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Tahlia Newland

Editor, Author & Artist

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What is a Beta Reader? And Why You Need One

July 19, 2018 by Tahlia Newland

What is a Beta Reader? And Why You Need One

Have you heard the term “beta reader”? If so, you might be wondering: what is a beta reader? Answer: Every author needs feedback from people who read their book BEFORE it’s published, and those people are called beta readers. (I guess the author is the alpha reader.) Why do you need beta readers? When you write a book mostly you know what you’re trying to say, but that doesn’t mean that you’ve actually said it, or that you’ve said it in a way that someone else can understand. When you read it back, you know what it means, because you wrote it, and you can never read it the way someone who doesn’t already know what it’s saying will read it. It’s quite possible that what you’ve written does not come across to your readers the way you thought it would. There is only one way to find out if you’ve said what you thought you said, and that’s to get someone (preferably several someones) to read it for you and give you feedback. This is what a beta reader does. They also give you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing, The writing, editing & publishing process Tagged With: beta reading, getting the best out of beta readers, what do beta readers do

The Best Beta Readers are the Most Critical

May 12, 2012 by Tahlia Newland

The Best Beta Readers are the Most Critical

When you ask someone to read your work, I suggest that you take the attitude that their criticisms will help you to make your book better. You should look forward to their criticism and understand that the harsher they seem, the better your book will be when you have fixed the problems. It’s better to have the criticism before it’s published than afterwards when it’s too late to fix it. This is why the best beta readers are the most critical and I always tell mine to be very critical and not to feel that they will hurt my feelings. Here are my suggestions for the kind of things you can ask them to look at. If you lose interest, please stop reading & I’ll send you a revised edition later. Tell me where I lost you. In general, does the story/plot work? Is there anywhere where it wanders or seems unclear or irrelevant? Is the beginning engaging? Does it make you want to read on? If not, why? Do you have any suggestions for improvement? Were any of the sections too … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing, How to handle criticism Tagged With: beta reading, Dealing with crticism & rejection, imporving your writing, positive attitude, writing

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Hi I’m Tahlia Newland

I can help you express yourself and share your story with the world.

 

Do you want to write a really good story and have it professionally polished and published?

As an editor, I help you be the best writer you can possibly be. I strengthen your voice, support your vision and can assist you all the way to publication.

On my blog you’ll find book reviews, writer’s tips, contemplative articles on meditation and working with your mind, and occaisonally pictures of my Burmese cats.

If you’re interested mostly in my contemplative articles then  Sign up to the Living in Peace & Clarity Newsletter to get those articles delivered by email. And check out the resources on my Living in Peace and Clarity Page.

I do a lot of community work involving blogging and general support for Buddhist students processing revelations of abuse in their spiritual communities.  Please consider supporting me to continue this work.

Occiasonally, when inspired and not too busy with community work, I make masks.

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Visit my Mask & Steampunk Accessories Shop

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Blue Burmese
Like cats in stories? Check out my books. And click the photo to read the cat colomn.

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Book reviews – sci fi, fantasy, literary fiction, Buddhist fiction and related non-fiction

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

The High Priestess: Persephone’s Return is the third book in Val Tobin’s Tales from the Unmasqued World Series, and in it she deepens and expands the stories from the previous two book. The book has two central story arcs based around characters we’ve met before. One arc follows Kelsey (a human) who is with Josh […]

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My gorgeous Burmese cats

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Yesterday I did a photoshoot for my renovated website. Take a look around, particulary at the home page (Click on my name at the top to go there). It’s designed for editing clients with my books secondary because I need to focus on the part of this publishing business that actually earns me more than […]

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Seven of my novels have an Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence

Four of my books earned BRAG Medallions

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