Check In- 10/26/12

Brrrrrr! It's been a bit chilly out, which is great because I love fall weather! It's the perfect temp for snuggling up with a warm cat in my lap and tapping out a few hundred words or so! :)

I received Beta Reader #2's feedback and was super happy with it. She gave some really good advice, and pointed out the few spelling errors I couldn't find on my own. She gave me good pointers adding to the depth of my book and she's an avid YA Fantasy reader, so I trust her. I have a feeling that her feedback is going to bump my manuscript's word count up by 10,000. Which means I may not be able to "legally" participate in NaNoWriMo. Hmmm....


In other news, my model is not coming through with photos for the book cover, so I think I might have to create something on my own. I'm drawing inspiration from the lovely people at AbsoluteWrite.com and I'm excited to try my hand with Gimp (too poor for Photoshop). 

Wish me luck!

My First Beta Reader Experience

This morning I awoke to an email in my inbox that I had been waiting for. It was my first beta reader giving feedback on The Two Worlds. Excited, I opened the email and read quickly through what she had to say.

It wasn't all good.

She liked the way the story flowed, but she felt that it read almost like a screenplay (stupid film-making degree!). She also felt like I was putting all of my cards on the table and not leaving enough mystery for the reader.

Crud.

I had a flicker of disappointment, but then a thought dawned on me.

She read my story!
Wooo-hoooo!

I jumped out of bed with a grin on my face. Someone had actually taken time out of their busy day to read my book!

It felt great.

Of course, I have to wait for my other beta reader to finish reading before I can start editing. But Beta 1's feedback was just what I needed to hear. I'm off to research the advice she gave me and of course, I'll get back to you on what I've learned.

Have you had a beta reader experience yet? What was your reaction?