The Hook queue runs once a month during the first weekend of the month from Friday 00:01 GMT through to end of Sunday and accepts stories for the next Hook weekend during the rest of the month.
This queue is unique in that, here, the critter is playing the role of an unpaid slush editor - searching for that special perfect snowflake of a manuscript among a pile of hopefuls.
Anyone can post into this queue, but you must have extremely thick skin. The queue is meant to give you an indication of how good your hook is and where editors might stop reading and, more importantly, why.
Submission guidelines
* You should submit the start of your story and it should be less than 1000 words long.
* Only one submission per person is accepted at a time. You can submit your next piece into the next hook crit cycle once the current one completes.
* Submitting a story costs 3 credits but those 3 credits are refunded if you crit 10 other pieces in this queue in the same period.
* Story submission is completely anonymous. No one knows who posted what story.
* Story submission into this queue should not affect your statistics.
* You are welcome to fill out author's notes.
Critique guidelines
* There is a special "Hook" crit mode for stories. You click on the paragraph where you stopped reading and fill out the form telling the author a little bit about why you quit where you did.
* Remember, this isn't a full crit; a paragraph or two is usually enough.
* If you read to the end there is a special link for that for you to click on as well.
* The time which it took you to read the story until you click that paragraph is saved with the crit, giving the author an indication of how much time people spent on the story.
* You gain no credits for critting stories in The Hook but if you have a story up as well you can get those credits refunded.
* Crits in this queue should not affect your CC statistics.
* Do not be nasty! Purposely hurtful comments will be rejected.
Remember, story submissions and crit submissions are entirely anonymous. Your critters will not know that you submitted the story and you will not be able to see who said what (if you can, please tell the admins!). You are welcome to post story beginnings that you have already posted on CC but keep in mind that this will let certain people recognize you (which is fine if you're okay with it).
If you submit a story into this queue you should crit as many of the other stories as you can. Expect to spend only a couple of minutes on each one. When you're done with one crit the system will give you the option to jump directly to the next one. If you finish 10 of these you'll get the credits you spent on your own submission refunded.
You should only post into this queue if you have very thick skin!
However, crits should not be be rude or just plain mean. Keep it constructive! Critters, you are not here to vent but to provide helpful guidance to the authors. Please report crits that you feel are stepping over the line.
To find the queue click here.