Writing

By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor CynsationsAuthor Interview: Tim Tingle on How I Became a Ghost from The Edmond Sun. Peek: "My great-great-grandfather...was 10...when his family began the long walk (The Trail of Tears) to what is now Oklahoma. I wanted to write a book based on these family memories that a young reader would enjoy, with humor and discovery, with snow monsters and shape-shifting panthers."Author Insight: The Write Mood from Wastepaper Prose. Peek: "Sometimes the simple act of writing becomes challenging. How do you make yourself write when you aren’t in the mood? Do you ever reward yourself at milestones?"African Youth Literature: What Visibility in the International Market? by Mariette Robbes from PaperTigers. Peek: "While catering for their local readership, publishers in Africa also wish to be known internationally and to have business with publishers from others countries."Seven Questions for Literary Agent Gemma Cooper from Middle Grade Ninja. Peek: "If you expect publishing to be in its own weird timezone, then you won’t be as surprised when it goes through stages of being crazy-manic and then deathly quiet. Be patient and go with it."The Cabinet of Curiosities: short fictions for the young and mischievous. Highly recommended.New Voices Award from Lee & Low. Peek: "...award-winning publisher of children's books, is pleased to announce the fourteenth annual New Voices Award. The Award will be given for a children's picture book manuscript by a writer of color. The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and our standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500."The Core of the Verse Novel from Marion Dane Bauer. Peek: "Because experimenting with new methods and styles is the best way to stay fresh in the midst of a long career?"Tips for Tackling BEA from Wastepaper Prose. Peek: "...we know a lot of you are headed to NYC to attend. We've thought back on past experience and each of us has come up with some last minute tips that could help if you prepare and have an enjoyable show."Diversity on the Page, Behind the Pencil and in the Office by Judith Rosen from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "In doing research for books, he (illustrator London Ladd) recommended that creators develop a relationship with others so that they can understand them better. 'It would enhance your work,' he said."Kidlit Cares for Oklahoma from Kate Messner. Peek: "...because Oklahoma needs help right now, given the magnitude of damage from this week’s EF5 tornado. Please consider making a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Effort now. If you donate at least $10, I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a signed book."Parragon Publishing India Unpacks High School Horror Fantasies from All About Book Publishing. Peek: "Parragon is one of the largest visual book publishers operating out of 35 countries worldwide. The company has tied up with the best printing facilities in the world and its books are printed in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Europe, USA and other locations."Pack(ag)ing It Up from Gwenda Bond. Peek: "No one I know who's done this kind of work has any illusions about the downsides going into it. Though I have heard horror stories about people it has worked out pretty awfully for or who were made to expect things that didn't materialize. But I will also say that not everything I've heard is a horror story."Interview with Award-winning Author Don Tate by Brittney Breakey from Author Turf. Peek: "Speaking earns decent income and allows for promoting my books. But it also steals valuable time away from book making."Is Our Culture Becoming Too Critical and Open? from Jody Hedlund. Peek: "...we're seeing an increase in readers sharing their thoughts about books more publicly (instead of privately or in the confines of book groups). And hence with the increased openness, we're also seeing more negativity (as well as positi

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy Dipping into the archives today since it's a holiday weekend here in the US. Enjoy! Writing a sequel is hard. I mean, really hard. I had no idea the first time I wrote one, and figured book two would be just as easy as book one. It was my first sequel, and I learned a lot doing it. If you haven't faced one yet (or you have and it made you want to pull your hair out) here are some tips on dealing with book two. 1. A sequel should be its own story. Unless you already have a slew of books under your belt and can get away with breaking one story into multiple books (and let's face it, most of us can't do that), a sequel should be it's own story. It needs to be understandable even if someone didn't read the first one. By that I mean, it should have a goal, scenes to achieve that goal, and a resolution to that goal just like any other book. A common mistake for sequels (especially middle books of trilogies) is that it sets up book three. Instead of being a complete book, it's like one big boggy middle. 2. A sequel should remind readers about book one, without rehashing the whole thing or relying on the first to make sense. This is a toughy, because odds are, book one ended with a natural transition to book two. You can't talk about the problems in B2 without mentioning B1. Finding the right balance between explaining critical B1 events and keeping B2 focused on the new plot is challenging. What I eventually did was pretend readers knew all about B1 while writing the draft. I treated it just like backstory, because B1 is essentially all backstory for B2. After I was done, I went back and looked at all those backstory pieces. Were they clear in context, or did I need to add a few lines to explain what I meant. While you'll probably have to do some infodumping, (and it's okay in this context), make sure you only explain the bare minimum needed to get the referenced material. 3. A sequel should maintain the same things readers loved about book one, but not duplicate it. Your first instinct will probably be to do something totally different so it's not the same book again, but then you risk losing everything readers liked in the first place. And since the story is continuing, a lot of similar things will still be happening. Look for ways to approach similar but necessary things from a new angle. Is there a way to add a layer of emotion to it? Add a complication based on what happened before? Did the characters learn anything in B1 that make them approach the same issues in B2 differently? Be wary of trying so hard not to copy yourself that you ignore good ideas just because "I did that in book one." Judge each event and see how close it really is, and if anything new is learned from it. 4. A sequel should reveal new things about the characters and world. Readers want to keep discovering more about your world and characters. Dig deep to find new secrets or cool new world building to keep them hooked. If you have a book three, it's okay to hold some stuff back (or better yet--use this as an opportunity to plant some seeds for B3) for the next book. However, also don't be afraid of using up "all the good stuff" for B2. Look for opportunities to reveal, and be able to build off those reveals later. 5. The characters should have grown some. Your characters underwent some tough stuff last book, and they learned a thing or two from it. Don't have them making the same mistakes all over again. Let them make new mistakes, or even have learned the lessons wrong so they make a bigger mistake this time around. It's fun for readers to see characters avoid something that would have tripped them up in the first book. 6. Don't forget your secondary characters. Book twos are a great place to explore your secondary characters some. Try giving them more responsibility or opportunities to act. Small book one walk on characters are also great resources for characters in book two.

“I play a Gibson Les Paul through a 65amp half-stack. Love that amp. It’s so huge-sounding. I’m all about big, nasty, sleazy dirty riffs, and that amp with the Les Paul make my sound. I also play around with some pedals. One of my favorites that I used on the record is a Death By Audio pedal called the Supersonic Fuzz Gun. It’s so messed up and dirty sounding. I love it.” — Siouxsie Medley The other night I went to see a band in downtown LA. My friend Marc and I developed a fascination with the guitarist. The band played hard rock, thrashing and soulful, and she was this waif in a sweatshirt torn off one shoulder and long brown hair whipping around as if the music was punishing it (in a good way) and she stalked her end of the stage, body rocking and rocking it out, hands a blur in every photograph I took, and let me tell you boys and girls she owned that instrument. She was ruling it and working it, which let the music work magic through her. She didn’t look like she was that many years out of high school. She must have found her way to guitar in her teens if not sooner. Holed in her room, the bite of steel in her fingers, as she leveled up from suck to nonsuck to halfway decent to decently average to hey, that’s not so bad to hey, that’s pretty good to damn, girl, play that shit again. My guess was that she didn’t have many friends. To log all those hours of solitary practice, she must have been some kind of geek. One reason why geeks are the way they are is because of how obsession defines them. They’d rather spend time deepening their knowledge and acquiring mad skills instead of, say, social savvy. (Which isn’t to say that social skills don’t eventually come, at least to some of us.) The world outside that obsession? Often bores them. It isn’t as rich or vivid or visceral, it doesn’t get them where they live in quite the same way. The obsession is always in the background, waiting, and some part of them waits to return to it. It’s kind of a cliché now to evoke Malcolm Gladwell’s Ten Thousand Hour Rule (it takes ten thousand hours of practice to become excellent at whatever it is that you’re practicing) so I’m hesitant to do it (even though I just did). Also, Gladwell’s rule is only part of the picture. It’s not enough that those hours have to number ten thousand (at least, and more often fifteen or twenty) but they have to be a specific kind of practice. It’s called deliberate practice, and it keeps you at your ragged edge, attempting a specific task that you keep failing at and failing at until finally you get it and your teacher moves you on to something new that you keep failing at and failing at and on and on it goes. Continue like this long enough – for years – and eventually you arrive at a point where, as Stephen Cope explains “….The capacity to know a certain domain of the world in such depth appears to us ordinary mortals as a kind of supernormal power. It seems like magic. It is not magic at all, of course, but simply the inevitable result of sustained concentration on an object of intense interest.” As Frans Johansson points out in his book THE CLICK MOMENT, racking up ten thousand hours of sustained concentration on a particular interest is necessary to excel in some fields – but not so much in others. Some areas are so new and/or volatile and/or rapidly changing that excellence relies not on skill so much as a deep game-changing creative insight. Meanwhile Tim Ferriss and Josh Kaufman have come out with books (THE 4-HOUR CHEF and THE FIRST 20 HOURS, respectively) that show how you can hack the process of mastery by approaching your study in specific, strategic ways. But here’s the thing. Ferriss and Kaufman are assuming that the end point of this process is the product itself: the skill you’ve acquired, the cool thing you can now do for your own enjoyment or to impress your friends and lover(s). Which is aweso

I'm sorry about the radio silence on the blog. I've been pretty busy the last month with prepping for appearances and trying to get two writing projects published for your reading pleasure. Even though I feel like I'm constantly working, I'm a little behind on several projects, including my newsletter. I hope to have the next newsletter out by the end of this month. *fingers crossed*If you haven't signed up for the newsletter, please make sure you do! I offer freebies, excerpts, and all sorts of fun stuff.Upcoming ReleasesThe audio book for Pretty When They Collide will be released in June. I don't have an exact date, but I will let you know when it goes live. I really loved listening to the audio version of the story of Aimee and Cass. Kristen Allison nailed it perfectly. I really loved what she did with the characters' voices and with the narration.As The World Dies Untold Tales Vol 3 comes out in June, too. The final cover art is being worked on by Philip Rogers. Not only does the cover have a really cool rendering of Rune (my friend George Russell, who Rune was based on, was the reference model!), but he's doing an awesome back cover rendition of my character Emma. I can't wait to share Emma with you! She's one of my favorite As The World Dies characters. She inhabited the original online serial's epilogue, but I ditched it later because it felt forced. Emma was the only thing that felt right about it.The early reviews are coming in from the bloggers. Check out Giselle of Xpresso Reads thought here, and Kristen's review at Blood, Sweat and Books here.As The World Dies Untold Tales Volume 3 is now available EXCLUSIVELY in most ebook formats at my online bookstore for $2.99. Directions on how to upload to your reading device are included. The ebook and paperback will not be released to online retailers and bookstores until June. This is an EARLY release for the fans.To purchase, click here.Release Day Online Party DetailsThe complete first season of In Darkness We Must Abide is officially released tomorrow, May 24 in both paperback and ebook. Xpresso Tours is hosting a blog tour complete with giveaways, guest posts, interviews, reviews, etc.On Facebook, I'm hosting an online event that will include giveaways of paperbacks, bookmarks, ebooks, and some of my other vampire novels. I will also be doing two Q & A's via webcam/chat room.On Friday, 5/24, I'll be doing two video Q & A's via the TinyChat application on Facebook. You'll just have to download the app and follow the link when I post it on the event page. You'll be directed straight into the chat room.The first chat is scheduled with Europe in mind. 1 PM Central Time will place this chat in the early evening. You'll have to check a time zone converter for the exact time in your country. This also can work for people who work in the evenings in North America.The second one will be at 8 PM Central Time.Basically, I'll be on live webcam and you guys and gals get to ask me questions about IN DARKNESS WE MUST ABIDE or anything else you'd like to discuss about my writing career, my books, or the horror genre.Make sure you RVSP here.I have some more news brewing, but nothing set in stone just yet. I'll keep you updated on future writing projects and releases.

Let me start with this:  For those of you who don’t know, I am hosting a fundraiser/giveaway to benefit the victims of the Boston Bombing through the One Fund of Boston.  The details on the fundraiser and how the various giveaways work can be found here:  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/DBJacksonThieftaker/thieftakergiveaway  You can also make your donation at that site, and I would urge you — beg you — to do so.  Many victims of the bombing face years of rehabilitation and medical treatment, the costs of which are scarcely comprehensible.  Though the bombing itself has faded from the headlines, its impact on people’s lives continues to be devastating. It is, I suppose, fair to ask why a New Yorker like me feels so connected to the city of Boston.  Part of the answer lies in my youth, in the fact that all of my (much older) siblings attended college in the Boston area, so that visits to the city became a recurring part of my childhood.  Part of it may lie in the fact that I went to college in Providence, and spent a good deal of my early adulthood in Boston.  Part of it may even lie in the fact that as a Yankee fan, a Knicks fan, a Rangers fan, a Giants fan, I have gained a healthy respect for our New England rivals and their fans. More than that, though, my love of Boston grows out of my study of U.S. history.  During the years immediately before the American Revolutionary War, Boston was the epicenter of the Colonial rebellion.  This was true not merely because people like Samuel Adams and James Otis, Paul Revere and Joseph Warren were willing to agitate for separation from the Crown and Parliament, although they were.  It was true because so many of the intellectuals who began to conceive of a new form of government lived in the city.  Yes, there were leaders elsewhere — Dickinson and Franklin in Pennsylvania, Madison, Jefferson, and Henry in Virginia — but the concentration of political action and thought in Boston at the time was stunning. This is one of the reasons why I set my Thieftaker series (written as D.B. Jackson) in Boston in the 1760s.  I wanted an urban setting in Colonial America.  I wanted a city with a seedy side, a dark side.  Boston had those things.  But it also had a richness of history that I could not find anywhere else.  And so, for me the question “Why Boston?” comes down to this. Boston has become, for me, a creative home, a place where my love of history and passion for writing fantasy have intersected, taking my career in a new and exciting direction.  I love the city, and I feel that I owe it something in return for all that it has given me. But of course, the question “Why Boston?” has a more troubling side.  The same traditions and historical significance that drew me to the city for my Thieftaker books, made Boston a target.  When terrorists attacked New York and Washington, they struck at the seats of our economic and political power.  When they attacked Boston, they struck at our heritage.  And that’s also why we need to stand up and help those most affected by the bombing.  Because Boston belongs to all of us, just as our nation’s history belongs to all of us. So, I hope you’ll give to the One Fund through my Fundraiser/Giveaway.  And I hope you’ll be one of the lucky recipients of the items I’m giving away.  Thanks.

Yesterday I got two new tattoos. This makes 12 or 13 total depending on how you count. Let's say 13. I like the idea of being on lucky number 13... Generally speaking, I get tattoos to celebrate major milestones or honor someone special to me. I have my cat's pawprint, a nurse in honor of my NICU nurse mom, a matching tattoo with my sister, another one with my best friend, one I got on a trip to Seattle with two of my closest girl friends who I regularly travel with and one for my favorite band, Nirvana. I have one tattoo celebrating each of my books and a matching tattoo I got with my husband on our first wedding anniversary. I also have the Latin word for 'breathe,' which is 'spirare' on my left wrist. I got that with my BFF (though hers' is in English) because we're both high-strung, workaholics (and I'm a total worrywart to boot) and we need that reminder.At the time I got the 'spirare' tattoo, I thought it would be cool to get 'scribere,' Latin for 'write' on my right wrist (since that is the hand I write with.) But last January when I got 'spirare,' I was in the middle of my major crisis of faith about my writing career. I was doubting if I would ever be published again, if I deserved to call myself a writer anymore, or if I even wanted to be one.I told myself that when I sold another book, I would get the 'scribere' tattoo along with a Sleater-Kinney quote that has been like my personal motto since I was sixteen years old when I put it in the introduction to the zine, Hospital Gown, that I created to work through the emotionally abusive relationship I'd recently come out of. The quote is "These words are all I am." Writing is my soul, my form of survival--at least I thought it was for most of my life, but again, last year, I was in doubt.This (unfortunately) is not my round-about way of telling you that I sold another book, but I hope, no, I believe, I will sell another one soon. I finished revisions on The Grief Book on May 10th. They weren't major... I just had to cut about 15,000 words. That book just flowed out of me, though. I'm so proud of it, maybe even more proud than I was of BALLADS, which has always been the book of my heart. My agent took the book out on submission last Friday. I hope believe at least one editor will fall in love with it and want to publish it. But regardless, I'm proud. I know that at the core I will always be a writer. I have been all this time. Even if I move to Seattle and get a full time job in an office, I will continue to write things for Rookie, which is the magazine of my dreams and my heart, and is what helped remind me of who I am and why I write. (oooh, I really need a Rookie tattoo...)I breathe and I write. These words ARE all I am. And dammit, I wrote and revised a book in 9 months time (whoa, literal book baby!), I powered through uncertainty, through depression, anxiety, and grief, some very fresh, some as old as my first book now, but still raw and painful at times. That was an accomplishment worth celebrating, so I did with tattoo number 12:which matches this tattoo: And tattoo number lucky 13: which fits quite perfectly below this tattoo that I got for my first book and goes along with my Sleater-Kinney theme there. (I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone is named for the Sleater-Kinney song, and the tattoo features the music for that song. Also "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" is on the same album as "Anonymous," the song my new quote comes from):So here's to new ink, revived faith, and a book on submission that I hope believe you will get to read soon!

By Cynthia Leitich Smithfor CynsationsLaurie Boyle Crompton is the first-time author of Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) (Sourcebooks, 2013) and looks forward to the release of Adrenaline (FSG/Macmillian, 2014) and The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High (Sourcebooks, 2014).From the promotional copy of Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains):When comic-obsessed Blaze stands up to her evil ex, he posts a racy picture of her online and a battle of epic proportions ensues. Before she knows it, Zap! Thwack! Pow! Blaze becomes the target of intense bullying. She must learn to channel her inner-superhero if she hopes to gain the ultimate victory; rescuing herself. Read an excerpt of Blaze.How do you psyche yourself up to write, to keep writing, and to do the revision necessary to bring your manuscript to a competitive level? What, for you, are the special challenges in achieving this goal? What techniques have worked best and why?As a debut author I’m in a unique (and extremely blessed!) position of having three books under contract with two different publishers so I have pressing deadlines all over the place.Publisher deadlines are very effective motivators, but I still need to set my own deadlines along the way. Breaking a huge revision project into stages such as, “By Friday I will finish compiling research,” or “I have two weeks to do a final manuscript read-through,” makes things much more manageable.It works well that I’ve always been able to convince myself that my own deadlines are ‘real’ which is probably helped by the fact that I’m a little bit gullible.When I find motivation lagging I try to tune in to the inspiration that drove me to write the story in the first place. That initial spark is something that should continue to burn throughout the process.I also try not to think about the book going public. When you write edgy YA, imagining your mother or grandmother reading your work can tend to stifle creativity. Of course, this game of pretending nobody will ever read the book grows harder as the process draws closer to publication day.The writer’s worst enemy in the late stages is a little thing called perfectionism. The final read-through can be brutal since it’s the last time for making changes. It’s difficult to let go and release your book into the world, but there comes a point where you just need to decide on the word you have changed back and forth with each draft and accept the fact that you won’t be able to tinker with this story anymore. Then the best thing is to turn focus to the next project.How did you go about connecting with your agent? What was your search process like? Who did you decide to sign with? What about that person and/or agency seemed like the best fit for you? What advice do you have for other writers in seeking the right agent for them?I love talking about my wonderful agent! The day I signed with Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency was the day things turned around for my writing career.Mind you, I still had a long path before getting that first publisher yes (and six months later the second one!). But I’m constantly telling writers they need the right agent, not necessarily the right now agent.My path to publication had many twists and turns, and I know that feeling of wanting to get your polished manuscript in front of editors, like, now! But as tempting as it can be to jump on that first agent offer, be sure you listen to your gut before signing on the dotted line.I learned this lesson the hard way. After working on my craft for a number of years I got my first offer from a reputable children’s agent and I was thrilled. Finally, here was someone who would get my book in front of editors! I was on my way! But on my way to where? It turns out I was in for three years of heartbreak and insecurity.That agent happens to be great for some people and we split on the best of terms, but looking back it should’ve happened much sooner. I do not in any way blame that

Welcome back to #55WordChallenge! We have a lot of fun last week and I hope the fun continues this week. For those that are uninitiated, the 55 Word Challenge is a contest to write a story in 55 words or less. Not an easy task, but fun and I have been blown away by some of the entries. See for yourself, past contests can be found here. (I am a bit behind in getting this updated.) The challenge begins at noon Eastern time every Wednesday and ends at noon Thursday. The story is based on one of three photo prompts. My only request is no porn. I don't want to hear graphic details. If it is erotic, make it titillating, not obscene. I know that can be done and done well. The story is to be posted in the comment section below, along with your twitter handle or email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner. And what does the winner get? Besides bragging rights? This badge. If anyone is interested in contributing a prize, a book, cover art, whatever you want, let me know and we will work something out. If you are an artist that would like to have your work featured, let me know! Photo Prompt:Courtesy Petr KratochvilCourtesy Peter GriffinCourtesy George Hodan

By Laini Bostianfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's CynsationsLibrarian Laini Bostian blogs at The Made Up Librarian. Today she talks to Eric A. Kimmel about authors marketing their manuscripts to publishers. Learn more about Eric from Scholastic.Eric: About writing and marketing, it’s never one or the other. Professional writers do look to the market. They have to. There are always compromises and adjustments to be made during the composition process and during the revision and editing processes.The key is how does the author feel about making the changes. If you go too far and say "yes" too often, you may come to a point where it’s no longer your book.Also, some editors will tell you upfront that they may not be the one to handle a particular manuscript. It isn’t doing anything for them, or the changes they’d suggest would turn it into an entirely different story. Sometimes the writer can go along with that. Sometimes we can’t.I’ll give you a recent example that just happened with the manuscript I’m sending out. I originally conceived it as YA. Several of the editors who've responded so far made the point that it didn’t feel like a YA. It felt more like middle grade.My agent Jennifer Laughran called to talk to me about it. The editors may be right, she said. YA is edgier. The characters are older. There’s more sex and drama. My main character is finishing middle school. You might call the story YA, but it’s definitely on the younger edge of the spectrum.It’s borderline between age markets, and as Jenn pointed out, “The border is where you don’t want to be.”Editors can’t fit it into a specific genre. They can’t predict its audience or what it will do.That can be the kiss of death these days.What Jenn suggested is marketing, not literary advice: Take it down a couple of years. Forget YA and go for middle grade. It would be easy. The changes would be mostly cosmetic.She also pointed out that the YA genre is glutted right now. It’s been so successful that everyone’s writing YA. Meanwhile, there’s a definite shortage of middle grade fiction.So guess what I’ve been doing this past week? It’s a change I can live with. I see the point. It actually suits the characters, the story, and me more.Are these revisions marketing decisions? You bet! Are they artistic ones? Definitely yes, because I feel comfortable with them and actually think the manuscript is better for my having made them.Laini: So, if this work does not sell, will you be upset? What should young writers do? What would you say to them?Eric: I’d be disappointed, but it’s happened before. There’s nothing you can do about it. On to the next.However, that doesn’t mean you give up. Set the manuscript aside. Maybe you can do something with it later. Times change, so a manuscript no one wants today may become a hot item in a couple of years.The advantage I have over young writers is I know the drill. A similar rejection could be devastating for a beginner. But again, so what? Will you quit and never write anything again?Guess what? Nobody cares. Real writers suck it up and start something else. The ones that are only in it for a payoff will find something else to do.What should young writers do? Write! They think they’re going to get rich? That editors owe them something because they scribbled out a manuscript? That they don’t have to revise?Well, they’ll learn, and they’ll be better writers for it. And if they decide to spend their time doing something else, what of it? I guarantee there will be no shortage of writers or good books.

By Tiffany Reisz, @tiffanyreisz Let’s talk betas! Not the fishies, the people!. First of all, what is a beta? You often hear the term in reference to software programs or video games. Beta testers are customers or users a company chooses to try out their new product before it’s ready for the market. The everyday user might find bugs and quirks that the software engineer who designed the game or product missed. A product in “beta” is an almost finished product not ready for market yet. For writers, betas are our first readers of our new books. Many published writers, even bestselling and award-winning authors, have either a critique partner or a set of beta readers who read their books prior to publication. Not every writer uses betas, however. And usually you can tell who those writers are when you read their books. Why should you use beta readers? ’Twas a bestselling book by a bestselling author from a major publisher. I picked it up because I heard that it was full of naughtiness. Alas, it was also flush with errors. The lead female character’s name was even misspelled at one point in the book. One extra set of eyes before that manuscript went to the publisher could have caught that glaring error. This Alpha Author needed a Beta Reader (or two or three) big time. My own beta readers have caught the following errors in my books. continuity errors (he’s driving a Jaguar in one scene and in a Ferrari the next scene) incorrect words (I used “riff” when I meant “rift,” an error spellcheck missed) factual errors (soil in New Hampshire is marshy, not dry) character issues (she says she won’t do something in the first chapter, by the third chapter she’s doing it without any explanation why) bad writing (seriously, Tiffany, if you leave that paragraph in, I’ll come to your house and punch you in the nose but knowing you, you’ll like it) Do you want a book full of continuity errors, incorrect words that are spelled correctly but are in fact, incorrect, factual errors, characters whose behavior doesn’t make sense, and bad writing? Then don’t use beta readers. If you’d rather have a book free of those sorts of errors, then get eyes on your pages before sending your manuscript off to your likely overworked editor. Your editor is one set of eyes. Your copyeditor is another. Your proofreader is another. That’s not enough to catch every error in your novel. How do you find beta readers? They’re all around you. I’ve found beta readers at my public library writing group, at writers conferences, through social media (including a fan forum for my favorite actor Jason Isaacs). If you present your work to a group of other writers, pay attention to their feedback. The writers who tell you what you did wrong will make better beta readers than someone who gives you nothing but compliments. I have one strict rule for beta readers--they have to be writers. Why writers and not fans? Fans beg to read my books pre-publication after all. I tell them no every time. Fans read for pleasure, and they deserve a finished, polished draft, not a confused muddle of a work-in-progress. Also fans read with love and have trouble telling one of their favorite authors they’ve made a mistake. I did a test once where I let five random people beta read a short story. The five volunteers included two fans of mine, two professional writers, and one professional editor for an indie press. The two fans returned the short story with nothing but punctuation errors marked. The two professional writers gave me great constructive criticism. The professional editor gave me pages of notes. Fans make bad critics. That’s why I love them as fans (seriously, I love my damn fans *sniffs*) and never use them as betas. Who are my betas? I have five and each of them has their own speciality. My literary fiction writing friend Robin is my first beta reader when the book is finished. Why is she first? Her speciality is macro edits. She tells me if whole chapters or