Beta-readers are the people who read your manuscript before it’s published to give you advice about how to make it better.
Sort of like “beta players” in the gaming industry are the lucky dogs who get to see Destiny 2 before the rest of us players who test the game while it’s still in “beta” and not ready to be released for the masses.
So what have they taught me?
- I have a coy writing style, frequently sacrificing “communicative” for “cute”.
- When you tack a beginning onto the front of your book…people can tell that you just tacked a beginning onto the front of your book.
- Layman beta-reader: “I like it.”
Author beta-reader: *3 pages later…* - Not everyone has lived in my pretend world for years the way I have.
- REWRITE REWRITE REWRITE and don’t stress it, ’cause you won’t please everyone.
- High-quality beta-readers = worth their weight in gold.
Thank you for reading this week’s stand-in blog post; now I’m off to rework that tacky beginning 😉