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Author Goes
Online By Tulsa World’s own Service, 8/15/99 M ost writers are extremely protective of the words they create, loath to let anyone see what they have written before the story or novel is published. But Tulsa writer Joe Massucci is taking a different tack when it comes to the book he calls his “labor of love,” an adventure fantasy called “The Resurrection of Andrew Finsbury.” Through his
website, Massucci is offering his fans and interested Internet surfers
the opportunity to serve as a "test
reader"
for the novel.
“Every novelist needs unbiased feedback on his or her work,” he
said. “I thought this would be a unique way of obtaining some new
perspectives on my novel before submitting it for publishing.”
Massucci sends volunteer readers the complete printed text of the
novel, and will take the readers’ suggestions into consideration
as he retools the manuscript.
“It’s in a finished state — I always say you should never show
anything you’ve written to people until you’ve got it as good as
you can get it,” he said. “But there is always room for improvement.
I’ve gotten some suggestions and insights that are just priceless
in helping me improve the book.”
Massucci has sent copies of “The Resurrection of Andrew Finsbury”
to volunteers as far away as Canada and Germany, and his “test reader”
method has caught the attention of creative writing teachers at
some major universities.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to do this again with another book,” Massucci said. “Although it is a lot of work. I’m getting three to four requests a week.” n |
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