Beta readers
There’s a proverb that, loosely translated, says that a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client, and there’s another, loosely translated, that says a physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient. So, riddle me this: What is an author who decides they need no one else’s input before bringing their book to market?
Beta readers are people who volunteer to read and critique your work. They can be friends, family, colleagues, online acquaintances, or even fellow authors who will beta for you in exchange for you doing the same for them. However, whoever your beta readers are, you must trust them, and they must tell you the truth. Auntie Em and Uncle Jeb piling on the accolades doesn’t do you any good. Sure, it strokes your ego, but that’s about all it does. It does not improve your book, and that’s the goal.
There are also beta readers who will beta-read for you for a price, but that concept just doesn’t sit well with me. I’m looking for honest feedback, not feedback from someone who may feel indebted to report good findings because I’m paying them. While I understand that, for some, time is money, and reading a book takes time, unless these ‘for-hire’ beta readers have actual beta-reading businesses, what makes their input any better or worse than that of the thousands of free beta readers out there?
There is a host of social media groups filled with ravenous readers, and those ravenous readers are not only offering free beta reads, but you can find them in groups specific to your genre. That’s super important. You don’t want someone who adores historical fiction to be beta-reading your sci-fi novel. You want someone who, because they adore your genre, may eventually buy your book because it’s right up their alley, or equally as great, tell their friends about the newest book hitting the market soon. (That’s called marketing, and it’s free.)
Just in case you’re wondering, I have a small group of people who act as my beta readers, and I trust them to the nth degree to give me the truth. They are great friends, but more importantly, they do not pull punches. They do not sugarcoat, and they never—never—tell me what I want to hear. They tell me the truth, no matter how much it stings. That’s what you want in a beta reader, and when you find yours, you need to make sure you tell them that. No pulling punches. No chocolate flavoring. Just the plain, cold, hard truth.
Although the job of most beta readers is to focus only on the storyline, pace, characters, etc., all of mine go a cavernous step beyond that. They are truly editors in their own right, not only providing input on the overall story but also pointing out inconsistencies, typos, punctuation issues, and spelling problems. I’m fairly certain this isn’t the norm, but if you meet the right people, the people who want to see you succeed for no other reason than that, then thank your lucky stars. I do every single freaking day.
Editing Services
Full disclosure, I have subscriptions to Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Microsoft 365 (for Word), but I have never paid for actual editing services. Why, you ask? Mostly because of money. I don’t write novellas. I write lengthy novels. Even at two cents a word, I would have had to pay out $3,840 to have my novel Biding Time edited, and that would have been only for proofreading. Remember, there is more than one type of editor, so before you hire anyone, you need to decide if you’re looking for a proofreader, a copy editor, a line editor, or a developmental editor. You also need to do your homework.
If someone is asking for money to edit your book, whether it be for proofreading, copyediting, line editing, or developmental input, they should have at the very least a bachelor’s degree in either English, Journalism, Creative Writing, Literature, or Communication. A random college degree in any other subject means nothing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve met lots of super-smart folks with degrees out the wazoo who can’t spell, capitalize, or even punctuate to save their lives. So, if someone calling themselves an editor is asking to be paid, they need to prove their worth, and not just by providing you with a copy/snapshot of their degree. They should also freely supply you with the names of the authors they’ve worked for and all the titles of the books they’ve edited. Then, it’s time for you to do some research.
First, reach out to the author(s) via their websites or social media accounts. Ask them for their honest opinion regarding working with the editor or editing service. Was it a good experience? Was it worth the money? Were there issues? Did they respond within the time constraints? And the big one: Would they hire them again?
For the actual book(s) in question, head on over to Amazon and Goodreads and see what the readers are saying. Are any of them mentioning poor grammar, punctuation, or typos? Readers don’t hold back if they run into what they feel are unforced errors, especially if there are a lot of them. And since you, as a writer, should have a fundamental grasp of basic punctuation and grammar, open the book sample and read a few pages. If you plan to shell out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for editing services, do your homework, or buyer beware.
Cover Design
Three words: Hire a professional.
If you’re a relatively new writer, or one that has yet to establish their following, you literally have one chance to grab a potential reader’s eye among the zillions of teenie-tiny thumbnails out there on book-selling platforms, and you ain’t going to do it with an amateurish cover you whipped up in Paint. So, unless you’re a professional graphic artist who also dabbles in writing books, leave the cover of your book to the professionals because they have the experience you do not.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that what an author imagines for their cover is going to sink their book, but consider me a traditionalist on this. The graphic artist I use is a real person with real experience and real years tucked under her knowledgeable belt. She listens to my ideas, my wants, and my dislikes, and she is not shy about dissing any of them. (lol) Then, after reaching a meeting of minds, she uses that information to create something wonderful. It may take a few back-and-forth emails to get things right, and I’ll spend a lot of time looking at stock photography, but that’s okay. I’m the one who’ll eventually be purchasing the rights to use it, and I’m the author. I know the characters, the book’s tone, and all the little details, so it’s a no-brainer for me to expect to look through endless pages of stock photography. I’m not paying my graphic designer for her ability to search for photography. I’m paying for her knowledge, experience, and artistry, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s money well spent.
Regarding covers generated by AI, I’m not a fan. I agree it can come up with some awesome covers, but there are a few issues you need to think about. AI gives you exactly what you’re asking for, and therein lies the rub. Unless you’re a professional graphic artist dealing with book covers, you, the author, have no clue as to what actually makes a book cover appealing to someone zooming through an online store filled with all those teeny-tiny thumbnails of zillions of books. You don’t know what colors work the best. You don’t know which fonts actually enhance rather than detract. You don’t even know what clichés to avoid. All you know is that in your mind, you see the cover you want, and there is no wiggle room. You want what you want, regardless of whether it’s what you need to grab a reader’s attention, and if you’re in the market to sell books, grabbing a reader’s attention matters.
And speaking of readers, they aren’t stupid. From what I’ve seen and read in writing communities on social media, many readers outright hate AI-generated covers. They view them as amateurish, and as such, the writing inside the book—your blood, sweat, and tears writing—must be amateurish as well. After all, only a lazy writer would slap just any cover on their pride and joy, unless it’s not their pride and joy.
When you use an AI-designed book cover, don’t be surprised if, down the road, someone else’s cover features the same background, subjects, fonts, or exact layout as yours. After all, AI is a machine, and if what it designs works once, why not again? Also, please remember that AI is learning by being fed gargantuan meals of data based on existing artwork and book covers. If what it creates for you mimics an existing copyrighted work too closely, you may be exposed to copyright infringement. AI is a machine. It can’t be sued. You, on the other hand, are a real, live person with a bank account whose name just happens to be on the cover.
Food for thought? Up to you.