As some of you know, I'm still revising my debut novel and getting it ready- though I haven't actually updated a lot of you on how it's going, and I'm sorry about that.
Today's post is going to be more of writing advice and venting about my own experience as well- though I do have a treat for you guys as well for putting up with my rambling!
I contacted several authors and asked them different questions on the topic of
Beta Readers, so you'll get lots of helpful writing advice in this rant!!
Q & A w/ Addison Carmichael
[Author of The Guarded Trilogy and the Sons of The Alpha series]
Q: What is a Beta Reader in your definition?
A:
A person who reads your manuscript prior to publication to see if the general public will respond positively to it once it’s rolled out. She is the “every woman” who avidly reads the same genre with gusto, and who you want to win over as well. Because if she loves your story enough to go out and purchase it, perhaps others will as well.
She is not: • Your writing professor or editor. So don’t expect her to tell you where to fix your typos, grammatical errors and structural mistakes. That’s not her job.
• Your BFF—who will tell you how much she loves your story just to make you feel better about yourself and your art. If you need to feel warm and fuzzy, get a blankie.
• Your critique partner—who will tell you that your manuscript is only birdcage worthy, because “to be cruel is to be kind” in this cutthroat business. If your BR is too critical to the point of being mean-spirited, ditch her and get another. She’s not doing you any favors by making you question why you’re even in this business.
• Your husband—who will tell you anything positive, so that he isn’t sleeping by his onesie on the couch tonight.
Q: Do you ever use a Beta Reader more than once when writing a novel?
A:
No. And before you offer others’ differing opinions, I’ll say again—no, nada, nyet.
Your book should be ready to publish. You’ve written the story, rewrote the manuscript a gazillion times, polished it, primped it, prayed over it, covered it, kissed it, ready to put a ring on it, until you truly believe this is the Great American Novel that will go down in world history.
Then you give it to your BR who will then tell you why it isn’t.
After you’ve huffed over her ignorant opinion (How dare she say that a vampire should hiss instead of growl—Edward did!), take a few days to cool off, then go back and read through the manuscript again as if you’re the one picking it up from B&N for the first time. You will then probably spot the same flaws that were hiding from you, but is obvious to anyone else who isn’t the creator.
Or you’ve looked objectively at it again and disagree with her. That’s okay, too. It is your book and your decision after all. Not all BRs are going to agree with the majority of readers out there. They’re only one person’s opinion. You’re just trying to get out of your own head for a minute.
Q: What Are the top 3 most important Questions you would ask your Beta Reader(s)?
A:
• Do you enjoy reading for entertainment, and do you read at least one book a month?
• Do you enjoy reading in the genre this book is in?
• Will you solemnly swear to at least finish the book before you throw it across the room?
Q: How many Beta Readers do you have?
A: I have one very brilliant and spot-on BR that I believe truly missed her calling to be a high dollar NY Publisher’s editor. I’ve been career writing for over 25 years, and have had more betas, editors and critique partners than I care to count. She has been by far the best, and as an added bonus has stuck with me the longest (4 years and counting). If you get a reader that even finishes one book, much less goes onto the next one, it’s always a win.
Still, she’s the exception, not the rule. You don’t need a lot of BRs, and you should never use more than three for one book. Remember that everyone’s opinion is different, and the more readers you have, the more conflicting issues you’ll get from them, making the real issue as having too many readers who disagree with each other.
Q & A w/ Rachel Pudsey
[Author of The Watcher of the Night Sky series]
Q: What are the top 3 most important questions you would ask your Beta Reader(s) about your manuscript?
A:
1. Were the characters believable?
2. Did you notice any obvious, repeating grammatical, spelling, punctuation or capitalization errors?
3. Did you feel there was too much description or exposition?
Q: At what stage in your writing do you use a Beta Reader(s)?
A: I personally wait until the final first draft is made before I send anything out. I would then work on editing each chapter at a time and send them out in order.
Q: How did you find your Beta Reader(s)?
A: While many authors seek beta readers through Facebook or other social networks, I am lucky to have friends who are also writers and incredibly honest. In the future, I aim to work with a bigger team, at which point I will approach some people I already know online who have offered their services.
Q: What do Beta Readers usually look for and help you with in your writing?
A:
One of mine is very detailed and looks into the flow and word usage. He points out grammar issues as well as recommends changing word choices or making dialogue changes. He even asks questions about plot and character choices if he thinks it doesn't match the story.
The above authors, are Indie authors that have been a great help with writing advice and that I encourage you guys to contact or check out their work!
You guys know how I love Indie authors, lol!
Noel's Venting/Rambling Session~
I've mentioned before how I write fanfiction (or I did for several years), and that it really helped with my writing- both with skill and getting more of it done. I did all my writing on
Wattpad which I mentioned and gave tips for in an old post (you can find
here if you don't remember).
Wattpad was a writing community, so I met lots of other writers through it.
And that's how I found some of my Beta Readers, others I met through my blog- I won't say who but they were one of my first blogging friends and we happened to join the same book club and discovered we had similar tastes in books!
Now there was an incident where someone had offered to give me feedback and then I never heard from them again after giving them a couple of chapters- luckily it was only a few and an older draft that was very much unpolished compared to now.
Though I was very paranoid about having a Beta Reader because of that for a while.
I had to reach out to some other authors and ask how they got over that fear, and to be honest- I'm still not over it.
Other than that, my Beta Readers have offered me a lot of help and it's true- they each offer and focus on something different.
I've noticed that every writer is different from how many Beta Readers they have, what they do for them, etc. Some Beta Readers solely focus on editing- some may just read it and criticize and hand it right back!
When writing, it's important to not copycat what other writers do- do what works for you only. So for me, that means more than one Beta Reader- but not more than five.
Sorry for all the venting Y'all!! But I hope you got some good writing advice from Rachel and Addison!!
Thanks for reading!!
~Books with Noel
P. S. Big shout out to my Beta Readers and the authors who helped make this post possible!!
