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Welcome Barnes & Noble Press Authors!

Do you want more feedback on your work in progress? Actionable feedback helps you revise with confidence, putting your best foot forward to engage readers with your wonderful words and worlds. That’s why we’re so excited to invite you to Ready Chapter 1 – a professional feedback exchange for working authors like you. In our peer critique community, you can: 

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  • Swap Critiques with Fellow Writers

RC1 Pro Monthly

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  • Swap Critiques with Fellow Writers
  • Monthly Agent Challenges
  • Live Events with Pro Speakers
  • Breakout Forums for Industry Questions
  • Pitch and Query Critique Exchange
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RC1 Pro Annual

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  • Swap Critiques with Fellow Writers
  • Monthly Agent Challenges
  • Live Events with Pro Speakers
  • Breakout Forums for Industry Questions
  • Pitch and Query Critique Exchange
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Take a Peek Inside our Community

RC1’s 24/7 feedback exchange is designed to help any writer at any level fine-tune their story and grow as a writer, all in a supportive peer review environment with some cool data analytics we call Story Scores™. Watch this quick video to see how it works.

Bonus! Get our Top Class: Story Ideas That Sell with Your FREE Trial of RC1 Monthly

Join Founding Author Fred Koehler and Literary Agent Joyce Sweeney in this jam-packed class filled with exclusive tools and techniques to ensure you’ve got a top 1% concept for your story that will hook the attention of readers, reviewers, and industry gatekeepers.

Frequently Asked Questions

When you sign up, you become a member of Ready Chapter 1. This includes access to our Peer Critique Forum, where writers exchange feedback and industry insights with other writers. It also includes entry to monthly contests and challenges as well as live access to our online events with agents and published authors.

While individual results can vary, many of our users report significant improvements in their writing and feedback scores within just a few months of active participation and consistent revision based on feedback in the forums.

Absolutely! Whether you are just starting out or have been writing for years without breaking through, our program is designed to help writers at all levels improve their craft and increase their chances of success in the publishing industry.

Yes, we regularly host contests and challenges where top stories can be reviewed by industry professionals, including literary agents and editors. These opportunities are designed to provide you with valuable insights and increase your visibility in the publishing industry. We cannot and do not guarantee individual access for our members to submit to our guest agents and editors.

We recommend dedicating at least a few hours each week to participate in the Peer Critique Forum. The more you put into the program, the more you’ll get out of it in terms of skill development and manuscript improvement.

This website is intended for users 16 years of age and older, and parental guidance is recommended. Content will push the boundaries of TV-14. This could include suggestive situations, coarse language, and depictions of violence. We don’t allow pervasive foul language, explicit sexual content, or excessive violence, but some content may still be unsuitable for some users under 16. Please note: Our moderation team works hard to remove content that violates our community standards. However, it’s possible that inappropriate content may be visible before it’s flagged and taken down.

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