How many beta-readers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? (aka Submit or Wait?)

I'd ask yourself if you feel that your ms is ready. If it is, then by all means, send it out. But if you're not sure, then wait. You wouldn't want to send it out when it's not at its absolute best. If you're also really eager for #3 & 4 to respond with their critique, I'd ask them when they'd have it available by so you're not just waiting and waiting for it.

Just my 2 cents.

Even without feedback from the other betas, leaving it sit a bit could help you out. You could also try things like

reading it aloud
having someone read it to you
speed read the whole thing in a couple of hours--good for looking at the plot as a whole.

If you're pressed for time and you've had 2 good beta-ers, print it out, give it the final hairy eyeball yourself (amazing what you'll catch seeing it in hard copy) and send the literary child out!

Thank the muses for their help and start the next one!

With my manuscript, I got to a similar point. I'd gotten good, specific feedback from several beta readers, and revised accordingly. By that time I felt really *done*--like I simply could not thrash that story out anymore. It was still with two readers then, readers I hadn't asked for major critique, just their views. When they finished, they said very nice things, and I didn't press for more in depth comments. I'm sure I could have gotten some more advice from them, but I was *done*. I dove into querying. It worked out for me--I got a lovely agent.

You sound like you feel pretty done yourself. If you feel very happy with your manuscript, and that your first two readers have high standards and were fully honest with you, I would say dive in with your first batch of queries, say, half a dozen. If they all turn into rejections, the feedback from readers 3 and 4 could have just what you need to make the story better.

Unless those betas are really special, skilled people, I'd write them off.

In fact, I'm a beta reader for a number of damn good writers, and I've never left anybody hanging September thru December.

It's your book. Go with your gut. (Or put it away over the holidays--no one's getting anything done right now!--and then go with your gut.)

How many does it take? The usual two--but how they get into a lightbulb & get busy without busting all the filaments is a bigger mystery!

I'm a freakishly perfectionist sort of guy, spending much more time and effort on the revision than the rough draft, so you probably won't be interested in actually doing anything like me, but, dang it, I'm posting it!
Here's a breakdown of what I consider adequate editing:
-While writing the rough draft, have about ten beta readers check for continuity and storyline errors every several pages, which you fix while writing.
-Once finished, rewrite the entire thing. Add any scenes you think need to be added, work on character, increase or decrease the length as necessary, and make sure everything is fully researched and accurate.
-Read it out loud. Nail any problems.
-Read it silently. Nail any remaining problems.
-Read "Elements of Style" and rewrite it all again, nailing any hidden grammar problems.
-Have all available beta readers go over it. Fix problems they point out.
-Read out loud to make sure any changes made do not interrupt the flow of the story.
-Print it out in a different font and read it once more to catch any typos or similarly regrettable errors!
-Send it to agents with all necessary attachments, each given just as much care as the novel itself.


I'm about 20% through this process at the moment.

When you get to the point of putting in a comma in the morning and taking it out in the afternoon, it's past time to send it out.

Start work on your next piece immediately.

My gut feeling is that the suggestions of yet more readers won't help much. I've had highly respected colleagues read my manuscripts and make valuable suggestions that help improve the story, but then my editor comes along and cuts to the core of something that makes a much more substantial difference. Of course, being the editor, he gets listened to, but my point is this: I reckon that good beta readers do much to improve a manuscript, but either the manuscript is agent-able (or publishable) or it is not, regardless of how much your beta readers help you improve it (a controversial statement, perhaps, and paradoxical in the sense that I haven't yet submitted a ms. that hasn't been read and improved by beta readers). Another way of putting it: if the ms. has that certain spark or quality (which comes from you, the author, and not the beta reader -- and frankly sometimes has little to do talent and a lot to do with platform), then the agent or editor will offer you the critical beta read comments that you need in the first place. This is just personal opinion, mind you.

James D. Macdonald said:

When you get to the point of putting in a comma in the morning and taking it out in the afternoon, it's past time to send it out.

Click to expand...

Oh crap, man. I've been there. I caught myself doing that exact thing this summer with a work in progress. I printed it out between edits, so I had the hard copy to go back through and noticed I was correcting my corrections back to the original. It's actually quite eerie. Made me understand how easy it would be to devolve yourself into madness. Look at the pretty yellow wallpaper...