Before I became published with The Wild Rose Press, I volunteered to be a preliminary reader for them. This involves reading a submitted manuscript and evaluating the story as thoroughly as possible, giving suggestions where you can or commenting on anything that didn’t ‘gel’ with you as the reader.
As a reader, it is such an honour to read these works early on. You get a real appreciation for all the hard work that goes into creating a story and a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at how an author’s mind works. The sense of pride when a story you worked on is published is similar to that of a proud Aunty. And when that same book gets great reviews – the sense of satisfaction is immense. I’ve been lucky to have read three books which I’ve thought were outstanding and gone on to see them get five-star reviews. There is nothing like having your idea of a good book validated by other’s thoughts on the same.Of course, along with the good comes the not-so-good. I remember one story in particular made me want to hurl my e-reader against the wall. In the end, I apologized and told the coordinator I was unable to finish it, listing my reasons – and believe me, it was a long list! J Luckily for me (and my e-reader!), that was the only one in two years I’ve been unable to finish.
I credit the preliminary reading with helping me improve my own writing to such a standard, that I was offered a contract for my very first submission. It also gave me confidence in my own ability to tell a story, lending me the courage to finally send something in to someone. After all, these people whose stories I’d been reading had been brave enough to try. I should be too.
So when you submit your work to a publisher, who knows? You may just have been the inspiration to motivate another scaredy-cat writer to actually get their stuff out there and seen – helping another onto this exciting roller-coaster of a ride called publication. At the very least, you would have given someone a few hours of pleasure and taught them something new.If you’ve ever thought about being a reader for a publisher, I’d urge you to sign up. What's stopping you? It is so much fun and I doubt you’ll regret it!
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Hi La Verne,
ReplyDeleteAnother down-under TWRP author here.
I often wondered what it would be like to do the first reading of a manuscript, the good, the bad and the downright ugly I always thought. Nice that you only had one "shocker."
Cheers
Margaret
Gidday Margaret my Australian cousin! :)
DeleteI've been amazed at the mainly good quality work put out there by hopeful writers to be. The not-so-good are fairly far between and even those tend to have some great parts in them to make them memorable.
I'm reading a FANTASTIC story at the moment. Hopefully it keeps it up right to the end :)
This sounds like a very tough job. Everyone feels there is no time to read all the books we want to, let along books we have to for a job. good for you for doing this for WRP. Your book - Guardian of the Jewel, is indeed a gem! I'm halfway through and am so impressed with your story. How you've managed to pack in so much suspense and tension is a novella - great job!
ReplyDeleteI hear you loud and clear Lynne! Add to the fact a writer tends to have other writer friends who critique each other's work - and the time to read AND write is limited when added to all the other day-to-day work with having a young family. I'm lucky that I'm a night owl so I can try to fit it all in! I love it all though :)
DeleteI'm so glad you're enjoying Guardian! I admit knowing an author as prolific and GOOD as you reading it has made me a tad nervous :) Thanks so much for the encouragement!
The notes my TWRP editor forwarded to me from the first readers were so helpful, both the good and the constructive criticism. Such a great part of the process. Their time and effort was much appreciated. Fun to hear from someone who has been in that position - thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow! Melissa - it is so COOL to hear that your editor has passed on notes from your reader! I'd love to know if anything I said has helped with a particular manuscript. What a thrill for that reader to know! Glad to know it is useful :)
DeleteI'd never heard of preliminary readers before, so I learned something new today. It sounds like a very rewarding experience, to have had a hand in helping a writer get her/his story just right and ready for publication.
ReplyDeleteHi Karyn.
DeleteBefore TWRP put out a call for readers, I had no idea they used them either! But it is a common practise I understand - and a great idea in my opinion too. What better way to get an understanding on what readers want and how they'd react?
I love reading for TWRP and the whole process is incredibly rewarding - for everyone involved I'd imagine. Thanks so much for stopping by! :)
What a neat job...to get first look at a potential best seller would be a thrill you would find hard to better I should imagine.
ReplyDeleteHi Shirley - and happy anniversary to you and your DH today! :)
DeleteI really do get such a thrill out of being one of the first to read these manuscripts. Knowing just how much heart and soul goes into each one helps me dig deep to make sure I'm doing the most thorough evaluation I can. I have learned so much through this and I'm sure my own writing is stronger because of it!
Great blog, LaVerne. I never really thought about who--other then my editor--read my books. Very cool. So glad it inspired you to get that book published. It's on my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteHi Lily.
DeleteLovely to see you here :) You know, before I read for TWRP, I never gave it a thought either. But I suppose those editors of ours deserve a bit of a hand here and there :) Now I know why things take a bit longer than we think it should. The amount of hands those manuscripts go through before getting a yes or no is incredible! So, when we do get a yes - that boogie and happy dancing is well deserved!