After I finished writing The Recluse Storyteller in the summer of 2012, I passed it on to my first faithful advanced reader. I was confident and excited. I liked how the story came together, but I was, of course, a little nervous. You know how it is when you finally expose one of your creations to the outside world. You never know how something is going to come across to the readers until the readers actually read it.

So I waited.

But not long.

First feedback. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t make it out of the first chapter. What’s going on here? I’m confused.”

Massive fail.

But not really. The reader did exactly what I wanted her to do. Gave me real feedback. I listened to the problems that she was having with it, and suddenly, I said to myself “Of, course, this is confusing for anyone who doesn’t live in my mind.”

So I went back to work. I completely revamped the formatting, and, I thought, perhaps, an added prologue which helps explain a few things would naturally lead the reader into the story. Because The Recluse Storyteller is uniquely told. Many different stories on top of each other which all weave together in, I believe, interesting and engaging ways. But if the stories are formatted and laid out in a confusing manner, then who cares? Nobody is going to read it.

So after I made the changes, I sent it back to the reader. She read it again. This time not only the first chapter but also the entire book – and she loved it.

Use those advance readers. Completely invaluable.  When the recluse comes up in a little more than two months, I have several readers to thank for helping me to think it through and bring to the world the final copy.

I’m excited. It’s coming soon!