Now last time we left off with my grammar edits, so we'll take a look at the very next thing on my list-Going through my manuscript with my Alpha reader.
Now it's pretty common knowledge that I rely pretty heavily upon my mom for help in making sure my work is actually legible, (thanks dyslexia) so it should come as no surprise that she is my alpha reader.
Let's take a little step back for a moment and go over a little terminology- an alpha reader is the FIRST person (other than you) who "officially" will see your manuscript, Beta's (obviously) come afterward, but what do they actually do? and how should you work with them? Basically, an alpha reader looks over everything to make sure it makes sense as a book, while a Beta makes sure it's a good book, but for a much better, more in-depth description, I'll send you HERE.
Now, when it comes to what I do with my amazing alpha reader/mom, we go through about three rounds of editing together (did I mention she is also my editor?)
Our very first step is to look at my manuscript as a book. What looks good? What's missing? What doesn't work? How can we fix this? Second, we'll look at everything much closer, "What's wrong with this sentence?" Would this character say this in that manner?" What else could we be missing?" And lastly, we'll go through a grammar checker together, quibbling commas and arguing redundancies with a computer which honestly couldn't care less either way.
A big trick that I use through most of my edits, but ESPECIALLY these and later edits is to read out loud. I promise you can hear issues you will never see especially after you've looked over your manuscript a handful of times, (if you're dyslexic like me, there are a lot of apps that will read it out for you, even with grammar included verbally... though I haven't found one to recommend yet, stay tuned for that.)
So now I've got what I, and my mom think is a pretty good book, but we're hardly unbiased, so what now? How will a reader react to this? Are there issues I can't see? (Spoiler alert: there are.) How will I ever fix this??? BETA READER TIME!!!
Where do I find my Beta readers? I stick to people I know, friends' family, etc... but it's still really important to find the right people. Some people, no matter how much you love them, will NEVER be good betas, and that's okay, and things may come up so they can't finish, even if they genuinely wanted to, so try to be understanding.
I'd like to add a quick note for anyone who has never worked with a Beta before-especially if it's your first book or your first "serious" book; they do want to help you, try not to fight them (like I did at first.) I know you love your book, I know it's your baby, and it feels like they just don't understand, but please, take a step back, take a few days, then read their feedback again, as impartially as you can, then decided how you feel about it. If it's still wrong for your story, then fine, if it may have some merit in it? Keep it.
As I use Betas who I know personally, I allow them to access and comment directly (but not edit) my manuscript, but I also have a Google Forum with all of my questions (you can find excellent lists of Beta questions on Pinterest to build your own list!) And then... I pretty much leave them to it. If I don't hear back within a couple weeks/months, I will reach out to make sure they are still good with reading, but otherwise, I try to be patient... and chew my fingernails off. ;)
That's about it for this week, I know, it was another long one, so thanks for sticking with it this long!
Have a great day, and keep writing!
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