Yesterday, L.T. Host asked how many beta readers I have.
Starting today, four fabulous humans are slogging their way through my WIP- my husband and three fellow teachers. Strangely enough, none are history teachers, but I begged an English teacher, science teacher, and the German teacher to read the book. I’ve also had another super-fab English teacher read a very early draft before I finished the WIP and she gave me some valuable feedback that helped me develop my characters, but she’s now indisposed with an infant. I don’t know any other writers in the flesh to pull into my cadre of beta readers, but I like to think teachers are some of the more critical readers around. And you know, it’s not like they have anything else to do with all their free time. 😉
Of course, flipping through the pages today I found a gazillion things that need culled or reworded, but I refuse to touch the book for another 6 weeks. Saving any major epiphanies (love that word!), of course.
Beta readers are teh awesomeness.
I'll honestly probably have you all (fellow blogosphere cohorts) read CALLARION AT NIGHT along with my in-the-flesh readers. Different perspectives and all that.
I completely agree with Matt in that beta readers ROCK! I almost put his exact words then realized he'd already used them. I feel like I can never have too many beta readers.
It's hard to resist making changes, and I wasn't able to. But it actually worked out because my second beta reader got to see the changes suggested by my first beta reader and didn't raise any flags about any of the same things, so that was nice. Something to think about. 🙂
Best of luck with waiting! How'd it feel to hold your book in your hands yesterday???