Rebel Ragdoll Radio: Episode 13, Editing Your Novel, Part III of III

EPISODE 13: EDITING YOUR NOVEL, PART III of III

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Welcome to the third installment of the “Editing Your Novel” Miniseries! Editing is important for developing your manuscript. We’ve already discussed in our first editing podcast and the second editing podcast that your editing should take place in three stages: the author self-edit and the the professional editor edit. NOW, we’re going to look for some beta editors, and I’ll share with you my process on finding these kind of editors.

So in this podcast,I’ll introduce you to:

• Why finding beta readers is an important last step to your novel writing process. This is the closest that you will get to your consumers before you actually release your book. You want to get honest consumer feedback for a multitude of reasons: 1. one of your betas might have an area of expertise that will allow you to shore your novel up in a beneficial way, 2. your betas reactions to your work (saying it’s dark, gritty, fast-paced, etc), might help you to write a better book description and back blurb, and 3. this is a pre-testing of your work on your targeted audience! So don’t miss out on it!

• How to choose your beta readers. Your beta readers should be in your peer group, your consumer group, and should adore the genre in which you write. DO NOT get a romance novel lover to read your gritty crime novel, because their feedback might not apply to what you’re aiming for! You should have a diversity of beta readers… people who just love and know the genre you’re in, people who have expertise in fields you aren’t certain in (like medicine, military tactics, gunsmithing, etc), or people who are just more experienced than you are in handling a large, complex and rich worlds who can offer valuable feedback. Look around you at the expertise of your friends. Is one of them a med student? A gun-nut? A former helicopter pilot in the Air Force? Get their feedback!

• How to get the most out of your beta readers as they go through your manuscript.I say to encourage your beta readers to read the manuscript with a pen in hand, underlining things that are completely confusing or illogical. Encourage them to write on the manuscript itself and in the margins, also encourage them to look out for spelling mistakes. FINALLY, maybe it’s just the researcher in me, but I’m all about getting directed feedback through questionnaires. Make a 2-page questionnaire. Leave the first page blank for their general feedback, and then ask questions on the second page, leaving them room to answer. You can use any question form you want, from check-off boxes to open-ended short answer questions. Use this section to get feedback on specific areas, concepts, characters, and plot lines that you weren’t completely sure about. This guided feedback will help you in your re-write.

• How to synthesize all your beta readers’ feedback. General rule of thumb: if one person is whining about it, you might be able to ignore it. But if at least two people point out the same issue, it most likely needs to be addressed. Read through all the beta comments first, and then synthesize them into the major points that need to be addressed in the body of your work!

So that brings us to the end of the “Editing Your Novel” three-part mini  series. The next step to take after completing this three-step editing process is to take a break! Take two or three weeks away from your work or work on something else before you dive into the next stage of this process: the re-write. I’ll be talking more about the re-write when I get to this stage in the game, but until then stay tuned to my weekly podcasts. I’ll be changing gears slightly as we dive into a new chapter: TV Writing.

What are YOUR editing processes? Are there tips and tools that have helped you? Share them below!
In the meantime, keep it indie, and remember, dolls set the trend!
<3 Colby