About Zirdland...

The literary world is a jungle. Agents, editors and producers can seem cold-blooded and indifferent to a writer’s submission or pitch. It's the nature of the business. As writers, we've had our own experiences with the query letter shuffle, the endless wait for response, the inevitable form-letter rejections, the outdated market info, the release forms, the manuscript printing...this really seemed to be an antiquated way to do business.

We polled the market to find out why they still preferred to work this way, and received an eye-opening response. We asked why most of those in literary acquisitions refused to accept e-mailed queries and submissions. In addition to the ever-present fear of infringement claims, the overwhelming response was “...because writers were generally impatient…and after rejected, often begin defending their work, leading to a lengthy e-mail exchange and bitterness on both sides."

The majority also commented that their biggest complaints about the query process in general, was that the submissions were either incorrectly targeted to their needs at the time, or the works being submitted were poorly crafted. The slushpiles grow and the likelihood of finding a worthy property shrinks. Simple statistics.

So, we thought: How can we fix this?  How could we help our fellow writers create red-hot properties and find a way to more effectively pitch those works to well-targeted buyers? Our main objectives were to:

Create a place where writers can edit their works privately.

Develop advanced analytical tools to “x-ray” a story’s sub-text, plot character arcs,  and determine genre, with the aim of helping the writer create a more marketable work.

Provide a path to the marketplace – matching genre, style, and concept to the most appropriate editors, producers and agents.

Generate support for literacy organizations to build readership.      

We did some market tests and realized there was a groundswell of support from both the writer community and the marketplace. Some people thought we were crazy – but nearly everyone we talked to hoped the acquisition process could somehow be better. There were already a lot of “writer’s market” sites out there. None were terribly successful. Zirdland would have to be different.

So, we spent a few years developing some analysis tools to give writers an objective way to improve their plotlines, story structure, character arcs and marketability. With the  patents filed just months ago, the Arc Angel Story Analysis software is ready for beta test. Having hosted the ThatFirstLine Writing Contest for the past couple years, we felt a competition would be a fun way to exercise the program and build our flagship member base.

Our first Novel Competition began on August 8th – and coincides with the Summer Olympics. While the athletes compete in Beijing, novelists from around the world can compete here in Zirdland for a $1,000 prize. There’s no entry fee, the writer keeps all rights to the work, and the competition standings are updated daily on our ZirdNEWS web site and hourly on a downloadable desktop widget. We expect it will be a lot of fun and give our analysis engine a good workout. We’ll launch a similar contest for scriptwriters very soon.

The centerpiece of our marketplace system is a database of over 7,000 industry buyers and we created an auto-query process to pro-actively pitch works that match their current search preferences. We built-in security to protect the writer’s rights, while providing similar protections to the industry as an intermediary – not an agency or manager, but more as an intelligent filter and conduit to connect product with market. Hopefully, we’ll see a new efficiency in the literary acquisition process, and save some trees and postage in the process.

Is this for everyone? No. There are writers who prefer using typewriters over computers, and we respect that. There are those who prefer to market their work through their personal networks. That’s great. Is this for you? Find out by signing-up. Membership is free. You won't be inundated with a lot of junk e-mail. We'll respect your privacy. Your work will not be exhibited. No one's judging your work. This isn't a community web site.

Later this year, we'll open up our marketplace and start-up the eQuery engine - which will match your novel's analysis with appropriate buyers. Again, Zirdland is not an agency or management company. Once a qualified buyer or agent is interested, they are given your contact info and our job is done - the ball's in your court.

We're also still working on the Zirdland Writer's Desktop editing tools and dashboard - you'll be amazed.

We welcome your comments and suggestions for how we can make your path through the jungle an easier one. Please feel free to write us at:  info@zirdland.com