I finally finished the book. I reviewed it and reviewed it again. I formatted it and edited the formatting several times until I was happy with it. Then I signed up for a Reedsy account to search for the right editor. I also continued researching self-publishing advice, and you know what the internet told me?

You need beta readers before you send your book to an editor.

[insert face in palm here]

I don’t know if I’d overlooked that part or deliberately avoided thinking about it, but there it was right in my face reminding me not to skip steps. Now the question was “who am I going to have read this?”

You see, I’d originally selected a few people to read this book as beta readers and give me feedback. I picked people who were readers and writers, people who I thought could give me critical feedback and let me know what was and was not working. But when I gifted those people the initial draft of this book (which has since changed drastically), they gave me no critical feedback—some didn’t give me feedback at all, and the feedback others did give wasn’t helpful.

Of course I love when other people love my writing, but I know it isn’t perfect and I want to know how I can make it better, I want to address the things that don’t translate well from my head onto paper.

Unfortunately, I don’t know any other readers who I can trust with the job of beta reader. Well, there is one person, but he isn’t exactly my target audience, and don’t think he can relate enough to what I’m working with. However, maybe feedback from someone totally outside my target could prove helpful.

So here I am, stuck, trying to decide if I should skip the whole beta reader part and go straight to a professional edit. The thing is, my budget it miniscule and I’m doing everything myself from cover design (designed based on a dream I had) to formatting, and eventually self-publishing on KDP Print, so I can’t afford to hire and pay beta readers.

So what’s a gal to do? No, really, I need suggestions.

Let me know if you’ve hit this wall in your own writing journey and how you overcame it, and I’ll let you know what I end up working out.

♥