Estelle Duke's Blog

As fiction authors, we often spend months — more like years — living inside our own heads as we attempt the impossible: to get our story ideas down on digital paper and out into the world. During this process, we end up becoming experts on the worlds we create, our characters, their motivations — heck, even their favourite food. We spend so much time creating to the point where we might even be able to recite scenes by heart and hear our characters speak to us.
But here’s a hard truth: after a while, we become too close to our own work to see it clearly.

That’s where beta readers come in.

What Are Beta Readers?

Beta readers are beautiful souls, absolute gifts from the reading goddesses. They’re often reading enthusiasts who volunteer to read your manuscript before it’s published and give feedback from a reader’s perspective. For all intents and purposes, they are a test audience. They are more often than not not professional editors (though some might have editorial experience), but they can offer valuable insights on pacing, character development, plot clarity, and emotional resonance.

Why Use Beta Readers?

After multiple drafts, our brains start to fill in gaps automatically. We know what’s supposed to be on the page, so we often miss what’s actually there. Beta readers have the emotional separation we just don’t have as the author of a manuscript as they bring fresh eyes to spot those hidden flaws. Beta readers can really catch those continuity errors, plot holes, or confusing scenes that slip through the cracks.

Your story may seem to flow really well and make perfect sense to you, but what about to someone completely unfamiliar with the world you've built? Beta readers offer honest feedback on what lands, what confuses them, and what keeps them turning the pages. Their perspective is invaluable and what’s more, it’s a whole lot more subjective than you’ll ever manage to be.

I was given the advice to gather at a minimum 2-3 beta readers by my editor before handing over my manuscript of The Secrets of Sirona. She kindly pointed out that having a few different beta readers can be incredibly helpful in offering diversity of feedback. If you’re thinking of approaching beta readers, I have a few suggestions for you: approach approach someone who might be a genre enthusiast who can compare your book to others in the field. Another idea is to ask someone who might be new to your genre and point out what’s confusing or needs more context. The variety helps you see your story from different angles.

Arguably one of the most important roles a beta reader will help you with is undergoing an emotional resonance check and a sensitivity check. Did that heart-breaking moment really land? Was the slow-burn romance convincing? Did readers side with the main protagonist or did they find them annoying? Beta readers really can help you gauge whether the emotional beats are working as intended. If you’re writing characters that are of certain cultural backgrounds or perhaps of diverse genders or suffering from specific mental health disorders or other such sensitive material, sense-checking how they are portrayed is always a great idea. We’ve seen far too many authors get dragged through the digital coal online for being insensitive with their portrayal of sensitive subject matters. No need to name names, if you know you know.

What I’m about to say is the most important: though it might be scary showing your work to people before it’s published and in its final form, feedback from a beta reader more often than not does wonders for encouragement and motivation. Getting early positive (and hopefully constructive) feedback can be incredibly motivating. Even critical feedback can be encouraging when it helps you level up your story — and which author doesn’t want that?

How to Use Beta Reader Feedback Effectively

I won’t sit here and tell you that absolutely every suggestion from a beta reader needs to be implemented, because it doesn’t. They are still subjective opinions even if they’re coming from a trusted source. As the author, you know your world, your characters and your story better than anyone so you can definitely follow your gut when it comes to decisions about what and what not to edit. However, I would encourage authors (and to remind myself) that if multiple readers flag the same issues, this feedback is definitely worth paying attention to. Having an open mind is key during this process of preparing your manuscript for publication. It has helped me in the past to put some distance between my ego and my work and instead consider the intent behind the comments. Were they confused? Bored? Intrigued? This information is extremely valuable in allowing you to revise your work more strategically instead of emotionally.

Personal Experiences

I honestly had no idea (still have only a slight idea but not much of an idea) of what I’m doing when it comes to self-publishing. I was ready to hand over my 4-5 times revised copy of my book to my editor before having a harrowing thought that led me to ask said editor the following question, “If there are obvious plot holes in the narrative, will you point them out to me?” I had only hired her for grammar, structural and line edits. She kindly pointed out that she should definitely not be the first outsider to read my manuscript, and this led to me finding beta readers. The feedback I received allowed me to see my characters through different eyes, as well as insight into what I had done well and what I had rushed.

For me, the best part of the beta-reading process was receiving encouragement that yes, my book was good and both Beta readers expressed that they were keen to read the sequel.

I genuinely cringe to think what my book would look like today if I had never asked my editor that question and released what I thought was a complete story. Many many a plot hole was filled in, and I am forever grateful to both my beta readers and editor for their help.

Final Thoughts

Think of beta readers as a writer’s secret weapon. They help you see your book through the eyes of your future audience and give you a clearer path from draft to polished manuscript. Whether you're just starting out or you've published multiple books, incorporating beta feedback can make the difference between a good story and a great one.

It may feel like there’s a rush to publish, there really isn’t. Take the time to get it right and release something you can stand by and be proud of. Your future readers — and your future self — will thank you.

I’m having a moment reflecting on the year — as so many of us are likely to do on the last day of December, feeling grateful and recharged to forge into the year ahead. Although it can be argued that tomorrow is “just another day”, there’s something neat and fresh about “the first of the first in a brand new year”. There’s absolutely no scientific reason for this if you believe time is a human construct. Will we be different people? No. Will all of our problems of this year automatically stay in the past when the clock ticks over? Probably not. Will next year be better or worse than this one? That’s a definite wait-and-see scenario.

But damn it all if I’m not a fan of a refresh.

There’s a stoic proverb that I really love that invites us in life to “keep sweeping”. The dust and dirt will always build up and we need to just sweep a little of it every day, regardless of reservations, insecurities or misgivings. This proverb can be applied to mental health, to large tasks that we need to chip away at, or even long-term goals that we wish to achieve. And even when we get there, the goal posts will keep moving. The work is never done, so we must keep sweeping and embrace the journey.

This year, I self-published my first book and have connected with a wonderful online community who enjoy reading and talking about books as much as I do. I also learned a great deal, and not just about how to navigate Kindle Direct Publishing, but about myself, my direct environment and the greater world. Some days I felt inspired to write, others I was struck with indecision fatigue and fuzzy focus that every attempt at writing inspired agitation and desperation to do anything else but sit and start writing.
Some days I nailed it, others I didn’t. And every night before bed, I was grateful that when tomorrow came, I could start over if I wanted to.

Every day is a mini refresh.

By all means, let’s envision long-term goals and plans that require chipping away and let’s just get down to work. A little each and every day. Some days we’re going to nail it, other days we won’t. All that matters is that we “keep sweeping”.

So, instead of holding onto any overused platitudes to “make 2025 your year” or to “take this year by the balls”, embrace the very real reality that every single year is your year, and maybe the simple act of getting out of bed each morning with a brave face even when you don’t want to is enough to constitute as (definitely not literal) ball-grabbing. This is your life and every year counts. Every day is a step closer towards something and a step away from something else. Any ray of sunshine will inevitably fade and every rain cloud can be left behind.

But the sun can always be counted on to come back.

I’m entering 2025 with my broom in hand. Who’s with me?

———

Currently reading:
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf

Currently listening to:
1234 - Feist

Confession: I strategically announced my book would be published “August 2024” without specifying a date.

The reason for this was I just knew there would be setbacks, mistakes to rectify, last-minute tweaks and one very steep learning curve. And boy, was I right!

I originally wanted to post on August 1st. Such a nice, round number and easy to remember. I ordered author-proof copies of the paperback edition and was soon informed by Amazon that it wouldn’t be set up and printed and delivered until August 5th. I was egotistical enough to have the thought “well, it might still be fine to publish. I could just press publish without checking. It’ll probably be fine.” In the end I figured I’d waited SEVEN YEARS to get to this point, so what was a few more days? So, no worries, August 5th still had a nice ring to it. It’s a nice, solid, rounded-out number, after all. Let’s go for August 5th.

At the same time, I ordered a couple of copies from a separate book-printing company and these proofs arrived a lot quicker, the day before August 1st, to be precise. I thought, “sweet, if it’s all okay, I’m still good to push publish on the originally planned date of August 1st.” I was so excited to hold a physical copy of my book. I got my partner to film an unboxing which I proceeded to upload to social media . I expressed my relief in my margins lining up, admiration over the cover and congratulated myself on my font choices (I’m very passionate about font types!)
I received messages of congratulations from friends and family and my dopamine levels were riding high — all that was left was to wait for the author proof copy to arrive from the Amazon store, as this would be where potential readers receive their physical copy from.

The other printed copies sat on my desk, staring at me. Oh, so pretty, I think. I took pictures of them, put them on my book shelf, admiring how they looked in between my ACOTAR and Graceling books. Eventually, out of procrastination and boredom, I picked up a copy and opened it up to the middle and read some of my favourite chapters. Horror of horrors, I notice a typo.
And then another.
And then another.
And then I notice all these odd asterisks at the bottom and tops of pages, full stops flying in space.

How could I have been so utterly PIG-HEADED to think that I could publish a book without actually reading a physical copy to check everything is A-OK? Always, always ALWAYS read over your work. And if this particular experience has taught me anything, it’s that for some reason, words read differently off a page than off a screen.

First lesson for future Estelle: always print out a ‘final manuscript’ and go through it, eyes to paper.

This is when I commence Operation Re-Read My Entire Book Cover To Cover In One Week. And o-ho, boy, did I find a lot of things to fix. It was actually remarkable (and shameful).
One thing that happened by accident that I did not plan, was that I continued reading the book from the middle, where I had initially jumped in for my favourite chapters. I read from the middle to the end, then the beginning to the middle. What I found by doing this was that I had the ending fresh as a daisy in my mind juxtapositioned with the beginning where I was setting up the story for the ending I had just re-read.
And I found that the two didn’t marry up in a way that I could live with. LOL! Call it woes of a creative, I call it a blessing in disguise. I ended up making changes and edits that I strongly stand by to improve the robustness of the narrative.
Fast-forward to the end of the feverish week of re-reading, and I actually felt like I had a stronger manuscript than the one I initially reread thanks to:

2. Second lesson for future Estelle: when you think your book is perfect and done, read the ending first, then read the beginning straight after to see if the story setup was done with the justice it deserves.

So at this point, I was feeling good. Like, Cheshire cat smile, shit-eating grin, Scarface confident to release my story. It was, and I still feel this way: the best product I could put together. I posted on social media that my book is ready to be published then proceeded to upload it to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing aka the Amazon bookstore back office). I did a fun dance, poured myself some discounted kombucha and had a celebratory bag of chips.
But, oh-o no, Amazon have to review the manuscript before it’s available in the store. And this process, Estelle, can take 24-72 hours!

3. Third lesson for future Estelle: don’t get excited when you push publish, you fool. The powers that be still need to sanction your upload.

Also, now is the ideal time to admit that once I had clicked publish to Amazon and my manuscript was in review, I found not one, but two more typos to fix. Grrr… This was when I learned that I could not make updates to the manuscript that I’d submitted until it was approved, aka, published. So, then it was a race against the clock to keep my eye on the status of my manuscript review and attempt to re-upload my latest edit sans typos and hope no-one purchased in the meantime.
Alas, my own mum was tenacious in her refreshing of Amazon to see when it would be available and ordered a cough Limited Edition of the book, shall we say. Which leads me to my fourth and final lesson:

4. Fourth lesson for future Estelle: don’t say anything to anyone until your book is live and you’re happy.

But, we live and learn, and my word, I learn best by doing — even if the process is riddled with a hundred tiny f*** ups. The Secrets of Sirona is finally available on Amazon as an e-book, paperback or free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. I am so excited to share the world of Pancara and my characters with everyone and look forward to hearing what you all think!

Happy reading. xxx

———

Currently reading:
Glint - Raven Kennedy

Currently listening to:
Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene - Hozier

It’s the last day of May, and for you lucky peeps in the Northern hemisphere, that means dusting off your swimwear and planning your Summer vaycay roadtrips. For us in the South, this means fluffy jackets, cold walks crunching on Autumn leaves and pretending we’re dragons with our perspiring cold breath — AKA prime comfy cosy time.

I’ve been spending my days reading over my lovely editor’s notes on my Manuscript, learning marketing specific to self-publishing (actually more interesting than it sounds!) and drafting the sequel while downing endless cups of tea.

Not going to lie, I’m getting a bit antsy in my pantsy to share my debut novel which I suppose is a better sign than what us Aussies refer to as shitting bricks. The annoying thing about having to eye roll apply myself to one project means my brain has already started thinking about the next book and the next series and a different project. So typical. Though keeping creatively inspired is the best part about writing Fiction.

Sending my fellow readers all my best, whether you’re stretched out on a sandy each or cuddled up beneath a warm blanket.

———

Currently reading:
Dark Emu - Bruce Pascoe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

Currently listening to:
Candle Flame (Opolopo Remix Edit) - Jungle

Hi, how are you? Happy New Year. I’m filled with nervous excitement and am mildly terrified.

I’ve never published a book before, and a few months ago just decided, I’m all in. Both feet, wet, in that huge oversaturated puddle.

Now the proverbial shit is getting literally real. I find myself in discussion with a book cover artist and a copy editor.
Whaaaaat?!
Isn’t it just incredible how you can wake up one day and decide “I’m going to do this!” and you reserve a small pocket of your energy and focus to make it happen?

I think what is truly spectacular is that something that starts out as ideas and daydreams becomes more tangible when you start to form a team around them to polish and promote something that started out as a thought.
I’ve never had children, but perhaps it’s a similar feeling, haha.

So as the Australian summer enters its second month, I am laying down more foundations to get the elements I need completed to enter the next phase of getting my debut novel published.

———

Currently reading:
Crescent City Series #3 - Sarah J. Mass (came out today!!!)
Lord Somerton’s Heir - Alison Stuart

Currently listening to:
Devil Always Made Me Think Twice - Chris Stapleton

“…A very good place to start,” right?
Well, damn, how far back are we going? Are we going to the time when I used to dress up and pretend I was able to fly? That I was a child spy? That I was a witch princess on the run from an evil presence?
I think it’s safe to say that my imaginings got a little more detailed as I got older, but it’s safe to say that my imagination is still getting a work out.
Yesterday, I spent two hours on the phone with a very kind and informative connoisseur of what Meg Ryan in ‘You’ve Got Mail’ refers to as “the Book Business”. At the end of the two hours, my head was ready to explode yet I had never been more motivated, nor more sure of what the next step forward would look like.
Last year, I finished my first novel. Yay! Exciting!

‘But now what?’ — the million dollar question.

Enter vibrant and knowledgeable academic with a lot of knowledge to impart. Phew!

If you find yourself in a similar position, I feel the only thing you and I can do is simply to try and find that first foothold to propel ourselves upward into some sort of forward momentum, or, if you are so fortunate, speak to someone who might know something. Reach out. Ask questions.
A kind reminder to myself and those who may need it: ‘doing’ is sometimes doing the research, even though it doesn’t feel productive. Sometimes the formula we need is to do so that we can know and then do it well.

———

Currently reading:
Kingdom of Ash - Sarah J Maas

Currently listening to:
Keep Moving - Jungle