As a writer, it’s not always easy to find a critique partner or beta reader to get feedback on your work. There are some forums out there, some blog posts, some twitter tags to follow or Facebook groups (if you can find them), but there’s no one website where you can go find someone to share in the joy/misery of writing.

What if we had a matching service for writers (like a dating site, with profiles where you could be matched to various people based on the info you submit)?  It could offer some privacy options so you could submit a sample of your writing, or a first chapter, and then decide who can view it. No more emailing out first chapters only to never hear back, or to find that your writing styles just don’t mesh.

I’m a software developer, so this is potentially something I could work on in my free time. Any thoughts/opinions? Any ideas for what sort of data you’d want to be matched on (genre, favorite authors, PB/MG/YA/Adult, etc)?

At first, this would be a free service, but eventually I’d need to find a way for it to at least pay for itself (web hosting costs). I could either put a donation button on the page or find advertising that would hopefully cover those costs. Last resort would be to make it a paid service, but I’d rather avoid that scenario if possible.

Here’s the information I’ve gathered so far. Feel free to offer any feedback.

-Profile Info: (all but username are hidden from users unless you agree to show) This is the information you provide about yourself when you create an account.

• username
• email address
• phone
• password (never shown)
• location
• links (FB, twitter, blog, etc)

-Search Info: This is information you provide to get matched to others.

• genre (includes checklist of various known genres and option to write in a more specific one, can select more than one)
• favorite authors
• favorite books
• age group (PB/MG/YA/Adult)
• Maturity Rating (maybe like movie ratings? PG, G, NC17…)
• Frequency (how quickly you need feedback or how often you want to work together)
• Writing samples (either a short sample or 1st chapter of novel)
• Publishing credits
• Experience level for you
• Experience level you are looking for (for CPs)
• Local vs virtual
• description of you
• description of what you are looking for
• search terms (specific words you want to search for in others’ profiles)
• length of work you write (flash, short, novel)
• length of work you are willing to read
• for novels – chapter at a time or full MS
• looking for a CP or Beta or both?