I am so jealous of Sheila.The only thing she wants me to do is make sure there are lists at the beginning of every chapter (that will only make sense to Sheila - sorry).
I am so jealous of Sheila.
We should start calling you "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great."
It seemed like everything I read ended up with a beloved pet dying, and that just bummed me no end.
Hey guys. Hope you're all well. I had a question. After first rounds of beta readings, do you guys go for a second round after first beta revisions are done?
P.S. It's just so hard to get betas.
I definitely would, Daniela. You don't want to query too soon, and you want to be sure you've fixed the issues (and haven't inadvertently caused further issues to arise).
I know finding betas can be a pain, but have you tried Verla Kay's Blueboards? It's a message board devoted entirely to kidlit, and I have found readers there before. Also, check out www.cpseek.com. Also, when I googled "Critique partner match up" I found a bunch of links I don't personally have experience with, but could be worth checking out.
And just a reminder that I did say I'd read again but haven't heard back from you ...
Have you tried cpseek before? Any good?
This whole waiting for feedback thing is excruciatingly slow. :gah:
I haven't, because I'm pretty set for CP's, but it's run by Brenda Drake and the people from Pitch Madness who Dave and Nicola had such good experiences with. So I think it's probably good.
It can be slow - and it sounds like it's been especially slow for you - sorry about that. When you get reliable CP's who believe in your work and feel they have a stake in it, they usually get back to you within a week on a full manuscript (at least mine do). But betas who don't know you and your writing so well can be slow. You are working on something new while you wait, right?
Reading time doesn't occupy the same space as writing time for me, so don't worry about my revisions, etc. I'll squeeze you in whenever.
I'm in the same boat as you, Daniela! Although, I think I'm going to do more extensive rewrites so I will definitely need a second round of Betas.
I'm super bummed because I really wanted to do Pitchwars, and I think I have a fairly strong opening, but (I think) I've resigned myself to wait. I don't want to burn bridges with any potential agents by putting it out there when it's not ready.
Joy, I've mostly lurked here, but just wanted to say congrats on your agent call. I know you've come very close, so I have my fingers crossed for you.
Daniella, I'd love to learn about that agent. Unless it's Kelly Sonnack or Adriann Ranta, because I've already subbed to them solely because of their desire for X-Files-esque MG