Wanna be a beta reader?

I need some beta readers. What is a beta reader? Someone who’s not a relative or a close real-life friend. Oh, and not a writer. Someone who likes to read.

Beta readers get to read an author’s work before it is published. Sometimes they read it before anyone else does (aside from the author.) In that case, maybe we should call them alpha readers. However, we don't. Well, according to Wikipedia some of us do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_reader

Beta readers get to tell the author if they like the story or not.

Wanna be my beta reader?

Here’s what’s up for grabs:

The sequel to FATAL ERROR, tentatively entitled PLEASE WAIT FOR ME (or, alternatively FIREWALLS).

You do NOT need to have read the previous books in the series. It won’t affect your enjoyment of the story, promise. My young protagonist, Katrina, was a teen in the first two books and they are marketed for kids her age. In PLEASE WAIT FOR ME she is an adult and the book is written for adults. 

Here’s what you must be willing to do for me:

• You must promise not to copy the manuscript or let anyone else read it without my permission.
• You must be able to read the entire book and get back to me by July 31^st. This is a fairly long book. Longer than my young adult novels, THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR,  but close to the word count common in adult novels. (114,000 words).
• You must like crime fiction, action and adventure, with romance mixed in. (No overt sex/erotica. It’s all about love...mostly.) There is rough language including the ‘f’ word. 
• You must be willing to read an ecopy which I will email to you. (So you must give me your email address)
• When you are finished reading the manuscript, in addition to emailing me a short report on your feelings about the story you must be willing to answer a few questions from me (Did you like the ending? What was your favourite part of the story? What was your least fave? Etc.)
• You must be willing to give me an honest over-all assessment of the novel.

 What you aren't required to do, but what I won’t mind at all if you do 

• Proof read

• Suggest changes to writing, story, plot, characters, etc.

 Keep in mind you are reading this novel before it has gone to the editor so there will be typos, grammar errors, etc. You must be able to read the story without those things affecting your opinion of it.

What you get in return:

• Traditionally, beta readers are not paid. I follow that tradition 
•  I usually give thanks to my beta readers in the forward of the novel when it is published
• You get to read what I think is a great story. If you’ve been following my series, you’ll be among the first to know—“What happened next?”

If you, or someone you know, wants to beta read, please email me at eileenschuh@yahoo.com

Thank you!

Eileen Schuh, Author
FATAL ERROR
Schrödinger's Cat
THE TRAZ

THE TRAZ: Learning to epublish

The cover for THE TRAZ

I'm just a few weeks shy of publishing THE TRAZ, the first novel in my BackTracker series.  I'll be offering it for sale as an ebook.  Wow! What I've learned over the past few months.  Let me tell you of the journey.

Firstly, I had to arrive at the decision to self-publish my novel--as an ebook.   I had negative feelings about both self-publishing and about the ebook format.  This feeling was reinforced by negative publicity about both those things.  Top reviewers wouldn't review self-published books, libraries wouldn't buy them, and anyone, good writers or terrible ones, could publish them.  And ebooks?  How many people had ebook readers?  How many could afford them?  How many wanted them?  How good were the e-readers themselves?

Although I'd read a few self-published ebooks that I liked, I'd read many more with which I was totally unimpressed.  I wasn't sure I wanted to associate my name and my novel with the low-grade writing that was out there.

There were positives, though.  In 2011, ebooks began  outselling print books. Some top notch best selling authors were choosing to bypass both agents and publishing houses and self-publish.  These facts began garnering some positive press for both self-publishing and for ebooks.

I hoped that if I were to be able to attract readers to THE TRAZ, I might also attract the interest of a top agent or a big publishing house and that could lead to impressive sales for the rest of my series.  Most enticing of all, perhaps, was that I'd finally be able to share my favourite characters with the world.

The first task for me was to pick which book I wanted to e-publish.  THE TRAZ wasn't an automatic choice.  It was written as a prequel to the BackTracker series after several BackTracker books had been written.  I never intended THE TRAZ to be published prior to the first 3 books.  Plus, it was written for a juvenile readership and I wasn't sure how many youngsters had access to ebook readers, or the ability to purchase ebooks.

I eventually opted for it, though, as my main objective was to interest top agents and publishers in the entire series and what better way to do it  than to publish the first book in the series?

After deciding on which book to go with, the next step was to have it edited.  One of the major downsides of self-publishing is that the author doesn't have automatic and free access to editors and proof readers.  THE TRAZ went through two editors, aside from my own multiple re-reads.

When both editors raised questions about the age of the protagonist versus the target readership, I had to reconsider the target age of my readers and decide if I was willing to adjust my characters and plot to accommodate that age group.

Accompanied by tears and wails of frustrations, I outlined my feelings, goals, and objectives for the book.  For whom did I write this book?  Would those for whom I wrote it, like it?  I finally confirmed, yes it was a book for young teens and pre-teens.

I put a call out on my social networks for young teens and 'tweens to read the novel and provide feedback.  In the industry, these are called 'beta readers'.  I also forwarded it to some adult readers, because after all, I also wanted to attract the attention of adult agents and publishers.

I registered with CISS and got ISBN numbers for the book.  The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition, allowing for more efficient marketing of products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors.  I needed a publisher's name to get an ISBN.  As a self-publisher, I could use my author name, or make up a name.  I called myself Kastle Harbour Publications--making use of a pen name I'd chosen years ago.

I began to design my marketing strategy.  This started with hiring experts to design my book cover and create a book trailer (a video snippet to advertise the book).

Simultaneously, I wrote my dedication page, my forward, my acknowledgements, the promotional copy for the back page, and my author bio.

To address my editors' concerns that the situations in the novel might be too advanced for my target readership, I wrote a discussion/teaching guide to help young readers and the adults in their lives understand the social and emotional issues raised by the story.  I  included a list of resources such as the phone number for the kids' help line and a link to RCMP reports on gangs and the illicit drug trade.

This coming week, I will receive feedback from my beta readers and barring any major concerns, I will do one more read through to hopefully catch any final spelling or grammar errors.  I will then forward the manuscript and associated text to Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author, publisher, book marketing coach, and ebook expert  to format so that it will correctly upload to Amazon and Smashwords.

I expect to have my promotional trailer done in early May.

Other promotional opportunities I will pursue include press releases, announcements on my social network, guest blogs, interviews...

It's going to be fun, and a lot of work.  And I'm loving it!

Eileen Schuh, Canadian writer http://www.eileenschuh.com/