Alpha, Beta, Cheddar Readers

Once upon a time I knew the alphabet by cryptic abbreviations, otherwise known as the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet (I had to look that up, which is how long it’s been since I’ve used it).

Now I’m learning the alphabet soup of the publishing industry. Every sector has its jargon, and the book writing and publishing world is no different. No, cheddar is not publishing industry jargon. But really, writers, what comes after beta? Cheese seems like an obvious option, IMHO.

After working through several rounds of revisions on my manuscript, I have sent off my latest draft to beta readers — those are the ones that come after your first (or alpha) readers, and after you’ve been honing your story to the point you’re ready for overarching feedback. It’s an exciting milestone!

Another thing I have been reflecting on in this revision process, is that drafts (for me at least) are not discreet. Sure, I make passes, and then change my draft version title to make myself feel like I am making forward progress. But, in truth, there is a lot more variability in completing a “draft” than I had once thought. For example, my opening has been revised approximately 5,762,451 times, while other chapters felt more realized from the beginning.

I’ve also made some modest updates to my website to reflect my shift fully into the middle grade, kid lit space. I am still thinking about essays, and possibly some nonfiction picture books at some point, but for now, I wanted to be sure this platform reflects my current work.

I’m still working on posting here more frequently, and at some point I hope to actually start sending updates by email! For now, thanks for following along here and on my socials. Shoot me an email if you have any questions!