Yikes!
What was I thinking? Sending out such a request? Yes, my agent is shopping my novel to big name publishing houses. Yes, editors at those houses—complete strangers—are judging my work. Plus, I’ve been in writing groups for years where judging nascent work is the name of the game. But this is different.
I put out a request on Facebook for Beta readers on my Memphis mystery, Harboring Evil. The story is set in Memphis and features a formerly homeless man who gets involved in a murder (the technical genre is “amateur sleuth mystery”). Here is its “elevator” sentence:
A homeless man discovers a body submerged in the Wolf River Harbor, plunging him into the midst of a deadly real estate scheme.
The manuscript has been through a professional editor and two Beta readers. But I needed more feedback. So I asked: anyone wanna be a Beta reader for a mystery?
Lo and behold, folks took me up on it! (Note: be careful what you ask for and all that). The manuscript is now with 8 new readers. Yep, eight. Two of them I’ve swapped work with in the past, so we’re good. The rest, well, let’s just say it scares me to death.
Thing is, these are regular folks. People accustomed to reading final, polished, published work. Now I’ve given them my WIP (work in process), with a warning, no less.
Lots of what I write is light and funny. This is not. I told them to expect tough subjects, which I do understand most books about murder involve. 🙂 But I could’ve written a cozy mystery set in a charming Southern town where a little old lady discovers who poisoned the local flower shop owner with insecticide—I didn’t. One Beta reader has already called it “gritty.” That’s a good thing, since it takes place in Memphis, where we embrace the “Grit and Grind” tag of our NBA Grizzlies team. Of course, you really, really want to do tough subjects well.
As usual, when I encounter a new difficult experience, I try to discern what I’m learning. About myself, about the world, about other people. Often, I look for how the experience has made me more empathetic. This one, it’s swelled my already great admiration for self-published authors.
You see, if your book gets published by a publishing house and someone doesn’t like it, you can say, bleh, I don’t care—my publisher liked it. But if it’s just you? What if there’s no one standing between your work and the general public? No one saying, in effect, we’ve read this and decided it has value? Where is your cushion, your buffer? You don’t have one. Yet, you put it out there anyway. That’s pretty brave, if you ask me.
So, we’ll see what folks have to say. But one thing I know for sure: the novel will be better for it. And that’s exactly the point.
"Writing Our Way Home: A Group Journey Out of Homelessness", homeless mystery novel, homeless writing, homelessness
Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner
Love the setting! And good luck, fingers crossed.
Ellen Morris Prewitt
Thank you! As so often happens with me, the setting becomes a character. The river. The harbor. It’s a big part of the story.
Susanne
I hadn’t thought about the fact that when someone self-publishes there is no ego buffer. As you say, that puts an entirely different spin on the process. Good luck with your beta readers – very exciting and nerve-wracking!
Ellen Morris Prewitt
I think entirely too much about what people think.Thus, the source of my inspiration on this matter. 🙂 I’ll let y’all know what the readers have to say.
Marisa
Breathe, and enjoy doing it. You’re a uniquely talented writer, and your stories–whether cozy or gritty–will find their homes with readers. It’s not a bad thing to add a color to a palette. It just means you can paint the world in more shades. I can’t wait to dive in!
Ellen Morris Prewitt
I love having you as a supporter. So cooly rationale. Thank you for your words of wisdom. exactly what I needed to hear. :0
Chris Sarantopoulos
I totally understand and sympathise with what you’re feeling, and the lack of this “buffer” is one of the reasons I have tried to stay away from self-publishing. Now that I’m querying agents and start piling the rejection letters, the option to self-pubish seems closer than ever. And not having that “buffer” is indeed scary. But I’ll go all the way to the end no matter what.
Ellen Morris Prewitt
I try to remember that I really don’t like a lot of very successful, popular, award-winning, and obviously talented writers, so as not to take it personally when someone don’t care for my writing. But it’s hard! You’ve spent so much time with it, you want others to like it as well. Such is life.
Chris Sarantopoulos
Such is the nature of writing and publishing.
Ellen Morris Prewitt
Yep. Thank goodness we love it. 🙂
D. Wallace Peach
It is scary, isn’t it? I too was part of a critique group for years and the citicism was invalueable. Raw readers will give a whole other level of feedback. It will be interesting to see what they come up with and how you sift through it. I’m curious – did you give them specific area to get back to you on or did you leave it wide open?
Ellen Morris Prewitt
I left it wide open. I really want to know what they would say about it as if talking about it in a conversation with someone. So I didn’t want to steer them too much. And the readers are all mystery readers, but very different people. So I figure I’ll both get feedback on the story and also learn a bit about who my readers might be (and not be 🙂 )
D. Wallace Peach
Good points. I’m never sure whether to ask questions or just get the unguided opinion. Let us know how it worked out and if you’d do it differently next time. 🙂
Ellen Morris Prewitt
I will. With other writers, I often include a list of questions at the back and tell them not to look at it until after they’ve read the work so it won’t influence their first impression. Even then, some of them don’t address the questions—writers! 🙂