tgnbeta

THAT GOOD NIGHT

If you’re here, then you probably have the book pictured. I had a few printed to give to beta readers, and this is the page where I thank you profusely and tell you how to go about helping beta read.

The book has line numbers and chapters. There was an accident along the way that injured the typewriter monkey, so the page numbers didn’t make it, but that’s okay. Chapter and line number will work fine. Note that the line numbers are in the fold and so you’ll need to pull the book open wide to see what the line is. I’ll have a talk with the monkey regarding any future batches. Of course, if all goes well, the next batch will be through Simon & Schuster 😀

To keep things consistent and easier to manage, I created a simple spreadsheet here. Please, copy it and use it for the many notes I’m sure you’ll have, then share/send that to me. (Go to upper left > File > Make a copy … before typing in your notes) It’s a spreadsheet, and if you’re not someone who uses these often, then it might look like there’s not much room in the note section. It should wrap and grow if you have a long note.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OJQVlQketm1Da5TPsu8evIfN0wlcNG54KQu_vHLa5pc/edit?usp=sharing

If you’d rather not use the spreadsheet and just write notes in the book, that would be fine. Of course, I would need the book back if you go with this method. We can coordinate on that.

I’m already finding more typos and the like, so you’re sure to see many. There is an editing phase that happens later where all the punctuation, typos, misspelled words, etc. are tackled, so there’s no need to do it at this point unless it’s simply something you “want” to do. Here is an example list of things that would be hugely helpful to me at this “development edit” stage.

  • Can you tell who’s speaking (I don’t use he said/she said)
  • Are there places where you get lost?
  • Any place where you say to yourself, “Wait a minute, why did they do that here, when they did such-n-such earlier?”
  • Once finished, was it satisfying? Did you feel there could’ve been more story? If so, any ideas on what you think might be missing?
  • And… you get the idea. This is a quality control read, but of course, I hope you also enjoy it. If you do not, please count the ways and don’t hold back. I’m wearing my alligator hide suit.

 

Thank you SO MUCH! I’m looking forward to the feedback. Let’s whip this thing into shape!