After my books go to my editor and my first round of early readers, I’ll send the mostly-edited manuscript to beta readers. These are people who read through the enitre book to provide feedback, usually on the story structure, characters, plot, and whatever other comments they want to make. These are readers I’ve gotten to know over the years—many before I was published—who are mystery fans. Sometimes they’re experts in areas that are big components of the mystery. (One of my beta readers is a surgeon who always tells me when my medical terminology, pharmaceutical information, or autopsy descriptions need improvement!)
After a month of fixing the errors that my editor and first-round early readers caught, as well as rewriting several chapters, I sent The Trailer Park Murders out to beta readers. One beta reader burned through it and has already given me comments: “Bravo! This is my favorite book of yours so far—well-paced and exciting!”
And while I was writing this, another early reader returned her comments. She’s got expertise in two areas of major importance in this book, so I’ll need to fix some details that I got wrong. (These beta readers are AWESOME.)
Writing the first draft of the book is always the hardest part for me, but there’s nearly as much work in the editing stages. (And there are always a couple of typos or punctuation errors that make it past my three editors and dozens of early readers!)
I’ll be making my next round of edits in early October, and then it will be off to my proofreader! If things go as planned, The Trailer Park Murder may hit the e-retailers in early November. (If you’ve pre-ordered for the December 5 date, you’ll receive the book the day it’s released.)