Before I delve into my post about beta readers, I just want to give a quick update on my second novel, Redemption. The finished the first draft this week! I'm hoping to have my edits done in the next few weeks before I send it off to my beta readers, which brings us to this post...

If you've looked up the process of writing, editing, and publishing a book on your own, I'm sure you've come across beta readers. And you may be wondering what beta readers are. To put it simply, after you've written and edited your novel, but before you send it off to an editor, you let a few beta readers read it. I like to think of them as quality control. You've invested so much time and effort into finishing your manuscript, you may not be able to see any weaknesses or mistakes with it. That's where beta readers come in.

I don't expect my beta readers to check my spelling, grammar, or punctuation. My editor will catch all the nitty gritty mistakes. I like my beta readers to focus more on the bigger picture.

Some of the things that I ask my beta readers to make comments on are:

• plot issues/holes
• continuity
• pace
• character development
• believability
• inconsistencies
• overall impressions

Before I send my manuscript off to the editor, I will address the issues my BRs point out to me to make sure my editor is getting the most complete and polished version of the book that I can make.

So how do you choose beta readers? I chose a few people who were avid readers in my genre who I trusted to give me honest feedback. I also have my mom, aunt, and boyfriend read my manuscript, but they always say they love it and it's the best thing they've ever read. The other few people are much more objective. One of my BRs is a very close friend, but the others are more like acquaintances. Don't be scared to reach out to people who you think would do a good job!

One last thing to remember is that your BRs are doing you a favor, and you're asking them for constructive criticism. You can't take their comments or suggestions personally, although that's easier said than done. Thank them for their time and effort and try to use their comments to better your novel. 

Next up: some last comments about editing before I talk about how to pick an editor, which I'm still working on myself!

What a crazy two months! I've been traveling every other week for the past eight weeks. I went to Orlando, Las Vegas, Boston, and Alabama! Somehow I managed to keep working on my first draft of Redemption, but I've slacked a little on blogging. Sorry! As promised, this post will be about editing and rewriting. I think this picture sums things up on that front:

But in all seriousness, after your done with your first draft, pop open a bottle of champagne (or your poison of choice) and celebrate! Then take at least a few days off before you dive into editing. After my first draft of Renegades, I didn't pick it back up for six weeks. I wouldn't recommend waiting that long. It was hard to get back into the swing of things after taking so much time off. But taking time away is important so you can look at your work with fresh eyes to catch mistakes.

After your few days or weeks off, read through the entire manuscript without stopping to fix every typo. Look at the bigger things like pacing, scene order, and plot holes. I printed out the first draft so I was able to use post-it flags to mark pages where I wanted to make changes. Sometimes I would write out a bigger post-it explaining what I wanted to do. For example, I spent several pages building up to a climatic event, only to rush through the event in a couple paragraphs when it finally happened. I made a note to myself to go back and elaborate. Also, since a lot of what I wrote in the first draft wasn't exactly as I had outlined, multiple times I had to go back and add a scene to make a later one make sense. After I read through the manuscript, I went back and flagged where I would add scenes and what they would say.

Once you know your plot, scenes, characters, and pacing are solid, you can start going through the draft slowly to change the little things.

I would fix obvious grammar, spelling, and word choice mistakes as I went. I read through the manuscript several times, and each time I would have a different focus. First, I read through focusing on dialogue. It's important to make sure each of your characters has a distinct voice. If you remove the speech tags (he said, she asked, etc.), you should be able to tell who is talking. If you find your characters sounding the same, I would go back and do some more character development. Next, I read through and focused on descriptions. Whenever your characters are in a new place, orient your reader by describing how it looks, feels, and smells. Make sure it's done naturally by how the character interacts with the new setting. If the lights are off, your character might be feeling his away around or using a scent to guide him. It wouldn't make sense to describe how the room looks with the light on.

For me, the most important part of this process--and the most annoying--is rewriting. If you're anything like me, during your first draft, there were scenes you thought were absolute crap but you kept pushing through and writing to keep the story moving and to finish the draft. Those scenes are the ones that need rewriting. It's a necessary evil, but it has to be done.

Lastly, look for inconsistencies. Halfway through my first draft of Renegades, I switched the names of two planets. It even had me confused. I also wrote about the distance between two places. The first time I mentioned it, the distance was 5 feet. The second time, it was 10 feet. Don't worry if you don't catch all those little mistakes now. Your beta readers and editor(s) should help you with that.

Although you'll feel like you made a lot of progress, you'll have to edit again later in the process! But first, you need some feedback. Before you rush out and hire an editor, I would suggest getting a handful of beta readers. Don't know what beta readers are? Stay tuned for my next blog post! Happy editing!

Hello! Welcome to my blog. :) My name is Sara Atherton Mason, but I will be publishing my novels under S.A. Mason.  I work as a lawyer (a girl's got bills to pay), but my ultimate goal is to be able to write full time. As an independent author, I expect this will take several years to accomplish, but I'm in this for the long haul!

I live in Panama City, Florida, with this handsome fellow, my boyfriend, Nathan:

(That's me, by the way.)  My work contract ends July 2014, so I'll be job hunting next year, and who knows
where we'll end up? The other man in my life is this little guy, Melvin:

I plan to blog about my writing process, editing, indie publishing, and marketing indie books.  As a newbie to the publishing and marketing world, I expect most of my advice will be from my own trial-and-error.  I'll also give the occasional update on my own novels, especially when a new one is close to release. Lastly, I'm sure there will be the rare personal post if I switch jobs, move, add another furry child to the family (I can only hope), etc.

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