What is a Critique?

In general, someone reads through a manuscript and critiques the content. This critique can include feedback on:

and many other things. The focus can shift depending on context, but all Critiques have the same goal: To improve the author's writing.

What is a Critique Circle?

A Critique Circle is a bunch of people you exchange Critiques with. If the exchange happens between just two people, we typically speak of a Critique Partner.

At Bhooks, there exist two kinds of Critique Circles:

Now let's have a look at how Bhooks' Critique exchange system works:

Bhooks' Critique ecosystem in detail

This is how it works...
Text comments screenshot
You write comments in any book that accepts Critiques

Screenshot of rating bar after a chapter
You can also rate chapters & book qualities

Screenshot of a button which hands in your critique
When you're done, hand in your Critique!

Now the author has two weeks to look at your Critique and ask questions. When done, the author accepts your Critique and gives some positive feedback.
Screenshot of two buttons which accept or reject a critique

Shows a list of calculated subtotals and the total feathers gained
Done! You gain some feathers for your efforts!

How many feathers do I gain?

That depends on the amount of effort you put into the Critique. There are many factors influencing this outcome, such as feedback by the author, length of critiqued text (incl. subsets), critique popularity (e.g. bonus for works that haven't yet received a critique), reading difficulty (slang, foreign words, elevated language, scientific texts, punctuation & grammar), is the book finished, or an optional tip from the author. There are many more, discussing them all and how they interplay would go beyond the scope of this article.

Private Critique Circles

At Bhooks, you can found your own Critique Circle. It's a privilege and an honor to found a circle, which is why you need to fulfill some requirements in order to be eligible for founding one. Let's look at an example where we found a circle named MyNewCircle:

Critique Circle founding

For the founding of a new Critique Circle, the following steps are necessary:

  1. Pay the founding fee of 1000
  2. In exchange, you receive a circle charter, e.g. at /CritiqueCircleCharter/MyNewCircle
  3. Gather 2 other signatures
  4. After the last signature, your circle is created at e.g. /CritiqueCircle/MyNewCircle. All signees are notified by message & e-mail.

If you agree to pay the 1000 and gather all signatures, continue below:

If you're able to meet all the requirements, a charter is generated, where you need to collect the required member signatures. (It's not really a signature, it's just a click on a button.)


Welcome to a brand new circle!

Gather your signatures, et voilà! You just founded a new Critique Circle.
Within the circle you'll have access to some organizational tools (who critiques whom), a chat, stats, administrative tools (e.g. invite & promote members), and you'll get your own personal subforum.