I recently finished writing 90% of my book. Well, I thought it was closer to 95% before I asked a few trusted readers to read it and give me their feedback.
Overall, the feedback has been positive. Yay! And constructive. Most of them have been quite honest in providing insight into making changes to things like spelling, grammar, punctuation, and storyline continuity.
Where they were confused or simply lost, they let me know. With the exception of one reader, they all offered suggestions and tweaks for better clarity and consistency. Only one of my beta readers has been less than helpful. And the reason isn’t because that person’s being contrary, it’s because it’s just not their genre. They can’t “get into it” because science fiction isn’t what they like or read.
But this has taught me that since I’m writing for a specific demographic, I have to keep that in mind when choosing beta readers.
