Donna Maree Hanson, Author and PhD Candidate

Maxine McArthur kindly agreed to be interviewed, mostly because she can’t escape from me as we see each other at work every week. She’s a Canberra-based author, who has won a couple of prestigious awards, including the George Turner Award for Time Future and the Aurealis Award for her future Japan set cyber detective novel, Less Than Human.

Here website is here. She’s on Facebook and I’m trying to lure her onto Twitter.

1. How many beta readers do you have and how long have you used beta readers in your writing process?

My main beta readers are the ROR writing group, which has been meeting kind of annually since… gosh, must be over a decade. Yes, I just checked the website <http://ripping-ozzie-reads.com/> and we have been meeting since 2001. This is a group of professional specfic writers who read each others’ novels and get together at a retreat to critique them. I trust the members’ opinions and instincts implicitly and I know that they won’t hold back if they see something wrong with a manuscript. I have shown the ROR group novels in various stages, from half of a first draft to what I thought (silly me!) was a close-to-final draft. I’ve always had brilliant feedback that covers all aspects of the work, from structure to marketing to grammar.
I also occasionally ask one or two good friends who are avid readers to read a final draft for me. This is less to find major problems as to gauge the readability factor; I want to know if they found it absorbing or not.

 2. In what ways do beta readers assist you in developing your novel for publication?

They save me from making a fool of myself when I submit a manuscript to a publisher, by picking up flaws ranging from structural (“this is really absorbing, but did you notice there’s not actually a plot line?” or “why is there no reason for the villain to do all these things?”) to copy editing (“you’ve started twenty sentences in this chapter with ‘And’–do you think that might bother an editor?”). Sometimes I’m too close to a novel to notice all the problems. Sometimes I know there’s a problem, but can’t work out what it is until someone points me in the right direction.
Without doubt, beta readers make it a better book. (pun intended)

3. Do all your beta readers pick up the same points?

No, but if they do, I know I really need to fix it! Different readers picking up different points is particularly noticeable in a group critique such as we do at ROR, because often there is debate about some aspect of a novel. However, when all the readers do agree that, for example, my point of view character is unbelievably stupid and rather unsympathetic, I take careful note and go away to sharpen him up. This is why it is important to a) have readers whose opinion you can trust and b) be prepared to change the work. If you aren’t prepared to change the work, at least think very carefully about why you can’t do it.
Sometimes one of my final draft readers will notice a quite important point that has escaped both me and the earlier readers. That’s when they get an extra bottle of champagne.

4. Do you sometimes target your beta readers to particular areas based on the experience you had with them in the past? For example, one reader is good at plot holes, another reader is good at grammatical issues and another might be good at style. Or do you take what comes?

I know that certain readers will tend to offer opinions on certain aspects of the novel. One person might usually begin by asking what my intended market is, while another won’t mention the market but will always pick up plot inconsistencies. I don’t target as such, although I will ask questions about, say, the market, if I know that person has in-depth knowledge in the area. However, when I send a novel to be read, I usually mention what I’m having trouble with and if I need advice on certain things.
The exception is with my non-professional, final draft readers–I usually just ask them to tell me whether they liked the book or not, and why.

5. Do you always want the same thing from the beta reader for each novel? For example, when you have deadlines and only have time for high-level feedback?

At present I’m writing a full draft before sending off an outline, so no deadline pressure. In the final stages, though, I will need to send it to a reader who knows the historical background, in which case I will be asking them to check my research only.

6. How hard is it to find a good beta reader?

You’ll probably find hen’s teeth first.
Look after them when you do find one who suits you and your work. I think a good beta reader these days does what editors used to do in the old days, which is to help the author improve their work.

 7. Do you have any advice for readers who want to be beta readers or even editors in the long run? For example, what type of commentary to you prefer?

Although an author may occasionally get good commentary from someone who is unfamiliar with the genre, I think that generally if you want to beta-read or edit speculative fiction, you need to have read works of this type. It’s good to practice with a published work–sit down and think what you would have said to the author if they had asked you for feedback on the novel. Most readers and editors have developed their own modus operandi. For example, I will keep a running page of comments so that when I’m reading I jot down any thoughts, then go back to that and structure the comments for the author. I don’t divide the feedback into ‘character’, ‘plot’ etc the same way with every book, because each novel has its own problems and has to be dealt with differently. But in the feedback I will usually give a summary of my impressions, what I liked, and the main issue that I found. Then I’ll go into detail, and finish with any constructive comments as to how the author might approach a solution.

Thank you,  Maxine. That’s excellent.  I know I have appreciated your comments on my manuscripts.

Donna