Finished With Feedback

I'm done! Well, with my beta readers' feedback, that is. My next step is to tidy up four small plot problems. Next, I'll re-read the new scenes that I added over the past three weeks. Then, I'll print it out again and read it to my husband.

Reading aloud is crucial, I think. Besides, my husband has only read a very rough rough draft. He wants to hear what I've changed. Of course, he's perfectly capable of reading it on his own, but I read for two reasons:

• It really helps me if I can hear the story spoken aloud.
• I often find more problems if I can see the hardcopy.

Besides, my mother wants to read the novel, so I'll be able to send it to her and let her pass it around when she is finished with it. I can think of at least two sisters that will read it. But by then, I'll be querying. I really want to start querying by November first. That will give me six weeks before the December break. And come January, I'll be at the top of the queue for those agents who take a while getting through their query stack.