This post is not a plug for Writers’ Relief. I have not used the service and I’m in no position to recommend or repudiate it.

I’m presently working on my second novel; its working title is The Omega Hypothesis. My first, The Obeahman’s Dagger, was a fairly good literary effort but came up a dismal failure in sales. Well written, but no page turner and it was not aggressively marketed. Most critics assert that marketing is more difficult than writing and that a good book without great marketing will never enjoy good sales. The converse, they argue, also holds – a poor book can be marketed to financial success. I disagree.

Of these two factors, in accounting for the book’s market failure, I give priority to the writing. The writing was weak and the chain broke.

I will not repeat that mistake.

So to perfect Omega I’m determined to get professional help. I understand that this is a cost and if I can find a publisher, I’d be happy to do a deal. In the meantime, I’m researching all offers of professional editorial services, which is what brought me to the Writers’ Relief.

Writers’ Relief offer support services in two ways (‘Two’ is a bit of an oversimplification but I’m not trying to sell the service so for the sake of simplicity I’ll stick with ‘two’) – full service and a la carte.

With the full service you get all kinds of help (there’s the complication) and you’re expected to write, write, write. This is for the fully committed writer, the one determined to work for success. With the a la carte service, you pay a flat fee and they will determine the 25 best publications for your work, saving you many hours of research, trial, and error.

What I find interesting is that to access the full service your writing must first be evaluated and accepted by a review board. The a la carte service is open to anyone willing to pay the (relatively) small fee. (At my last look it was $150.)

Is this some kind of scam? If it is, it’s a pretty strange kind of scam, one that refuses potential victims.

Remember my flop, The Obeahman’s Dagger? Have you guessed yet what I’m about to tell you? No? Yes?

Well I submitted The Obeahman’s Dagger to Writers’ Relief – it was rejected. No market for a book like that they said, adding kindly, not even for one as well written as The Obeahman’s Dagger.

I may or may not use Writers’ Relief in the near future but they’ve taught me one lesson already – if you’re writing, write.

Here’s a quote from their website –

“Our Full Service clients who are making regular submissions are “screened” by our Review Board. But our A La Carte clients, who submit irregularly as they please, do not need Review Board approval.”

What I find instructive is the phrase ‘submit irregularly as they please’ – the implication is that if you want to get published, to be taken seriously as a writer, you must write regularly, and well.

Contrary to the popular opinion, marketing is the easy part.