Showing posts with label beta readers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beta readers. Show all posts

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Blog Spotlight #1 - BookSmacked

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have my first Indie-friendly book blog of 2016 to share with you. Read on and ENJOY!

BLOG SPOTLIGHT:

BookSmacked

BookSmacked

Hi, I'm Melissa, but most people call me Mel. I am from Canada and with my husband whom I married a year ago but have been with for 8 years. A huge hockey and football fan, I have tons of useless sports statistics stored in my brain. I'm a speed reader, often reading a full book in a matter of hours. If I really enjoy a book I will read it 4, 5, or a dozen times.

 

So my story of how BookSmacked became a reality. Pretty simple really. I love books, and when I read a book that I absolutely love, I wanted someone to talk to about it and share my excitement with. So, I joined an online book club. Through that book club I met some wonderful people, who I now call my friends, and some of those friends were bloggers. I discovered this online world of authors, readers, bloggers, and book pimpers and said I want to be a part of it.

 

So, I joined a street team to help promote indie authors, and from there I took it one step further and started BookSmacked. A blog that can be used for Readers, Authors, Bloggers, Pimpers to share their love of books.

Booksmacked Blog

I hope you come for a visit, interact and share your love of books with me.

Connect (1)

I hope you all gave her blog a follow and checked out her links!

What do you think of this feature? Let me know in the comments.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, December 17, 2015

EBook Theft - 5 Easy Steps to Help Nail Your Pirate

I'd say happy Friday, but this issue is a serious one, and I need you all to pay attention. I need you all to protect your work. I'm gonna give you some background as to why I'm writing this, then we'll get into how to put it into action.

Twice over the last three days (yes, TWICE), I've seen authors who either have had a book up on a pirate site before release date, or had their manuscript published by someone else using the author's name before release date on one site or another.

Just... NO.

This angers me in more ways than I can count. That author, who spent God only knows how many hours and dollars to produce a book, was ripped off.

But here's the best worst part:
Those authors had only sent the book to their ARC reviewers and/or beta readers. People believed to be trustworthy.

As an author, you don't know who to trust. Let's just be honest about it. I like to believe in the good in people, but that shouldn't stop any of us from covering our own butts.

But there are a couple of ways to cover your butt and find out who's stealing your work.

Best part about this: DO NOT TELL THEM WHAT YOU'VE DONE. When they pirate your work, you'll know exactly who to go after.

Here are two methods:
#1: ONLY send out PDFs, and password protect them with the reviewer/beta-readers' names.
  1. Open in Adobe.
  2. Click on options.
  3. Choose to password protect.
  4. Save.

#1 is the easiest option, but also the least secure. There are ways around that password.

#2: Change certain lines in your manuscript. Create an Excel spreadsheet with the line you changed and the reviewer/beta-reader's name.
  1. Open your MS.
  2. Choose a random line.
  3. Change the wording, delete the sentence, or move it to a different part of the paragraph.
  4. Make the note in Excel.
  5. Save the manuscript with a number: _1, _2, _3... you get the idea (so you can keep up with which one goes out to whom).

If you find the book on a pirate site or seller site, go download it.

Even if they remove the _number, you can do a quick check to see which line was changed.

#2 is my favorite option, because they won't know what you did unless you tell them.

I do hope every author reads this, implements it, and shares the post.

I also hope every slimy scumbag book pirate out there is cringing in FEAR. You WILL be found. Authors WILL prosecute you. And you won't even know what hit you.

May you be infested with a billion superpowered fleas on your body and your arms be too short to reach your butt.


AUTHORS: If you need help password protecting your manuscript (if you use option 1) contact me, and I'll help you.

This has GOT to stop.

Until next time,

Jo

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Beta Readers - When, How, and Why

Happy Thursday, everyone! Guess what? Tomorrow is Friday! Woot! One more day until the weekend and kicking your shoes off for some relaxation time. Hope that made you smile. Today, I'm discussing beta readers per a request by my featured author next week, Inger Iverson. Oh, yeah, you're gonna love her to pieces. Yes, you do have to wait until Monday. Enough rambling by me! Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!


Whazza Be-ta Reed-er?

Well, to put it simply, a beta reader is someone who reads your novel and sends you feedback about characterization, plot, and structure. They'll tell you what they liked, what they didn't like, and point out any holes in your storytelling.

A good beta reader will take your great novel and make it an awesome one.

A fantastic beta reader (these people are usually paid) will make inline comments, guide you on structure, give you tips on where they feel you can draw out more emotion, and make sure they can nail the plotline by the end of the book. This kind of beta reader will make your great novel into a bestseller.

I know many authors that use more than one beta reader. Those writers feel they need more than one opinion. It's a preference thing.

How do you find a beta reader?

This question comes up more than I can mention. One of the biggest problems plaguing the Indie author community right now is theft. Sadly, it's often someone who's volunteered to be a beta reader that steals. When speaking with a few of my author friends during our coffee meeting, one of them mentioned she had a friend that send a novel to a beta reader. That person uploaded the work to Amazon and sold it as their own. That author was screwed.

It's SCARY.

So, it's really best to use people you know (and I don't mean randomly via Facebook interactions, but in real life) or trust (this level of trust usually includes a contract - with or without pay).

If you aren't passing your novel off to friends or family, USE A FLIPPING CONTRACT! Protect yourself, please! I can't stress that enough. Even if the contract is for zero dollars, sign it; that may be the only proof you have of ownership if your novel gets stolen. 

Why you should use a beta reader.

Like I mentioned above, they can point out weak parts in your storytelling. Yes, you're too close to the story by the time it's written, and you're likely to think things are properly communicated when they might not be.

When someone says, "I got ABC from that." but you meant XYZ, you'll understand.

When do you need a beta reader?

You should seek out betas once your novel has been through at least two edits by your own hand, before it goes to an editor for pricing. Why? Because your word count could change dramatically between points A and B, based off feedback from your beta readers. You may change a character's name, or you could delete or add entire scenes out of necessity.

As an editor, I can say I hate when I've done a round one edit and the author adds five chapters because of beta feedback. Not only does it screw the pooch on my price (based on grade and word count), but I then have a whole section (or sections) needing a round one level edit. Round one is different from round two because the first time through takes more time nit-picking sentence structure and grammar. On a round two check, there should be minor changes to pan through. Make sense?

Can your editor be your beta reader?

YES. However, your editor should beta read and offer fixes before round one of editing begins. They should also work it into your editing contract (with dates). Usually, an editor will charge you for this service.

I've been through this exact scenario. I had an author with a book that read like a draft, and beta read it with a lower score for editing. That person still got the two rounds of edits and the proofread, but there were no major additions once we'd been through the beta read.

Not every editor offers that service. Be sure you ask if you feel it's something you may want to do.

Above all else, be sure you trust the person you're sending your novel to. At the very least, use a contract if you're not sure. CYOA - always.

Do you love your betas? Where did you find them?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo