What happens as a result of these tests? We reject about 98 percent of the people who apply to work with us, all of whom have legiti- mate writing or editing experience. That should tell you the general quality of the “experts” out there. We bring this up only because we’ve seen many authors give their manuscript to a friend who claimed to be a “great” writer, only to see that friend give truly awful notes that left the author confused and hurt, and ended up creating lots of problems with the book. Here’s the hard reality of writing feedback: most people have NO IDEA what they are talking about, especially with regard to books and writing, and getting feedback from those people is harmful. 2. SOMEONE IN YOUR FIELD OR NICHE Asking someone who shares your field of expertise for feedback can be quite helpful. For example, if you are a financial advisor and you give your book to two of your trusted financial advisor friends to read it, they can give you a perspective on the book that could be both helpful and unique. The key to making this fruitful is to ask them to specifically focus on what they know well. When you give them the manuscript, ask them to read it as a financial advisor, checking to make sure you haven’t made any factual errors, and that clients will understand it, and that your tone is appropriate for your profession—things like that. Basically, you are asking them to apply their decades of expertise to your manuscript. That will work well. 3. SOMEONE IN YOUR AUDIENCE If your book is about how to build an app business, and you give it to two friends who are trying to build app businesses, that is perfect. They could tell you what helped them in the book, which parts they ShOUlD yOU ASk PEOPlE fOr fEEDBACk? · 177