We tend to think of writing a book as a solitary task, but in reality, we all need a team.
Here are some of the teammates you’re going to need.
Beta readers
Once a full draft is complete, it is time to allow other people to read the manuscript. However, for each stage you need the right kind of people. I used to have a small group of people who read each manuscript after I’d allowed it to sit for six weeks and then done my own read-through first.
These people were given a list of questions and asked to note things that worked or didn’t – characters, plot … over time I discovered that two of my beta readers really gave me everything I needed. Now I am paying one of them to be my first round editor, and that is working well.
One important kind of beta reader is a specialty reader if there are topics or issues that need specialist knowledge. This could be a reader who has been in the police force or a lawyer for books about such things. I’ve also had someone who has an adult son with Down Syndrome to check that I got that right. I’ve also had specialists in quilting, carpentry, and Old Testament check other novels. They each concentrated on the area in which they are competent.
Editors
The less experienced an author is, the more editing will be required. For my first four novels, I paid for two full edits. The first was a more big-picture edit looking at issues of plot, characters, … the second was a copy-editor looking at the sentence, paragraph level and concentrating on the actual grammar and punctuation.
Nowadays, I have elevated one of the beta readers to a first editor. She is particularly gifted in my areas of weakness: character and pacing. The first editor is the one that picks up any issues and this is the edit that requires the most work for me and sometimes rewriting of chapters.
By the time my manuscript goes to the copy-editor it is more a matter of just accepting the suggestions. There are very few bigger issues to deal with.
Proofreaders
These have been the easiest members of the team to find. I asked for people who get annoyed by grammatical errors and typos. Ex-English teachers are wonderful. Book by book, we’ve built the team. I’ve refined this group so we have a comma expert and an American spelling/usage expert … you also want people who can get the job done in about two weeks. We all work together on an online Google document so that each error only needs to be dealt with once. They also help me polish awkward sentences or even suggest an alternative word.
Many of this group will also write a review and post it online.
Cover Designer
Most cover designers won’t read your book, and so you will need to give them as much help as possible. Describe genre, themes, setting, season, symbols, or motifs in the book. If you’re writing a series, the cover designer needs to know so that they can design a template. Once this is done, subsequent covers might be cheaper. If you do an audiobook, print, large print … they’ll all need separate covers.
It is very important to get a professionally designed cover as the cover gives the first impression of a book. Many people do indeed judge a book by its cover. It is the fonts that are used that help people spot genre and also proclaim if a book is professional or otherwise.
Fans who will promote and review your book
Sometimes known as advance readers or a street team. Their chief task is to get reviews up as fast as possible and generate hype by word of mouth recommendation or online. If you are giving a free copy to these readers they need to add the line, “I received a free review copy of this book. I was not required to leave a positive review, any opinions are my own,” or something similar.
I am finding it harder and harder to find advance readers who actually do the job in a reasonable time.
I have written a blog post to help readers understand the why, where, and how of reviews.
Marketing team
I think many authors dream of having assistance with marketing. However, many of us have not reached the stage in our writing career that we can afford to outsource this. Meanwhile, we learn to do it ourselves, which also has advantages. I do think it is worthwhile to know how to do all aspects of the task.