Beyond the Book: Help

“How many people read your books before you submit them? What kind of feedback do you ask for?”

I’m one of those people who can’t ever be satisfied with their work. I can agonize for what seems like forever over a single sentence that I don’t like. So I appreciate all the help I can get. 

In the past I had more help than I do now. Before I retired a friend of mine who’s an English teacher read everything I wrote. She was very good at cleaning up punctuation, spotting places where I left out words or used a wrong word, etc. Since I retired we don’t see each other as much as we once did because she’s still teaching. She only has a few years to go, and I can’t wait to get her back. 

In the meantime several family members have stepped up for me. One is my husband. He reads a book totally different than I do. He reads every single word while I sometimes get in a hurry and miss some details. He always spots inconsistencies in punctuation and the plot. He also expresses his opinion on the characters. We prefer different types of main characters so I need someone else also.

That second person is my son Steve who’s a talented writer himself. Honestly, he’s better than his mother! When Steve reads he’s able to look at the overall picture and see if everything works together to make a cohesive, compelling story. He also has a fine sense of pacing. 

And that’s about it at the moment. I’d love to have a few more readers, but at this time I don’t. I’ve considered an online group, but I just haven’t followed up on it. Maybe this post will give me some motivation.