Finding My Niche

I recently joined a site called FanStory (www.fanstory.com). My purpose in joining this site was to get some feedback on how the general public would respond to my upcoming fantasy book. So, I paid the $6 fee to be able to access all features on the site and published my first bit.

The site has what it calls "member dollars." You can either buy these directly or earn them by reviewing other people's work. Depending on how well each piece is promoted, you can earn a dollar or more per piece. This includes all types of writing, so sometimes you can get more bang for your buck by reviewing a piece of short poetry that needs no editing.

Although I like reading poetry and have tagged many poets as favorites, the greatest challenge for me is successfully editing a book chapter, essay, or other story-form work. When I review a piece, I pick out all of the errors and suggest corrections, usually spending 45 minutes to an hour and leaving a detailed list for the writer to peruse. Almost every writer is grateful for these corrections, and I have quickly gained a reputation for being an "eagle eye" reviewer.

On top of this, most of my work to date has received five or six stars each (the rating is 5 stars, but a reviewer can award 6 if the writing is absolutely outstanding). This includes the book chapters I have been submitting, along with one flash fiction and a couple of poems. I am doing far better than I have imagined.

My point in this is that my suspicions have been confirmed - I do have good writing skills, and I do know how to edit properly; therefore, I am a good writer. Believe me, it took me years to come to this conclusion, but I will not be fully convinced until the general population has the chance to read a fully published book.

Now, if I could only nudge myself into a career where I can use these hard-earned skills....