One of the hardest things I found about writing a first novel was getting people to read your first drafts. How can one measure his skills or lack thereof if he doesn’t have Beta readers to tell him where mistakes have been made?
I have my Alpha team, (several guys I thanked in the Acknowledgements) but first and known as my toughest critic is Paul. Paul is the first I go to when a new idea burst into my head, but is also the first to tell me some of my favorite ideas suck. He read my first draft, my third draft and second to last revision. He helped me most by killing my babies, (writer talk).
The Second Intelligent Species was published in Feb, and he just got round to finishing it on his Kindle. He reads several books a month and had a pre-Beave list. He made me wait half a year to hear his final verdict. Patiently waiting.
Why do reviews mean so much to an author? To some it means, increased exposure=increased sales. To others each review is another piece of re-rod in the forms building your foundation, (working guy jargon) and as Russ Galen said at a conference in Paul Smiths, “To become a professional writer, you need to have a platform. I am building a foundation to support my platform.
Why are reviews so important to me? I am still learning. Reviews are my “Grade”. Of course we all understand friends and relatives give higher ratings than strangers. It’s the reviews of strangers I crave most. I have no influence on them except for my work, they have no agenda except for telling it like it is. Negative reviews help too as long as they aren’t nasty, they tell me point blank what areas I need to work on. This is the criticism a new writer needs. Sometimes a bitter pill to swallow, but one that needs to be taken. Yes Paul, this is a cliché, but then again this is a blog not a book…you ..you…
He pisses me off sometimes…can’t wait for his review.
