Who reads the draft?

by Julie Harris
29th July 2015

Who reads the final draft of your book before you decide it's ready to submit to Agents? I have almost finished my novel about a Far East Prisoner of War and feel it's time to let some of my friends who are fiction readers to give feedback on how it flows and what they feel could be left out? Does anyone else do this?

Replies

Well, you have 3 choices:

1) You can send it off to agents (note the plural form [I'm pleased to see that you used it yourself]) without any prior vetting.

2) You can pay somebody to read through it for you.

3) You can ask your friends to do so.

If - as you wrote - you have friends who are [enthusiastic?] fiction writers, then 3) seems to be a good plan.

HOWEVER!!! You must make sure that the following message sinks deeply into their brains:

"I do NOT want a nice pat on the back and a ''Very good, Dear!" as if I'm some pet that's just surprised you with a new trick. I do NOT want flattery. I want your HONEST opinion. If you're a REAL friend, please give me that. Otherwise this business of your reading my ms might - or might not - be a waste of your time... but it'll certainly be a waste of mine.

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Jimmy
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Jimmy Hollis i Dickson
29/07/2015