Back from the Beta Readers

And a huge thank you for their invaluable insight!

My manuscript is back from the beta readers and their feedback has been shared. I loved hearing what they thought of the storyline. I have tonnes to work on, a few more scenes to add, and some aspects to tweak. We’ve had a quick meeting where they made suggestions for misdirection and areas they would like to see more detail added to the storyline. They made me question why I’d made certain choices and the character’s motives behind their actions. Because of this, I’m thinking far deeper into the book. I can’t wait to get started working on their feedback. It will definitely bring the story to a whole new level!

The next couple of weeks will be focused on adding in some more scenes to flesh out the story in certain parts, as well as filling out some background characters. I’ve fallen back in love with my manuscript again. I can’t thank my wonderful beta readers, who have been as ruthless as I asked them to, for their insight.

I’ve also started researching agents and have a rough query letter ready to go. I have a list of agents that I think I’d like to query first, who have published books successfully that are in a similar field to my own, and who are open to debut authors. It’s a huge learning curve and I want to thank anybody who has offered me advice and guidance on this step. It’s getting real people! Once I’ve made the changes I need to, it will be back to my beta readers for one final read before I start sending my baby into the big wide world.

Something I didn’t realise going into this was how different writing my own book would be from ghostwriting books for other people. Even though I know the process by heart, it feels so alien. Thank you for following the blog and keeping up to date with how your friendly neighbourhood ghostwriter is progressing when trying to do the impossible and write a book for herself. I’m learning a hell of a lot that will greatly impact my ghostwriting practice. We should never stop learning! Knowledge is power.

As always, wishing you love and books that make your heart skip a beat,

Sarah Jules x