Don't Take it to Lunch

In most cases, it's a mistake to seek advice from people you know through online writers' groups or in-person book clubs. In fact, it's not even a good idea to ask friends or relatives to read and “critique” your manuscript. It feels like the natural thing to do, but here's why it's something you should avoid:

The 1600s version of "Alright! Here we go!"

The Tiresome Chore of Belonging to Writers’ Clubs

This first reason may be obvious, but I'll briefly touch on it anyway. People who write for a living, or who have otherwise experienced success in their career, very rarely have time for “writers’ groups.” That's because they're too busy writing or furthering their literary education by learning from experts.

Of course, there's certainly nothing wrong with groups of amateurs kicking around ideas and chatting to each other, but when it goes beyond that, it gets toxic. Amateurs can't give you relevant or beneficial advice because, simply put, they don't know what they're talking about. In reality, all you're getting is a mass of contradictory opinions that merely confuse you in the long run.

It's also a big mistake to have fellow writers’ club members read your book for the purpose of giving their “honest opinion.” That's not what you will get. Having such individuals dissect and discuss your novel is a waste of time. This is because it's not a traditional group of readers, which is the only way you ever really get honest feedback.

Keep in mind there are people in these groups who have failed and are bitter. Others are there to show off. Some are there to instruct everyone else with the great knowledge they gained from AI or other bad information online. Ultimately, there are too many know-nothings and too many know-it-alls in groups of this kind.

If your work is bad, nobody will want to kick you when you're down so they'll have a tendency to say nothing, as opposed to a professional who would kindly point out the mistakes. If your work is good, many of them will be jealous and try to cut it down. In other words, you’re unlikely to receive beneficial critical responses to your work or helpful objective reactions. I'm a proponent of avoiding these clubs overall, but if you like them, please just join them for social reasons and not for the purpose of getting advice or critiques.

Enlisting Friends and Relatives as Beta-Readers

Another big mistake is enlisting family members and friends as beta readers. For those of you who don't know what a beta reader is, it's not merely having a random person read your book and critique it. It's someone who is able to read a nearly finished manuscript and offer a genuine opinion of how it’s going to land, without trying too hard to like it or trying too hard not to like it.

The person should be someone who is already a member of your target audience. In other words, you don't want a sci-fi fan trying to beta-read historical fiction. And under no circumstances should it be a friend or relative.  It must be an unbiased person, who has no skin in the game, and friends and family members, by nature of who they are, cannot fill that role.

It's even a mistake to hand something to a neighbor or acquaintance, as you may not know the inner workings of that individual’s mind and personality. If the person was a failed novelist, he or she might tend to critique it too harshly and make you second guess things that are perfectly fine.

This actually happened to a writer who lived to regret it. Back in the 70s, she gave a manuscript to her next-door neighbor and after about a month, she asked her if she ever got around to looking at it. The neighbor simply said, “Yes, I read it.” Her lackluster reaction caused the author to doubt herself, as well as her talent, and she ended up doing nothing with the book. Three years later a novel with a VERY similar plot hit the market and became a bestseller. It was Robin Cook's “Coma.” Maybe she could have ‘beat him to the punch” so to speak, if she wouldn't have instantly lost faith in herself, and all because she handed her book to the wrong reader.

Neighbors, acquaintances, fellow church or club members, or people you know around town may do the opposite, too: heap praise on your novel even if it's dreadful because they don't want to hurt your feelings. When you get a legitimate beta reader, all those concerns go away. Just make sure you choose wisely.

“Cool Spring Fire,” my most recent release in the Hot Winter Sun series, had a beta reader who was a virtual stranger. My old book agent hooked me up with her, and she did an excellent job. She found a few things that didn't quite translate and needed more clarification and suggested that I reiterate something from the previous book in the series that was relevant to Cool Spring Fire’s plot; she felt another scene referring to those facts was needed. At first, I thought it would be overkill, but then I realized she was right. People reading books in a series won't remember every single thing that happened in the previous one the way the author does.

She was correct and I was grateful to have that pointed out. The other things were simple clarification issues, but they made a big difference and I’m glad I made the changes. Without a beta reader, or with the wrong beta reader, the book wouldn't be as good.

Taking it to Lunch

When you go to lunch with your pals, don't take a few pages of your manuscript with you and offer to read it to them to see what they think. It seems like a good idea, but that praise and validation you're looking for won't come. For one thing, they're not excited about it the way you are. Secondly, it's not the normal way books are read. People pick up the book in hard copy or on kindle and read it. The author doesn't sit there like its story hour reading random sections.

Even if you think you're picking out the most poignant and dramatic sections of the novel, they won't mean anything to your friends because they don't know what's going on in the rest of it. Everyone likes to strut their stuff sometimes, and when you create that perfect scene or that magnificent dialogue that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside, it's natural to want to run to somebody with it. Resist the urge. Don't drag it into social situations. It doesn't belong there and it won't fare well.

In fact, it may be straying a bit away from the original subject, but don't count on family members and friends to be your biggest supporters. Most often, at least a certain percentage of people in those groups let you down. I laughed the other day when another author told me that she believed she could call someone and say that her car broke down an hour away and that person would come pick her up in a heartbeat, but won't take 9 seconds to pop five stars on Amazon for one of her books. That's a phenomenon I've never been able to figure out either. A lot of times, sadly, the people closest to you simply don't support your work. Blow it off and don't let it wreck your day!

So... in a nutshell, if you have the self-control, avoid writers' groups, don't give your manuscript to unqualified beta readers, and just take yourself to lunch. Nobody cares about anything else. Write on!