Happy February, readers! I don’t know about you, but this has been the month of weather whiplash. Missouri is always somewhat unpredictable, but for the last three weeks we’ve had warm days followed by ice and snow followed immediately by warm days. Even as I write this, I’m remembering yesterday’s 60 degrees while waiting for the snow to begin in a few hours. Are things erratic where you are or pretty steady?
Beta Reader Edits – Constructive or Critical?
The answer: hopefully both. As an author, you need beta readers. You can’t be 100% objective about your own work because it’s yours. You know the story inside and out, including all the background that didn’t make it into the story. While you can hopefully see most errors, your love of your characters will, at some point, afflict you with blindness to the story’s flaws. A good beta reader will not only call out your grammatical weaknesses, but will also note when your characters are acting out of sorts or when the dazzling fight scene you wrote could never physically happen.
I am blessed with a team of amazing beta readers who can both celebrate the strengths of my novel and also highlight its weaknesses. They don’t just say, “It was good” or “It wasn’t my style.” They tell me why, sometimes in several paragraphs. An ideal team includes those from diverse backgrounds who can view your work through various lenses. Several are authors, a few editors, all voracious readers, and one who hardly ever reads books but still provides fantastic feedback (thanks, Dad!). There are those who love Christian Fiction and those who don’t and both sides help tell a well-balanced story.
March 1 is the deadline for beta reader feedback and then the last stretch of edits begins. With only three months to go, I’m itching to share the first part of Sarah and Tobias’s story with you. In the meantime, see below for an exclusive sneak peek at the first paragraph with more to come in the next newsletter. Enjoy!
“Spanish lace and a cascade of hawthorn blossoms seemed a strange prelude to death, yet once again, Sarah Walcott found herself ensnared in its elusive web. She wondered how long it would be this time. Within the next hour? Two? By midnight surely. Either way, she knew with certainty that by tomorrow morning her husband would be dead.”
Pre-Order For a Noble Purpose
For a Noble Purpose Launch Team
Want to read For a Noble Purpose before its release on June 7, 2022?
I am compiling a team of readers excited to help post and review by release day. There are two available teams: one for those willing to read and review and one for those without time to review, but would still like to post about the release. Applications are open now through April 1.
Apply to the Launch Team
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Kelsey Gietl 