When someone reads one of my novels, I am thrilled, but I am also concerned about how well the reader enjoys the read. When possible, I seek feedback. Of course it boosts my ego when I’ve heard “I couldn’t put it down”, “the story is great” or “I’ve recommended it to…” but reader comments related to needs for improvement are also appreciated. Remarks addressing how I could elevate the readability of my works have not gone unheeded.
In general nearly all comments related to the stories I’ve told, the development of characters and emotions generated have been very positive. The negatives, in all cases, have been related to editing. Examples include: 1. Use of an incorrect character name. 2. Excessive use of the word “that” where “who”, “it” or no word is more appropriate. 3. Excessive use of ellipsis for punctuation when a comma or no punctuation would suffice. 4. Use of incorrect words (typically when multiple words have the same pronunciation such as “steal” and “steel”. 5. Misspelled words. 6. Too many passive sentences where active sentences can better hold reader attention.
As an indie author, print books are generated on demand. This allows me to make revisions to my works, and all copies sold following such revisions include the improvements made. Of course, Kindle copies also include the same updates. This week I have furnished for publishing the most extensive revamping of both of my novels. It follows months of detailed review and modifications to the manuscripts for both books. During these months there have been prior improvements made to what has been published, but I believe the current updates will give the reader the best possible reading experience. (As an item of note the current updates represent the fifth for The Blanket Hill Insurgency and the fourth for Breaking Liberator’s Shackles.)
I genuinely appreciate when someone choses to read my work, and it is my goal to provide the best read I can, so the reader who invests their time between the covers may have an enjoyable experience without disruptions from editing problems. I encourage my readers to leave a comment for me on my site/blog or to provide a review at locations such as Amazon.com upon completion of their read.
Happy Reading,
Terry
