I mentioned in my post yesterday that I had one reader who I was waiting to receive feedback from. Well, it turns out that the one remaining reader has chosen not to finish book even after being given more time with it than the others. So I see no reason not to talk a little about what the others who did read it had to say.

I had originally planned to print out a hard copy for each reader so that they could perhaps read with a pen or sticky or notes or a highlighter to mark up the text as they saw fit. I immediately realized how costly this would become after printing out my own hard copy. I was forced to utilize email instead.

Also, I originally had a list of 12 readers who I picked for very specific reasons. I ended up only sending it out to eight, and having only four read it. It certainly isn’t my ideal circumstance, but what can I do? When I sent the book out I included a critique sheet of 12 questions asking about the overall quality of the work, plot, description, and each of the main characters. I tried to cover every major aspect of the book with at least one question.

Now, let me discuss what those four individuals had to say.

First, the feedback was somewhat mixed. For example, one reader gave the overall work a score of 90 out of 100 and another gave it a 2.8 out of 5. The other two gave it a B score and a 7 out of 10. I allowed for them to use whatever scale they wanted as long as they explained their score. So I’d say that I received two good scores and two eh. No worries.

The next question asked about plot and I am happy to say that all four agreed that the plot was solid.

The third question asked about Andrew Banks, the main protagonist. Again, for the most part, all four agreed that he was a solid character who developed pretty well over the course of the book. One criticism of Andrew was how he handled his first case as a private detective, that he was bit messy. But he’s a rookie private eye! That should be expected.

The next questions asked about the other major characters in the book and the feedback was mostly positive. One of the later questions I asked was about the ending. It can’t be a good book without a solid ending, right? Well…according to these four the ending was pretty fantastic. No one had any real criticism of how I chose to end the story.

The final question that I’m going to discuss here asked whether they would recommend the book if asked and all four said that they would.

I expect to talk to two people tomorrow regarding  my cover and interior formatting of the book! I can’t wait!