Is Your Book Any Good?
By Jim Dempsey | October 11, 2022 |
My mother gave me a manuscript to read recently. She’d been raving about it for months. It was a gripping read, she said, a real page-turner. “It’s brilliant,” she told me as she handed me the typewritten (not computer-printed) pages. “You’re going to love it.”
It was a gruesome whodunnit with a police lieutenant as the main character who gets thrillingly closer and closer to the killer, but the bad guy always stays that one suspenseful step ahead.
But the language was stilted, the story veered off at random tangents, the police procedures were unrealistic and there were many major plot holes. The ending was rushed and entirely unsatisfying: on the final page, the lieutenant’s partner gave a sudden and completely impromptu confession. He was sorry and he shouldn’t have done it.
The thing is, he couldn’t have done it. He’d been with the lieutenant when at least two of the murders were committed. But after the confession, that was it, case closed. The end.
It’s not that my mother doesn’t know a good story when she sees it. She loves reading, and she will happily give up on a book if she doesn’t find it engaging within the first 50 or so pages. She was just a little closer to this particular story than most.
She had gotten the manuscript from her friend whose husband had written it many years ago, but he had since died. It was certainly a huge achievement for him to type out a whole novel on an old electric typewriter in his spare time. It had taken him years, and his widow was immensely proud of him, as she should be.
But she also wanted an honest answer from me: was it any good?
Cognitive bias
We all know that being too close to a subject can cloud your objectivity. This is why family members are not always the best people to critique your writing. Even professionals can be blinded by their closeness to a project. I’ve known editors who have worked with their partners all the way from developing the story idea through the rewrites until the final version. They then gush about how this is a modern classic and a guaranteed bestseller, but change their tune when the rejections roll in.
This doesn’t mean that publishers and agents are always calmly objective. And they shouldn’t be. You don’t want someone to accept your book just because they think it’s objectively good. You want an agent and publisher who is passionate about your book and who will defend it and promote it as if you were a close family member.
This is where the difficulty comes in. You want your agent and publisher to be biased in favor of your book but you need honest feedback to make your story so good that an agent or publisher will take it on and promote it.
How do you do that? How do you know if your book is any good, if it’s ready to send to an agent or sell well if it’s self-published?
Strong support
We’ve already established that close family are unlikely to be reliable. They want you to do well, and if they don’t, then their judgement will be clouded by those other issues they have. That’s not to say that you should ignore advice from those around you. They will often have incredibly valuable insights into your writing, the subject and the story in general. And there are many great works that would not have existed without a great deal of spousal influence.
Véra Nabokov is reported to have helped her husband Vladimir rewrite many of his works, including Lolita. It’s even been suggested that she had an even greater hand in his writing while he was out chasing butterflies. Tabitha King is said to have helped Stephen get into the mind of a young girl for his novel Carrie, and Olivia Clemens was pretty much an editor for her husband Samuel, helping him produce the stunning works he wrote as Mark Twain.
But to ask for a Véra, Tabitha or Olivia in your family might be expecting too much. It’s usually safer to get your advice from someone who will be objective, and getting input from more than one person is almost always a good idea.
An objective perspective
Writers groups are especially good in the drafting stages of a book. Fellow authors can help you work through those tricky plot points, and the support you can get from others who’re going through the same process can be invaluable.
Beta readers are great too for the later stages when you’re close to your final draft. There are lots of places online to find people outside your immediate circle who will happily read your book and tell you what’s right and wrong with it. But good beta readers are hard to find. I’d define a good beta reader as someone who can give you useful and detailed feedback, such as those sections where the pace drops, or where a character get confused with another, whether the setting was clear or whether they had empathy with the main character throughout and, if not, why not.
When you feel you can’t take your story any further on your own or with the help of the writers group and beta readers, then it’s time to ask an editor. A professional editor will analyze your novel to find those details the others might have missed and help you make your story the very best it can be. As well as corrections to the grammar, syntax and typos, you’ll get feedback on plot, perspective, story structure, character development and often even on marketability and suitability for your target audience.
After that, you’ll be ready to find that agent and publisher or readers who will take your novel and believe in it like it was their own.
What about my mother’s friend? What did I tell her in the end?
I said that it didn’t matter what I thought, or what anybody else thinks. She enjoys the book because her husband wrote it and all that that entails. I’m in the process of scanning the pages and tidying up the mistakes the text recognition software makes. I’ll get a few copies printed for her and one for my mother. It might not be from a major publisher, but that’s not what’s important to her right now. She’s proud of the work he put into it, and she can be proud of her own role in supporting his dream, even to this day.
How do you get useful feedback on your writing? How have family and friends helped or hindered your writing?
Jim Dempsey (he/him) is a book editor who specializes in detailed analysis and editing of novel manuscripts through his company, Novel Gazing. He has worked as an editor for more than 20 years. He has a master’s degree in creative writing and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and is a trustee of the Arkbound Foundation. Jim is fascinated by the similarities between fiction and psychotherapy, since both investigate the human condition, the things that make us uniquely human. He explores this at The Fiction Therapist website. If you have a specific concern with your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com, or visit the website to ask for a free sample edit. You can follow Jim on Instagram @the_fiction_therapist.
I think it’s a question, not just about WHOM to trust for feedback, but whom to trust WHEN. At the generative stage, it can be useful to connect with fellow writers who can provoke you to question, wonder, explore, and dare to go beyond the obvious or beyond where you’ve “decided” that your story needs to go. Later, it’s helpful to find people who can “read it like a reader” and respond to what is actually there on the page, without offering other ideas. That means you can’t use the same people for both kinds of feedback! If someone (say, in a critique group) has seen earlier versions of a chapter, it’s hard for him/her to read with fresh eyes. And different readers are good at different things. Some will spot awkward sentences and confusing transitions; others will pick up on gaps in a character’s psychology. And of course, there is feedback from yourself—when you set the manuscript aside for a few weeks and read it aloud. And, finally, the feedback you get once the book is published and accept that there neverwas or will be a book that every single person will love!
So true, Barbara.
Non-writing family and friends get only the published stuff. My husband, who’s not into kidlit, once asked me, “They pay you for this?” Yup, they do :) He’s been my greatest supporter. His parents too, who came down to take care of the children when I won a couple of 1-wk writing retreats. It’s so great when the people you love are proud of you.
My kids are excellent readers and many of my stories were tested on them (esp. the experimental stuff). They will sometimes read (without my permission) what I’m currently working on and I’ve had to hide my stories that I’m not ready to share. My husband is pretty good at giving feedback on the stuff I write for older kids. But my critique partners are GOLD. They have improved my work so much over the years.
Jim, bless you for preparing the book for your mom’s friend. It will be a treasure. It is really amazing that her husband finished a book! That in and of itself is a great accomplishment.
Yes, Barbara, I agree that WHEN is very important too. Every manuscript has to go through those crucial stages of revision, and finding the right kind of readers at the right time can be invaluable. And there are times, as Vijaya says, when you’re not quite ready to share, and it’s important, too, that you only that feedback when you’re ready for it.
I’ve had both good (and really good) as well as bad (irrelevant to AWFUL) feedback from fellow students critiquing in writer’s workshops and at conferences. Some of that feedback also came from leaders of the events… I came to the conclusion that feedback boils down to this: “Take what resonates and leave the rest.” If you’re writing a chapter book for YA readers and somebody in the group thinks it should be a novel for adult women, then there’s a huge disconnect that will offer you nothing. I once had a workshop leader tell me to not bother with finding an agent and just go straight to self-publishing with a “volunteer illustrator.” Talk about taking the wind out of my sails! I could have let that stop me in my tracks but decided not to let defeatist thinking get in my way. I had the confidence (and talent!) to go forward with the manuscript and vowed to do just that. I polished, edited, rewrote until I was blue in the face and with the help of Lisa Cron and her excellent books on storytelling, finally figured out what I needed to get my story back on track. If I had listened to that negative “feedback” I would have let a labor of love die on the vine. Don’t let anyone — professional or not — discourage your dreams.
Hello Jim. You offer reliable advice for writers on how to get useful feedback. But your post neglects to address something arguably more important. At least for those seeking a commercial publisher. These days, acquisition editors still want something decent to publish, but they are not interested in writers–decent or otherwise–who haven’t developed a sizeable following on social media. This obviously applies as well to literary agents. The publishers are going to spend their marketing dollars on their most successful writers. Everyone else needs to show proof that they can bring with them a large following of potential book buyers. Otherwise, f’geddaboudit. Are there exceptions? There always are, but that’s what they are, exceptions.
The independent writer must pay attention to this this post. Those who choose to go rogue are particularly vulnerable to a high-five from Mom and Dad, skipping a good editor, and plowing straight to independent publishing.
Not a good idea. In fact, it’s not only harmful to you as a writer, but to every independent author. Indies must exhaust every effort to enlist writing group and beta reader assistance, as well as hiring a qualified editor. Because you choose not to submit to literary agents, does not mean you’re off the hook to create your absolute best work. In my humble opinion, independent writers must go above and beyond the route of the traditional writer. Not only in your writing and editing process, but from the cover to your choice of publishing and marketing.
Yes, options have exploded for writers. But not taking the time to prepare yourself in every avenue of your business is NOT an option. It’s mandatory.
Yes, Pamela, this is it exactly, and I could write a whole post on this (in fact, I just might). Poor quality novels rushed into publication do indeed reflect badly on all indie authors, making it even more difficult for those who’ve taken the time and made the effort to overcome the bad reputation that many self-published novels get and get their work taken seriously. Thanks for brining this up here.
Practical, helpful, and kind advice, Jim. I especially like your orientation that there is so much an author can (and arguably should) do on her own before hiring an editor, to get the most bang for that buck. Thanks for this post.
Yes, Tiffany, that’s an important point–to only send your manuscript to an editor when you really can’t take it any further yourself, otherwise you can end up with a serious rewrite that needs, at least, copyediting again.
This makes me hope I don’t die before getting my manuscript out of rough draft mode. 🤣 Fabulous motivation to get some work done today!
Haha 🤣 I’m glad I could offer some motivation, at least, althought it doesn’t have to be such a lengthy process. I’m sure you”’ make it!
I like your thoughtful gesture of getting copies of the book for your mom and her friend. To allow her to hold in her hands the tangible evidence of his efforts and if she contributed in some way, her own.
Jim–I want to correct myself in terms of my earlier comment. I said you had neglected something, but so did I: the matter of pride. Regardless of commercial objective, any writer who loves the written word will want what she publishes to be as worthy of herself as she can make it. Even if her target audience is friends and family. That’s why we want the reliable opinions of others that you speak of. I was also wrong in not pointing out that those who plan to publish their own work must absolutely make use of professional editors. Sorry for not saying these things before.
Yep, Barry, you make some good points, and I think I could write a whole new post coverng those issues, especially the need for independent authors to make use of a professional editor, as Pamela also mentioned here above. The social media does seem to be an important consideration for many agents, although I still like to think that they’re all waiting for that great quality novel they can really believe in.
Thanks for this post. These questions tortured me when I decided to write. I’m sure there’s some progression like: I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I’m writing for myself; They’re too commercial; You have to know someone to be published; etc. I finally came to the conclusion that it’s a business—I have to find someone who believes they can sell it. If I can’t, then I guess I was right: I’m writing for myself.
I’m writing only because I can’t think of anything better to do. Fortunately, I found four others similarly inclined, and we’ve been supporting and trying to help one another for about eight years. They probably know more about me than my parent’s did, and they still like me. (Well, they say they do.)
I finally wrote something I think someone might pay to read–someone might think they could sell. I was so optimistic I contracted for an editorial assessment. I stated my questions, submitted the MS and asked for professional guidance. That’s what I got. It not only validated my optimism, it provided insight on how to make my book better. Things I’d never have seen without professional guidance.
All I can do now is write and learn. And put the learning to work. And repeat. There are and always will be writers who are ahead of me, writers who are more prolific, who write better (Gosh, I admire some of the things I read) who do things I can’t do. My only course of action is to do the things I can.
That’s my journey so far.
The big takeaway here for me is to find beta readers who have no other stake in me. No old friends or family members. I’ll concede that I have been helped in the past by those readers, some of whom are eagle-eyed, but in the end they don’t want to hurt my feelings because they’ll be seeing me again.
Your notion of ‘good’ comes from all the books you’ve read in your lifetime – that’s what you’re aiming for when you write, something that wouldn’t be embarrassed to stand up with the best books you’ve read. Maybe not consciously, but your standards have to be set somehow.
Then comes the hard part: making your own writing satisfy your standards, for which you have to develop acute self-awareness. Not self-criticism, self-critique. Objectivity, if you will, about the subjective. Other people may point something out, but only you know if it fits.
The quality of the feedback from readers clearly in your target audience – including your beta reader(s) – will add the final layer. If some of those reviews say things about your work that you would never dare say out loud, you’re there.
And welcome home.
When I’ve done a first draft I’m mostly happy with, I send it to a few select readers. All of them are friends of long standing and thoughtful, literate people but not themselves writers. Several of them have really different reading preferences than I do and probably would not read my books if they weren’t my friends. That makes them both positively (because of friendship) and negatively (because of their reading preferences) biased toward my work. I would NEVER ask, “Is my book any good?” I don’t ask for their opinion at all. I send them The Quiz. The Quiz tests me, not them. It’s a series of questions about things I’ve wrestled with while writing and that I’m still not sure I got right, such as: “Do you understand A’s motivation?” “How surprised were you when B reveals the truth about C’s parentage, Scale of 0 to 5?” and so on, and then I ask them to add any other comments at the end. I have gotten such useful feedback with this method! My friends speak out honestly but constructively, and through their responses to The Quiz I’ve even had plot problems solved. Thank you, friends, you know who you are.