A step not to be missed You’ve written your manuscript, redrafted, polished. You’re ready to send it to a publisher or agent. But there’s a vital and valuable step to take first: beta reading. A beta read is when someone who’s not an editor or other industry professional looks at your entire manuscript; the concept being that you are your own ‘alpha’, or first, reader and your beta readers are your second readers. In computer language they’re beta testing your work, looking f

Status update: exhausted. But in a good way. I arrived home in the wee hours of this morning after four days in Melbourne. Last night I had about three hours consecutive sleep (which was the most in several nights thanks to a dodgy rented room in the city), due to drinking caffeine on the train. But I made it home in one piece. So that’s a win. However, after so little shuteye this post might ramble a bit. Bear with me. The weekend kicked off on Friday arvo when coffee with f