSVP to No before the meetup. If at the last second you cannot attend a meetup, then please contact the organizer so that the missed meeting will not count against you.

WHICH GROUP DO I JOIN?
If you are new to BSFW, choose the novel group that has openings, but be aware that some of the novels being critiqued in that group may have been in process for some time. Back reading may be required, or an outline will be supplied. If one group clearly has less people attending please join that one. Ideal critique group size is 6-10 people and if one group is too full the organizer may ask you to join the other one.
Once you choose a group, please stick with that group. Consistency is better for you, better for the writers being critiqued, better for BSFW in general.

HOW DO I SUBMIT A PORTION OF A NOVEL OR NOVELLA FOR CRITIQUE?
Each submission, including the first, should be 5000-7500 words. If you want to submit over 7500 words ask the organizer, who may allow it with the proviso that you may be asked to cut it back if there are a lot of submissions for that meetup.
We recommend including previously critiqued chapters in each submission to make it easier for people to refer back to them. For example, if you are submitting chapters 6-7 submit your entire story from chapter 1 to 7. Identify where the reader should start critiquing, for example by changing the color of the old text to blue and/or including a note on the title page to start at a certain page or chapter. If you've significantly edited the previous chapters since they were originally submitted, you may insert a note before the new chapters letting the reader know what has changed.
Also, we hope you're revising as you go, so every manuscript you upload is better than the last.
Submit your material by the due date, so everyone has enough time to look at your work.
a. Email your submission to [email protected]
b. SUBJECT: The Title of the group you're submitting to and your name. EXAMPLE: Cam's Novel Group December 8th, Spidercam
c. MESSAGE: Name, Title, Word Count, any additional info. EXAMPLE: 
Spidercam, Glory Chapter 2, 7,000 words. This is a rewrite.
d. Attach your document. RTF and DOC are preferred. Please, NO PDF's or DOCx.

What to Expect: Ten days before the meeting you will receive an email from Meetup with links to download each story for critique from our Dropbox account. Click on the link and download the stories.
The organizer will normally pick the first three or four stories that were submitted, and leave others to the following months (sometimes they may schedule extra meetings to deal with a backlog of stories).
Submit in proper manuscript format as shown in the example here.
Your file format should be ".doc", ".rtf", or ".txt". Don't use ".docx", the latest Word format, because some people can't read it. Save As .doc (Word 97-2003) format instead.
We recommend that you include a brief summary of any previously submitted chapters to remind the reader what is going on when they critique the new chapters.
Remember to include your email address on the title page so people can email you critiques.
At the end of the manuscript you may list questions that you would like readers to answer in their written feedback. For example, you might want to know whether the pacing is right, whether a certain character is sympathetic, or whether they found some piece of science fiction technology believable.
We also strongly recommend at least a one page synopsis of what your overall story is about. At its simplest a synopsis is just what you'd tell someone if they asked you about the plot, setting, characters, and other interesting points of your story. We also accept longer synopses and outlines, and an outline template is here.

WHICH STORIES DO I CRITIQUE?

At least nine days before the meetup the organizer will announce which stories will be read by sending an email to the group.

Be warned that you will have to do a lot of critiquing! Each meetup critiques up to four stories with a combined total of up to 30,000 words, and the typical meetup involves at least 20,000 words. You will have nine days or so to read all of this and prepare your critiques.

DO I HAVE TO READ ALL THE CHAPTERS OF A NOVEL IN PROGRESS?

If you join the group and someone is submitting chapter 6 of a novel, you're not required to closely read all of the novel, although it's strongly encouraged. However, you need to have read enough to be able to deliver a good critique, and you should have read any synopsis or outline provided. Once you are attending, you are expected to read all submissions even if you miss a meeting.

If you've been critiquing a novel but can't attend a meeting, we encourage you to do a written critique and email the author if you feel you have anything valuable to say.

WHAT IF I HAVE A NOVEL ALREADY WRITTEN AND I WANT TO CRITIQUE IT FAST?

The novel groups can only critique each person's work at about 7500 words per month, usually less because there will be other people who want to submit.

However, our experience is that by the time we've critiqued about 1/3 of a novel, we've often found most of the major issues and the author may have enough feedback to start a new draft.

You may be able to make individual arrangements with other members of the group to critique each others' work faster.

HOW WARM AND FUZZY IS THIS GROUP?

BSFW tries hard to create an environment where writers can get along and trust one another, because it's easier to take criticism from people you know, and we often have get-togethers outside of the critique sessions. We have a firm policy of keeping our critiques about the story rather than the writer, and of trying to help the writer create the novel they want to write rather than the novel the critic might want to write.

That said, the critique session itself isn't a support group; we focus on honest reader reactions. Please understand that even published stories would never appeal to everyone in a diverse critique group, and I have never seen a piece show up at its first critique ready for publication. Even when people think your story is great they will still spend a lot of time telling you about ways to make it even better.

A full guide to our how to give and receive critiques is available on our members page.