Book Done - Not Sure What To Do Next

Hello all,

I finally managed to finish the book I've been working on for two+ years. Roughly 70,000 words and if it matters, the genre is fiction/horror.

I completed what I consider five full drafts/edits, though some sections have been checked or rewritten dozens of times. Based on some of my previous writing and spending time on this site, I would estimate the editing level to be good/above average. That's not to imply the book is perfect or doesn't need some work.

I plan on pursuing traditional publishing methods, at least at first, and these are the questions/areas I'm thinking about but I'm not sure what path is best or what order I should do things in:

* My wife was given a copy of the book today as she'll be my first (only?) beta reader. Should I try to find others? None of my close friends are readers or writers, so I'd need to find volunteers, probably through this website.

* I've read multiple posts about professional editors and the cost associated with them and I can't decide if that's a path worth pursuing.

* I plan on drafting my query letter soon and hopefully will have it posted on this site within a week to get help and critiques.

In no particular order, these are my questions:

1) If I use beta readers, is there a certain number that's good to target? Normally I would think more is better, but then I start to think of the "too many cooks in the kitchen" analogy.
2) For anyone that has used a professional editor, was it worth it?
3) Is it best to use an editor AND beta readers, or stick to one or the other?
4) Assuming I get my query letter done, do I start submitting that ASAP or wait for feedback from the editor/beta readers?

Anything I'm forgetting?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Mike

 

Find someone other than your wife to read for you. Family and friends will tend to be too worried about hurting your feelings to be 100% reliable. No matter who you have read for you, work up a list of specific things you want to know. Readers being writers I don’t think is as important as some sources hype it to be. It doesn't’ hurt to have more writerly readers, but there you run the risk of ‘this is how I would have done it.’ Either way, if your readers don’t know what to look for, how are they going to know to look for it? Without that list you may end up with ‘sure, I liked it’ or ‘I didn’t care much for it,’ and no real breakdown as to why.

Before you get to work on that query letter put together a sell sheet. Who is your target audience?
Don’t stand on it being horror. That kind of complacency will earn your submission a one way trip to the trash, do not pass the slush pile, do not read again in two weeks when the interns are bored. Over- the end.

Who will your book appeal to? Who might buy this book? Any possible market crossovers? (Again, don’t stand on horror readers) example here would be like Stephen King counts on people who may have been bullied in their school days for a lot of his books. Christine- Arnie Cunningham, bullied at school, pushed around at home, gets a supernatural car and grows into cool, ultimately gets payback. Carrie- Carrie White, same situation. Picked on by the popular kids, suppressed by her mother, turns telekinetic and gets payback. A wide variety of people were able to relate to those books. So many they were made into movies.

What are your comps?
What books can yours be compared to? Pick something current; stay away from the classics, no one will be interested if you tell them your writing is in line with Sherwood Anderson or Herman Melville. Do you use a lot of dry sarcastic humor like Carl Hiassen? Do you lean more on wry irony like Jane Harper?

Beyond that, agents have an unofficial check list when perusing submissions. Up near the top of the list is the question ‘can I sell this?’ Your query letter is an attempt to convince that agent your book will sell. Another question is ‘how much will I have to invest to get this book sellable?’ The instant answer should be very little or none. Good/above average editing won’t cut it. You’ll need that submission 99-100% perfect.(which is why class act editors get the big bucks.)

Remember, if writing books were easy, everyone would be on the best seller lists.

 

Contratulations! You're way ahead of me

Having betas doesn't mean you have to integrate every one of their suggestions; in fact, that way lies your mental asylum. But you can think about what they suggest and if a good number have the same complaints, that might tell you where you have to make changes.

I personally like to have three betas, of which two should have at least passing knowledge of the themes that crop up in my story. They should correct glaring mistakes, and the remaining beta reader can tell me if what I've written will be well enough that passserbys can connect with my writing. But this number is a personal choice.

From all I've read, once an agent finds a publisher for your manuscript it'll get professionally edited anyway so... depends on your budget and if your command of SPaGs is close to professional. No agent will expect a manuscript to be perfect, but if it's littered with mistakes it takes them out of the story which you don't want. You want full immersion, not systematic errors.

Do you have a pressing need to get started right this second? I'd make sure the story is as good as it's going to get before querying. You only have one shot at a particular agent, and what if your dream agent requests the full and it's not ready? You'd feel right stupid.

 

In my (limited) experience, I think if you're saying "the book is done," you're doing yourself a disservice. I say that as someone who, twice now, said, "the book is done" and found shortly after that just how wrong I was. At this point, I say, "the book is approaching being ready to publish". A subtle difference, but critical (I think).

My first novel is in that state: approaching being ready to publish. I've sent it out to several people to beta read, and I've gotten responses ranging from, "this is awesome, it's one of the best things I've read" to "there are some significant structural problems that need to be addressed." Neither of those responses were, to my way of thinking, correct. The novel is, to my view, at best a reasonable first effort. But it is the first of a series, and the "structural problems" are things specifically put in there to support later novels. This, however, doesn't mean that neither of those opinions were helpful. Earlier beta readers pointed out things that, by this point in my improved-writing way of looking at things, I'm embarrassed by. The first time I thought the novel was finished, it was a derelict adrift at sea, looking for a port to call home.

My recommendation to you is to send it out to three beta readers at first, then be willing to make wholesale changes based on the responses. I'm not saying you'll have to, but be prepared to. That sort of attitude is the only thing that will make you receptive to whatever feedback you get.

Horror really isn't my genre, and I don't have a lot of time to spare right now, but if you send me the first two chapters (via PM), I'd be happy to tell you a) if I see problems that are solvable, and b) if I'm interested in reading more (e.g. has the story captured my attention).

I hope this is helpful.

JD