Writers often pass their work on to people they trust for feedback and suggestions.  Stephen King and other experienced novelists have developed a system for revising and gaining feedback that works for them.  Each writer must develop his or her own process. While each writer or author will define the terms for themselves, here are some generally accepted definitions.

An alpha reader is frequently the first person to read your work.  It might be a spouse, friend, advisor, family member, or fellow writer.  Some writers turn their daily pages over to their alpha reader as they are written.  Others might wait until they complete a rough draft, or choose any point in between.  Alpha readers are not required, and some writers and authors don’t use them at all.  I had an alpha reader for the novel I wrote in November, 2008.  As the pages were completed, I handed them over.  If I got stuck, I’d ask if it was going okay so far.  If she had a question or comment, she would ask, but her job was mostly to help me determine if the story was progressing, getting lost, or any good.

If you use an alpha reader, select someone you trust and be clear about what you need from them.  If you need character or plot comments, say so.  If you need to be held accountable in meeting your writing goals, ask.  If you need only to receive encouragement, that’s okay, too.

A beta reader is someone who reads your work after you have completed the best draft you feel you can do at the time.  Quite a few writers use a small group of beta readers rather than a single person.  This method of gathering feedback can be as formal or informal as you like.  You can send a questionnaire with your draft, welcome all comments, specify what you are looking for, or even ask that some feedback not be given (which might also depend on the beta readers you are working with.  I love some of my friends, but they aren’t that great with grammar, so I ask them for other types of feedback).

You can send your work to your selected beta readers with a time limit or leave things open ended.  Before you do, it is important that you understand this process.  If your readers don’t feel they can be honest with you or worry about how you might take criticism and suggestion, they won’t be very helpful.  If you can listen to everything you receive with an open mind, you might find insights and identify problems that could help you to make your novel or project shine.

Selecting beta readers you trust to be honest with you is just as important.  Lets face it.  Our moms are usually going to like what we do, right?  Choose objective people you know will level with you and who won’t be offended or upset if you don’t take every bit of their advice and make every change they suggest.

Though there is no requirement to gain feedback through readers, most of us find it invaluable in the process of polishing our work.  I am too close to my own work to see it the way a stranger or audience would.  I rely on my readers to give me the feedback I can’t give myself.

If you don’t feel there is anyone you can ask, find a supportive writing group in which you can share your work.  Don’t show your projects to any person or group that has a reputation for tearing people and projects down or for being over-the-top nitpicky.  You want feedback, not an ulcer, right?

Writing groups don’t have to be face to face.  You can also develop a group of readers from your online circle of friends.  Make sure you know them well enough to trust your work to them, but don’t worry too much about copyright or theft.  The minute you put your work out in written or electronic form for anyone to see, you are covered by copyright.

Alpha and beta readers are a valuable source of information about your writing project.  Remain open to what they have to say and honest about what you need.  Assess the feedback against your vision for your project and your knowledge of your characters or subject.  Use what makes your writing stronger and discard the rest.

        

Historical writing requires research if you wish to maintain some level of accuracy.  Fantasy writing often takes place in a setting similar to medieval Europe, and the research you do can enhance the tidbits you give your readers.  Writing a piece set in any age in the past might require a little research.  Writing a piece set in the future is more open to the imagination, though it is entirely possible to use historical research, modified by your imagination, to describe details in the future.  Consider steam punk, classic medieval fantasy, cultures on other planets, mythological characters, speculative fiction and urban fantasy.

Weapons were an integral part of most historical societies.  Do you know the difference between a bastard sword, a broad sword, and a cutlass?  What is the difference between a dirk and a dagger?  Keep in mind these answers shift depending on the century you use for the basis of your story.  Still, one would not expect a slip of a girl to adequately wield a pole arm, or a young lad to be big enough to swing a hand-and-a-half with much force.  Daggers were often as long as a short sword in some time periods, and small enough to conceal in a boot for others.  Weapons don’t need a lot of description, unless they are a character in their own right, but have an idea how someone might handle one.

There are major differences between a hauberk and a curiass, breastplates of various ages, and still (though smaller) differences  between riveted and flattened chain mail.  Armor was worn over quilted padding, and was sweaty, heavy, and sometimes cumbersome.  The padding would become stained and stink of rust, wet metal, and human sweat.  Dress varied for men as it did for women, with multiple styles of head wear, breeches, and accessories.  The good news is that medieval and renaissance styles (and all styles since) are easily researched with numerous resources.  The bad news for me is setting a story in 685 around the Battle of Dunnichen because less is known/available on the web and what the Picts wore is even less well documented.

Ladies’ clothing varied greatly from century to century.  Corsets and the use of stays also changed dramatically. The variety of cloth available for use increased as time went on.  Why is this important?  Linen and wool were standard fabrics for the 10th century.  It would be 100 years before silk came onto the scene for most nobility,  or embroidery became common.  Prior to the 10th century, wool was about it (yes, sheep were important).  As time went on, the nobility began to wear exclusively the more desirable fabrics such as silk, velvet, and brocade.  Head wear also varied with the times, going from loosely braided hair to full coverage in just a few centuries.  Women tied on their pockets, and the household keys were a badge of office.

I am widely read enough to know if you did your homework for a historical romance set in the 10th century through late renaissance, and then again from regency forward.  If I am, I guarantee others are as well.  If your 12th century character is wearing a bliaut, or your 9th century character is wearing a velvet doublet, the reader could be lost.  Small details are the key, here, and there’s nothing wrong with using them sparingly.  The goal is to set the stage with just enough detail for the reader to fill in, and to not give details that jar the reader out of the story.

It isn’t just about character dress or armor.  Other common mistakes include the use of plates rather than trenchers in the early centuries, or describing a castle as snug (they were exceedingly drafty.  If you’ve seen Mel Gibson’s Hamlet, think about the scene in which he confronts his mother in her bedchamber.  Tapestries are on poles to be swung over the open windows and Glenn Close’s nose is authentically red from the cold.  Those romantic bed curtains were left open only on the side facing the fire and closed the rest of the night to preserve heat.

Societal rules are also important.  Elinor in Sense and Sensibility tells her mother she would be at ease if she knew that Willoughby had written to her sister.  Why?  Because unmarried people did not correspond unless engaged.  Courtship rules were more rigorous in other times, to be sure, but this was one rule Jane Austin knew her contemporaries understood.  To write that same novel today, the author might want to work that tidbit in somewhere.

The basics are true for any era, from 1000 B.C. to the decade before you were born.  Small details establish your setting and era in subtle ways, just as mannerisms help establish your character.  The head knowledge gained from historical research stays with you and can be used again and again in other ways (creating a character who is a historian, for example, or an heir who must uphold the request of an ancient ancestor).

Research can be fun!

        

Continuing the series of using images to provide detail for your writing, we’ll look at settings today.  As a reminder, these are absolutely not necessary, but can be helpful in keeping things straight in your mind or providing those unconscious details that enrich your prose.

Where do your characters hang out?  Do you have a good idea of their environment?   A modern story isn’t so hard since we can pull it from our everyday lives, but if a character lives in poverty and you have always been wealthy, how can you describe their home?  If you’ve always lived in the inner city, how can you describe the vistas of a Montana cattle ranch?  It’s easy.  You find images, pictures, and descriptions that tell you what you need to know.  This part of research is fun and can add a lot of depth to your settings.

Does your story take place in a small town in which citizens meet in the city park?  What features does the park have?  Benches, a fountain, a view of the courthouse?  Can you consistently describe these features in bits and pieces throughout 90k+ words?  You can with a picture.  With one such as this at the left, you can also know which businesses offer a view of meetings near the fountain, furtive or open.  You know where the bench is in relation to the street, even if it is likely someone could be surprised from behind.  With the image to refer to, the tidbits you give about this park should remain consistent.

While writing science fiction, do you know what your various races look like?  What about the planets and ships?  While the reader needs little detail to spark their imagination, images can help you remain consistent and stave off contradictory descriptions.   Descriptions of te ethereal beauty of a nebula or the fearsome light of a supernova are only an image away.  One image can be enough to set your supernova in your mind for the length of the story.  Sketches of a race can bring about intriguing little bits in  your story as well…such as a fluttering gill (nervousness?) or an appendage that goes pale (anger?)

Can you describe the castle in your high fantasy novel?  How far from the inner bailey to the outer?  Where are the stables housed in relation to the main gates?  Where’s the weakest section of the wall?  Is it a mere tower or is there an inner ward with living quarters for the Lord and his family?  Where are the soldiers housed?  The servants?  Small details, to be sure, but the more you know your world, the more small believable details will slip into  your writing to enliven the environment for your reader.

Do you know the floor plan of the house in which most of the action occurs?  Ghost stories, family sagas, mysteries, and crime fiction all benefit from an interesting setting described in broad strokes that allow the reader to fill in the particulars.  You, as the writer, will benefit greatly from knowing the floor plan.  You might even find that the characters discover passages from one room to the next or surprise niches in which to hide.  Can character A overhear an argument in the next room from where he’s standing?  Would the duct work carry a conversation from the room overhead?  Your floor plan will let you know.

Is your novel set in a business environment?  If so, do you know the difference between government offices with their standard issue metal desks and the luxury offices of, say, a high powered conglomerate?  Would your character recognize an office setting that was ostentatious versus one built with old money?  What does the office furniture say about the business?  Do they care more for their image than their functionality?  Do the desks have damaged or broken corners and drawers or are they new and modern?  How does the dress of the workers look in light of the decor?  Is there a water cooler?  New or ancient and noisy?  Is the copier in the open or in another room?

The offices of a law firm must have a place for law books, and perhaps cubbies for clerks.  The office of a county agency likely has linoleum floors and beat up metal desks.  Academic offices will salvage all they can of serviceable pieces, and can often be a mix of old and new, metal and wood, 40s style and modern.

What about a situation room or ready room? Is it crowded, filled with half-empty paper cups and candy wrappers, or is it the domain of young techies with sleek laptops and leather binders?

Situation rooms can be  used for an ongoing investigation for the FBI, CIA, or local law enforcement.  They can also be  used by a team within a corporation assigned to a single project.  What does yours look like?  How do people move through it?  Loud or hushed?  Chaotic or orderly?  Once you know in your own mind, your characters can take over and move through that environment as they work and live out their story.

The better you know the world, the more unconscious and natural the details will seem.  Your imagination is all that is required, but should you need a little help, consider researching your setting and fixing an image in your mind or on your desktop.

        

At the very beginning of character creation, things are not always the same.  Sometimes I have a very good idea of what a character looks like.  Sometimes I don’t.  Often, I have an idea of their appearance, but might not know how they move.   A sense of height, color, arresting features…as if glimpsed from the corner of my eye…is nearly always present.  To bring the character into being afterward is a matter of conversing with them, and sometimes finding images that remind me of them.  Between the character and me, we usually work out the details until I can see the character laughing (right down to the crinkles around the eyes), scowling, lost in thought, or surprised.  Does the reader need all this detail?  Of course not.  Do I require it?  Nope.  It adds a dimension to the character creation that I enjoy, however, and helps me get a handle on those that are too shy to stand out.

For one story, I had a bit of trouble getting a handle on the size differences between a warrior woman and her court enemy, a slight woman with a presence equal to that of the warrior.  I used pictures and a bit of photoshopping to put them side by side.  Suddenly, I had no trouble remembering that Elyse always got a crick in her neck when arguing with Tameth, or that Tameth tended to overwhelm her physically.  It was part of their interaction, and made the story richer.

On occasion, I’ll browse my files and the ‘net just to indulge my eye, and a character will whisper in the back of my mind “that’s me…tell my story.”  Like this guy here to the left.  Where did he get those scars and why that expression on his face?  If he wishes to speak, I’ll sit and listen, shifting through what I hear and feel until I progress to a character sketch or thank him for his time and move on.  His eyes almost make him look as if he’s been blinded, and that image stuck in my mind.

Now, here’s an embarrassing thing for me to admit.  Sometimes my characters come to me on their deathbed, ready to share secrets….and once or twice…after they are dead.  I know, gruesome and weird.  Those characters lived a life filled with high emotion…love, fear, betrayal, triumph…all the things that make for good tension in a plot.  These images are linked from one particular photostream of an artist doing a masterful job of blending elements into a surreal, ghostlike feeling and mood.  I don’t pretend all her images are comforting, but I’ll visit her photostream when I hear a character crying betrayal, and sometimes the thoughts will gel.  Sometimes these images just hit some melancholy aspect of my personality that brings forth words of description I can’t get elsewhere.

What I find interesting about these shots is the solidity of the figures and settings in their juxtaposition.  Consider the middle picture, the figure standing in a room ruined with time.   There’s something about that I almost can’t put into words, so can only draw your attention to it.  Whether it is a theme of mine of which I am unaware, or have left unexplored or something to do with my love of history and unfortunate understanding of what life must have been like for women prior to modern medicine…to lose spouses, retainers, children, and even their own lives to germs and bacteria they couldn’t even see…I have always found these images

disturbing, and also compelling.

I’ve included just three of her pieces.  For the full scope of this artist’s work, please visit her photostream through any of the image links.

Now, there is certainly no requirement of images to complete my view of a character, or even to write the character.  We all know that too much detail can kill a story; that you want to provide just enough detail to spark the reader’s imagination.  This is just a technique or method to be used in making the character real for me so I might write them better.

These images come from everywhere. ..old art books, fine art, google searches, calendar art, you name it.  Be on the look out and collect the images that speak to you into a digital or paper folder.  Make it part of your swipe file.  You just never know where it might lead.

        

Electronic publishers (EPubs) are companies who purchase manuscripts for electronic publishing formats. EPubs accept submissions the same way traditional publishing houses do. They work with authors on edits and revisions, create cover art, produce formats for various electronic readers and software, and market their books on line. They are in the business of making money, just as the New York houses are, but generally have lower overhead and lower cover prices.

Submission guidelines are every bit as strict; some EPubs even require agents. However, the end product is digital, though several EPubs offer tree book options through PoD outsourcing. Publishing Central has a list of EPubs with links to individual sites. View the submission guidelines, and remember, a real EPub never asks the author for money. Ever. For an example of submission guidelines from an award-winning EPub, here’s the link to Ellora’s Cave Author Information Guide. (please note, although the link is a .PDF file appropriate for all ages, the site itself is not appropriate for children…this is the home of the trademarked Romantica and Exotika imprints). This publisher sells around 65,000 EBooks a month with cover costs below $6.99.

The reasons EPubs are successful are easy to identify. In a nation of instant gratification, you can browse books, read their cover copy, excerpts and blurbs, place an order, download, and be reading, all in a matter of minutes, from any place you have internet access. With a variety of formats available, you can find books for your reader easily.

The other part of this picture is cost. Ebooks at Ellora’s Cave vary in length and are priced accordingly, as mentioned above. Foremost Press, like Ellora’s Cave, frequently offers tree books in addition to EBooks. Most EBooks are $2.97-$6.97. Compare that to a newly released hard cover book at $15-$35 each. The quality is no different from the tree book counterparts, and a whole new generation of book buyers is more than open to electronic formats.

A few EPubs pay advances. Many do not. Generally, EPubs are more generous with royalties than TPubs. A popular book can potentially net the author as much or more than a typical first time author advance. Add in the PoD portion of the electronic business (for those of us addicted to holding 200 plus pages in our hands) and everyone is happy. PoD books are produced only when ordered, so there is no waste, few if any remainders, and no overhead for storage. That allows for the reduced cost over a new release hardcover or trade paperback tree book.

Several traditional publishers are following suit, making their books available electronically after going to press. This model works well for Harlequin, as they can continue to sell a ttile after it is out of print in paperback. More New York houses are releasing tree and EBooks simultaneously to garner sales to Kindle and E-Reader owners, though the formats are available to anyone with a computer.

The primary difference is that TPubs are primarily in the tree book business while EPubs are primarily in the EBook business. In order to please the majority, each must include the other format as well. At this stage, EPubs have the capability to be flexible and operate with fewer losses. It is entirely possible that EPubs could emerge unscathed if the New York houses fell down.

A viable avenue for aspiring authors, we believe electronic publishing will continue to grow and expand, especially given their ability to adapt and keep pace with advances in technology. A few things you should remember: a true publisher does not ask the author for money. As the old saying goes, money flows TO the author, not away. Do not be fooled. If a publisher is asking you for money, walk away. Another thing to watch for are the rights you are expected to give to the publisher. Ellora’s Cave expects your digital, audio, translation and secondary/subsidiary rights. An agent might be able to negotiate better terms, and the New York houses often will not require an author to give up rights that the author could sell elsewhere (subsidiary rights includes, for example, your ability to sell the movie rights). An author might expect to give up digital and print rights to an EPub. The others should be negotiable. We cannot say if they are, as the contracts are only presented upon offer. Our best recommendation is to find an agent experienced with EPubs and have them negotiate your contract.