CPs, Alphas, and Betas—Oh, My!

Before we get into the meat of this blog post, let’s talk about the delay. I had set out to write/post a blog every Monday. The first three were super consistent. Well, this teacher-writer’s summer break hit. Like. A. Freight. Train.

(Gif: “Today I don’t feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed” Thanks, Bruno Mars.)

We went on a beach trip. We came home. I got sick. I got better. We got some hard news. We’re praying through it. But I believe there are plans in store to prosper me, my family, and our publication journey. With that being said, I appreciate your grace from my absence in our querying journey/writing blog.

(Gif: Hugs are great, or whatever you can send!)

So, let’s talk updates, shall we?

I’ll be brief. We’ve sent about 50 queries for our Flameheart MS. So far, about 25 rejections: 3 with personalized agent feedback and 1 Revise/Resub. As far as things go in the trenches these days, that’s pretty decent. Have I had days where I’m in the dumps and thinking when is our door going to open? Absolutely. But part of the joy of a co-writer (especially when it’s your spouse) is you get to switch off. We’ve been very lucky that when one of us is down, the other can be the cheerleader. We pray it stays that way!

(Gif: “I got your back!” All of the fist bumps)

But this brings me to my post today: building your writing community. It takes a village to get through this process, it really does. Sure, “knowing people” and getting endorsements going into the querying journey gives you a leg up, but we are all still in the sludge pile. Building a community around your writing from the drafting stage is a great way to find support when the rejections get rough. Because in this field? They’re inevitable.

Writers can build community by having people look at their writing. This is a great way to learn and fix your manuscript, and I’ll touch on those. But there are tons of blogs on Beta vs. Alpha Readers and What to Look for in a CP, so I’m going to focus on the community aspect.

(Gif: “Lean on Me” when you’re not strong…I’ll be your friend)

Let’s start early on in the writing process with CRITIQUE PARTNERS or CPs.

These people? Stellar. Amazing. They are other writers who can look at your work chapters/scenes at a time and give you actionable feedback on what works/doesn’t. Obviously, you would do the same in return (it’s a PARTNERship, yeah?). But what’s so great about CPs is they see your words in seed form. They get to watch it grow into the full potential it holds. They could read your first chapter versions A, B, C–Q–Z–whatever and help you nail down what works and what doesn’t. Having my husband as my CP/co-writer has been phenomenal. The way we bounce ideas off each other, act out scenes, it helps us gauge what works. Then, when it comes to querying, we have someone in our corner who sees how far we’ve come and are that much more invested in seeing you get to whatever your finish line is.

(Gif: Live footage of my writing community cheering when our book is published…obviously)

Now, ALPHA READERS? These lovely gems are the first people to read your completed manuscript.

After you’ve edited it all you can, these people read it. Start to finish. They approach it from a writer-reader perspective with the aim of helping identify holes. They cheer what works and give promptings on what doesn’t. We had two Alphas for FLAMEHEART MS and we adore them. Great insights. Uplifting praise. Hard pills to swallow, but medicine needed. We dove back into for another drafting round with that in mind, and we had two more people in our corner besides ourselves that were invested in our journey. Now, we circled back to them several times to re-read our opening chapters. Their time and effort? Invaluable. I had the pleasure of beta reading for one of them, and I’m so proud of her work–she is now happily agented! She’s quickly become one of my best friends in the writing community.

With Alpha Readers, be exceedingly clear with what you want from them. One did not leave comments but we had hours-long phone calls with them over it. The other left a plethora of comments from pure praise/reactions to good thought provoking questions on things that didn’t quite fit or detracted from the pacing. We asked them to. We asked them specifically to look at A/B/C, mainly focusing on the overarching plot and world building (because, fantasy). Give your Alphas a focus going into your MS.

(Gif: “I love the smell of books in the morning” us too, Kid President. Us, too.)

Dalton and I applied our Alphas’ feedback, and then it was time for BETA READERS. 

Betas are a tad different in the sense that they can be more casual. They can come at this from a more reader perspective. You are looking for feedback on relatability to the protagonist, investment in the characters, pacing, interest, etc. We really wanted to tighten up our MS, so we asked our Betas to read for pacing, highlighting areas where they lost interest or felt distracted. We also want to make sure our characters are believable/consistent to their arcs. Therefore, we wanted more writer-minded Betas, which is absolutely fine. It’s whatever works best for you in the little community you’re building.

We had three Betas, and they held NOTHING back. One was my bestie (also an English teacher). Her perspective was purely as a reader and it was so treasured. Her feedback echoed what another Beta said, they were an unpublished author. This was good because we wanted there to be a clear direction. Our third beta was a published author, loads of querying experience and is agented. She helped so much cut unnecessary banter (sad day) but gave amazing ideas on how to use it in marketing later.

(Gif: “cut it out” Joey from Full House. But actually, our betas.)

But like any community, you’re going to have differences of opinion. Keep in mind with readers that you do not HAVE to take their feedback. Take what resonates with you. And if something they say cuts a bit, sit with it. Let it marinate. We shy too much from constructive criticism at times because we get butt hurt. Trust me, when it’s your book baby, it hurts. It cuts deeper. But when the sting wears off, you find that perhaps there is a kernel of merit to what they said. And your book is better for it.

Earlier I said to do whatever works best for you in the little community you’re building. Some people will have over a dozen readers. Us personally, that’s too many cooks in the kitchen at this stage. But do what works for you. We had a total of five writers/readers look at our manuscript. Then we submitted to #RevPit and made an editor shortlist with some great feedback. Then, we paid a professional editor to look at the first 50 pages, which prompted some good character/developmental work to help with inciting incidents. Several people in writing Discord groups looked at our first chapter and pointed out ways to refine it. Each of these people helped bring FLAMEHEART MS to where it stands today, and we could not be more grateful. 

This doesn’t even include the agents who took the time to give us personalized feedback. Again, we find what resonates. But even with their feedback, our book is in a better place now than it was in April when we first thought we were “done.” Writing is beautiful in the sense that we are always learning. Our writing can always improve the more we work, the more we read.

(Gif: Yes, Dolly Parton. We are so grateful!)

We continue to pray for the agent/editor/publisher who wants to come alongside us and bring FLAMEHEART’s message of hope and courage to the teens who need it most. But without our writing community, who is there for the ups and downs, for the rejections, the rewrites, the venting, and the cheering, who knows where our words would be at all.

Because we were not made to do this life alone.