Oh yeah, you read that right. Draft 2 is done, baby! I was only planning on getting to two or three chapters like I always do, but these last few chapters are so intense, and I just got carried away a little bit. Haha. It’s a great problem to have.
Obviously I was so excited I decided to post an update early. So, what does this mean now? I’ll tell you what it means. Beta reading time!
I’m looking for some people who are willing to read through this draft of Enceladus a few chapters at a time and provide feedback via a short questionnaire after each section. My expectation is that each beta reader would need to finish at least one section each week (it’s a total of 7 sections, so it would take up to 7 weeks), with each section being two to three chapters long (so anywhere from 45 to 75 pages, though most are right around 55). At the end, a final questionnaire about the book as a whole must also be completed.
Keep in mind, if you finish a section early and want to keep reading, I am more than willing to send the next section. The 7-week timeframe is more of a minimum so that this process doesn’t take longer than is necessary.
If you would like to apply to be a beta reader, I’ll need an application email sent to chase.gluch@gmail.com with the following information:
- Name
- Age
- Gender
- Preferred email (to send you chapters and for your questionnaire/redline submissions)
- Facebook (if you would prefer a more back-and-forth discussion for said questions rather than a questionnaire to be filled out and emailed)
- Preferred genre of books, tv shows, and movies
- Have you ever beta read for an author before? How was the experience and what did you learn from it?
- Do you foresee any issues in your ability to complete at least one section each week?
- Would you prefer a PDF or Word doc version of the novel? Keep in mind, any specific suggested edits and the questionnaire may be harder to do in PDF format.
- Any additional questions you may have about the process, the book, me, or anything else.
Now, here are some of my expectations. As I said above, each two to three chapter section will include a short questionnaire regarding that specific section (which will be posted within the PDF/Word doc at the very end). These questions should be answered as soon as you’re done reading so that your opinions are fresh in your mind and you can give your most honest feedback. After you have finished the entire book, I will provide the final overall questionnaire with questions about the book as a whole.
Some questions may be the same in every section (i.e. how’s the pacing, what’s your favorite part, etc.). There may also be some specific questions relating to that section depending on questions I personally may have about it. My hope is that these will be filled out not as one-word answers, but that you will provide a decent length answer and give me as much of your opinion as you feel comfortable giving. With that said, if your answer to ‘Are you confused about anything so far?’ is ‘This is chapter 1, I can honestly say there isn’t much I’m confused by at this point,” that’s more than fine.
It’s important to me that each beta reader is as honest with me as possible. If something with the plot doesn’t work, tell me why. If you found a particular chapter boring, tell me why. I promise you I won’t be offended. The purpose behind this beta process is to let me know what works and what doesn’t with my book and I can’t do that if I’m told it is perfect when I definitely know its not. (I also wouldn’t mind knowing which parts you enjoyed so that I don’t inadvertently change it during the revision process.)
In one of Brandon Sanderson’s BYU creative writing lectures, he gave some important guidelines for giving feedback. He applied them to writing groups, but I figure it’s just as easily applicable to beta readers. In it, he explains the importance of being descriptive and not proscriptive. Essentially, good feedback is describing your feelings and not offering advice for how you would write it. For example, “I was bored, and here’s why” is great feedback, while “I was bored, so you should add a fight scene” isn’t quite as helpful. If you have an extra six minutes, please check it out (or even three minutes, as the first half or so is more applicable to the giver of the feedback rather than the recipient). Brandon knows how to describe it much better than I can in a single paragraph and I think it would be helpful for this feedback process.
And that’s about it! I’m excited to get this going and get some good, honest feedback on how the story has turned out so far. It’s been a long road, but I’m excited for what’s coming up. In fact, while I start getting beta readers sorted out, I’ll push harder into the chapter outline for book 2!
Until next time!