Gredunza Press

Who should I trust to read my story?

The incubation period of a novel has several steps, and eventually you’re going to have to get out of your single space and see what other people think of your work. You’re never going to get it published if you don’t believe that people will like it, and you’ll never believe that until people tell you that they like it. But which people do you trust for an objective opinion?

For starters, here are the people you should not trust, but should let them read it anyway for general support:

Your immediate family. If they are generally kind, they will be generally kind about your book. If they are generally unkind, they will be generally unkind about your book. It’s not a scientific answer either way.
Your writing class teacher. As much as you may look up to them, they will tell you to “work on it a little and then definitely try to get it published.” This is helpful only so much as you will get the answer you are looking for.

Now, here are the people you can trust, but shouldn’t in a pinch:

The collective masses of the internet. What better way to see if your book is public-ready than by giving it out to the general public? Well, the problem is that the general public looks at a finished and published work differently than a first draft. There are websites dedicated to this sort of thing, and it’s possible to garner some useful ideas out of the masses, but it takes a lot of work. That isn’t to say it’s not worth it. Just don’t hang your hat on the open opinion of strangers.
The friends you have who don’t care if they hurt your feelings. They’ll tell you if what you’ve written is filth if it’s filth, awesome if it’s awesome.

Finally, here’s the list of people you can trust 100% all the time about your work:

You.

This may sound cliché, but you are actually your worst critic. If you don’t really believe in your work, it’s never coming out of that drawer, no matter what people tell you. If you really truly believe your work is great and should sell a billion copies, an avenue just might present itself regardless of its quality (just look at the number of bestseller books that will never win an award in literary circles). And if not, there are plenty of people along the way to publishing that will curtail your success. The important thing is that you believe in the work. Other people can only give opinions, and only you can decide how important they are.