If you're breaking into writing, check out these three tips I put together after reviewing for publishers

Apart from my own writing, I beta read for friends and the occasional new author.  I’ve also gone back to reading and reviewing for medium and large publishing houses.

If you're breaking into writing, this is what I found.

Forget Reviewer Geographical Locations.

In the old days when books were only available in print, and write-ups appeared in local print media, it was important to make sure that reviewers were living in your publishing area.

It made sense because a glowing review in the Hindustan Times meant nothing if your novel was only available in New Zealand.

Some reviewing services still stick to this mode, and so do some publishing houses. If you’re in print only, that’s okay. But if you’re into e-publishing, I think it's a mistake. 

Tip: All that matters is that your reviewer has the eyeballs you’re looking for. Pick people who have a following on Goodreads, Amazon or Facebook. The best are those who are active in a fan group that your book fits.

“Real” Publishers don’t know how to format ARCs for Kindle.  (Or maybe they do know but they can’t be arsed.)

ARCs are never perfect and that’s fine. But there’s a difference between having typos, grammar errors and a few snafus and a hot unreadable mess.

I’ve had books that have no paragraphs, books that have missing pages, and books where the formatting changes abruptly fine to completely absent from one chapter to another.

I try to be kind, but there were two ARCs that were so badly put together, that they dropped a star in my review.

Tip: if you’re an author and you think your publishing house is handling your ARC, for God’s sake check on their work.

Editing seems to be a vanishing service.

Writing a book is a major project and you can’t do it alone. In the old days your publisher held your hand and helped you pinpoint difficulties in your MS. This included structural editing so the flow worked right and you had no plot holes. It also included fact checking. 

Of course it was a big task, for the publishing house and the author. There would be at least one edit and rewrite; often two or three.

I’ve read ARCs that appear to have no editing guidance at all. I’m talking characters that go missing, inconsistencies and other really big problems.

I’ve refused to review some, just handing information back to the publishing house, but I wonder how many new, unknowing authors are messed up by not having a proper partner.  

Tip: if you’re working with a publisher, don’t assume that getting your book done quickly means it’s awesome. Your partner may be lazy or cutting costs. Before you sign a contract, agree on what they will do and what you will do.  

Note:  I'm full up for reviews and beta reading until December 2017