Eight months ago, I wrote a post–“The First Verdict Is…” It was about the feedback I got from my first beta reader (my daughter) on my previous manuscript, the one I thought was great (until I realized how much it really wasn’t…)
I’m there again. A completely new story later, I’m at the beta reader phase, where I have asked handful of friends and friends’ teenage kids and grandkids, to help me out. I’m much more organized now, thanks to Jennie’s advice: ask them well in advance if they’d be interested and if they’d have the time. Set a deadline–two or three weeks, maximum. Prepare a list of 5-7 questions for them to answer as a way to guide their feedback. Distribute hard copies so it’s easier for them to read and make notes (if they choose to).
Check, check, check and check. The copies of the manuscript are out in the world. Yet this time, I’m not biting my nails or sitting on pins and needles. I’m surprisingly not nervous. Maybe that’s because I’ve already gotten professional feedback through my coach, or maybe because I feel more confident about the story. It’s true that my beta readers may not like it, or like all of it. It’s true they may find holes in my plot I need to fill or character inconsistencies I need to fix. And I also know that a thumbs-up from my beta readers doesn’t guarantee publishing success.
But since I finally feel like I know what I’m doing, I’m okay with whatever comes next. I’ve put my best foot forward (at least the best that I can do at the moment–I do plan to keep getting better and better…) and I will now let the chips fall where they may. (Don’t you love a good set of cliches? 🙂 )
Still, keep your fingers crossed for me (a little superstition never hurt anybody, right?) and I’ll keep you posted.
In 15 days or less.
Because that’s the deadline of my beta readers.
Not that I’m counting, of course.
(14 days, and three hours…)
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