Sunday, July 24, 2011

"Focus Group" Draft (coming soon)

Well, I've revamped my plans a bit. After I finish the revision I'm on right now (just a few weeks out), I'm going to put together a special "focus group" draft. What that means is that I'm going to make some copies and give them to specific people (it may even be you!) to look over.

It will be the bound in trade paperback, with the actual cover art, and will contain the full 450+ pages of the novel, plus the complete Kwon's Guide Book as an appendix (to help with referencing and clarifying, in case I don't explain something enough in the novel).

When I release a final draft, only a special hard-cover edition will have the complete Guide Book included. 

Thing is, whoever gets one of these sneak peaks will have to give me feedback!  So, to clarify what I mean, I will give a specific example:

NOT feedback:
"Star Wars episodes IV, V, and VI are way better than the prequel trilogy."
(^^^ no clear explanation of what's wrong ^^^)

GOOD feedback:
"In Star Wars episodes IV, V, and VI, Darth Vader is a raw, BA villain who takes no crap from nobody. In the prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker is a whiny punk-creeper-loser who listens to Dashboard Confession and cuts himself. These are not the same person, and it ruins the series."
(^^^ specific, albeit sarcastic example of what's wrong ^^^)

So, there you have it. Of course, many of the people who I'm planning on giving a copy to already know this. I may have a few left over, so anybody who wants one simply has to remember that they'll need to give me a least some kind of good feedback. Whether you simply point out something good/bad, or you go as far as marking up the copy with a pencil or pen (which would be AWESOME, and I'd need to get the copy back so I can use the notes, but once I'm done I can return it if you want to keep it as a souvenir).

But, all in all, this is good news because whatever feedback I get will let me know what to refine and what to throw out, and gets me one step closer to having a finished novel.

PS: Of course, if you can help it, try not to be too sarcastic with the feedback! Remember the compliment sandwich . . .

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