It's the last day of January. I'm doing final edits on the cozy before I send it out to my agent. I am lucky to have a great reader/editing coach, friend who looked it over and gave me tips. I never worry about asking someone's opinion on what they think may make any of my books better. What I worry about is that I may never be able to do it on my own. But that's a silly worry, really. All books-when published properly- go through several readers- agent, editor, copy editors-who help to make the book better before it's published. I think it would be worse if everyone said, "Oh, the book's perfect." Right? I mean, then you're a sitting duck for readers to tell you just where you messed up. Book publishing is a collaborative art. As long as I know the critiquer has my book's best interests at heart then I can look at changes with an open mind. That's the trick. Finding people who are helpful, not hurtful.
My writer friends, do you have beta readers or cp's? Have you struggled finding helpful ones versus ones that gleefully tear you down?
My reader friends, please know that there are errors in every book. Even though books go through a whole team of people, we are all human. Editors, typesetters, printers, all human and humans are not perfect. But we are working toward giving you the best book possible. Cheers~
I've got some great CPs! You're right - it's a collaborative effort. :)
ReplyDeleteSo true! I've had some critiquers who declare every word of my book "perfect", something I know can't possibly be true. I tell them that I'd much rather find out about any problems now. After all, that's the entire point of a critique. Then when they do tell me that they like a particular word/phrase/paragraph/scene, then I know I can trust them and that they're not just trying to be nice.
ReplyDeleteWe may write it, but there's a lot of help along the way! And even Harry Potter books have typos.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteIt is so true. It is a collaboration. The tricky part is sorting through the people who make you feel awful about your work and finding the ones who make your brain say- "aha!" it's those aha moments that make a better book. Cheers~