The first person to read my first novel was my first agent which, in retrospect, I realize is kind of insane. I was always leery of subjecting my ms to the critiques of readers/writers who probably knew as little as I did and getting bad advice, so I just kind of resolved to sink or swim on my own. Not always sure which I'm doing now... ;-)
Wow! You must have had some book! The fact you had an agent before you wrote anything is so rare these days. I was like you before I got into a writing group and had years of feedback. I think I have critique callouses now... Oh, and I'm in the midst of my next book and am questioning my writing, being a writer, etc. It's normal. And whatever you're doing - you're doing it right!!!
Well, I had _a_ book, haha. It couldn't have been too special because no one published it ;-) I naively went to a conference when I only had an early draft and pitched it to agents to test my concept, hoping I'd get some feedback. I got way more and suddenly had to subject my unseen writing to serious criticism! Ultimately, I was told the subject wasn't marketable. I'm not sure if a writing group would have made a difference then, but now Substack is kind of like my writing group :-) A new book is exciting! Good luck with the writing!
Sorry to hear that. What I learned working in corporate music is that most of the executives are out of touch and are only looking out for themselves. Don't get me wrong, there are some good people, but I understand corporate publishing from my days in music - so it's indie for me. But wayyyyy more work than I realized it would be, but it suits me. Unless someone wants to give me a 5 mil advance....😁
Since my first book came from blog posts, I guess my alpha readers were the few who read my blog 😂 However, my beta team was invaluable. I don't know how I would have gotten my book where it is now without them.
That would be like having alpha readers! Good for you for posting work while in process. I think I’ll try w my current book but it’s a totalllll mess right now. Many congrats on yr book!!!!’ So exciting!
Hmmm, that's a tough one to comment on. Maybe it's different in Canada, but if you're a white male and you have a main character that's a Native American female, well, it might help to make sure you're not inadvertently being offensive. It'll most likely make it that much more difficult to sell copies and gain any traction. We can debate this in my next article. I appreciate your opinion though - thanks!
The first person to read my first novel was my first agent which, in retrospect, I realize is kind of insane. I was always leery of subjecting my ms to the critiques of readers/writers who probably knew as little as I did and getting bad advice, so I just kind of resolved to sink or swim on my own. Not always sure which I'm doing now... ;-)
Wow! You must have had some book! The fact you had an agent before you wrote anything is so rare these days. I was like you before I got into a writing group and had years of feedback. I think I have critique callouses now... Oh, and I'm in the midst of my next book and am questioning my writing, being a writer, etc. It's normal. And whatever you're doing - you're doing it right!!!
Well, I had _a_ book, haha. It couldn't have been too special because no one published it ;-) I naively went to a conference when I only had an early draft and pitched it to agents to test my concept, hoping I'd get some feedback. I got way more and suddenly had to subject my unseen writing to serious criticism! Ultimately, I was told the subject wasn't marketable. I'm not sure if a writing group would have made a difference then, but now Substack is kind of like my writing group :-) A new book is exciting! Good luck with the writing!
Sorry to hear that. What I learned working in corporate music is that most of the executives are out of touch and are only looking out for themselves. Don't get me wrong, there are some good people, but I understand corporate publishing from my days in music - so it's indie for me. But wayyyyy more work than I realized it would be, but it suits me. Unless someone wants to give me a 5 mil advance....😁
Haha, I hear that! Same here, I learned my lesson. It's indie all the way for me :-)
Since my first book came from blog posts, I guess my alpha readers were the few who read my blog 😂 However, my beta team was invaluable. I don't know how I would have gotten my book where it is now without them.
That would be like having alpha readers! Good for you for posting work while in process. I think I’ll try w my current book but it’s a totalllll mess right now. Many congrats on yr book!!!!’ So exciting!
Hmmm, that's a tough one to comment on. Maybe it's different in Canada, but if you're a white male and you have a main character that's a Native American female, well, it might help to make sure you're not inadvertently being offensive. It'll most likely make it that much more difficult to sell copies and gain any traction. We can debate this in my next article. I appreciate your opinion though - thanks!