Adam Blumer

See Part 1 and Part 2.  #3: My novel must be pretty awesome—my significant other and friends certainly think so. This is faulty thinking; with few exceptions (consider the amazing story behind The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans) significant others and friends could never replace industry professionals. Ask any established novelists, and they’ll tell you. Because spouses, family members, and friends have the relationship at stake and don’t want to hurt our feelings, we can’t expect them to provide an impartial evaluation that will deliver the goods we need as authors. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should cut them off from our projects if they want to be involved. For example, my wife, Kim, a voracious reader, is always the first reader of my books. She always gives me great feedback beyond “This is wonderful because my husband wrote it,” but her review has its limits. Even someone…