Beta curiousity

scribbler1382 · Mar 28, 2009

Hey. Just curious, when you guys give your manuscripts to your beta readers, do you have a specific format you use (along with a reason for doing so) or do you just let them choose what they want? Or do you not worry about it and just send the manuscript pages?

Fade · Mar 28, 2009

I haven't sent my novel to beta readers, but I am beta reading. The chapters I receive are formatted like they are on SYW (no indents, enter twice between paragraphs).

Mr Flibble · Mar 28, 2009

Half my betas are people I know IRL - they get what they are given, on paper, and like it

Or I e-mail, as I do my overseas betas.

The rest are on separate continents, so they get a .doc and format it however they like.

Horserider · Mar 28, 2009

I like to send and receive mine was attachments in e-mail. That way i can put my comments in red and send it back. I give mine out after at least one revision.

dawinsor · Mar 28, 2009

I send my manuscript via email--double-spaced, 12 point TNR. They give feedback using Word's track-changes and insert comments.

Clair Dickson · Mar 28, 2009

So far, I've given and received beta readings via email with Word's Track Changes (or primarily, the Comments feature.)

ChaosTitan · Mar 28, 2009

I send the manuscript as Word attachments, and accept the notes in whatever format the beta chooses. One uses Track Changes. Another makes bracketed comments in the text. Both ways work for me.

Quossum · Mar 28, 2009

I gave out mine on paper, bound into one of those plastic combs. They wrote notes in the margins and on the backs of the pages.

I admit my betas so far have just been "normal people," and some are better at giving critiques than others. I need to get some writer-types to beta my work.

--Q

maestrowork · Mar 28, 2009

One beta prefers it on paper.

Most, however, don't really care, so I just send them a PDF file in manuscript format. They end up printing it out to read sometimes -- although one of my betas read the whole thing on the computer...

EFCollins · Mar 28, 2009

I've sent out three beta copies of a novel and only gotten one back... not successful at that venture yet. I'm giving the others some more time, but it's been while.

Matera the Mad · Mar 28, 2009

For my betas I have a sneakret preview directory on my website to which search engines are forbidden access. Every chapter is a separate webpage, and the betas get a link to a TOC page. E-mailed comments and suggestions drift in at random intervals, or they PM me in my own forum.

When I do beta reads, I take what I get and either change the font to something readable or just convert it to plain text, and return the results in whatever format seems best in each situation. I might give back plain text or a multicolor highlighted Word doc plus separate comments.

RJK · Mar 29, 2009

I print a couple of copies in TNR 12 single sp. to save paper while still making it readable, for the computer illiterate. I email the rest word docs as attachments. I like to get the edited copies back with the comments in baloons in the right margin. It makes it a lot easier to see what they are talking about.
Usually, I have to probe the betas with questions, like: Did you have a good picture of what the MC looked like in your head? Or, Did you ever get lost in the dialog, and not know who was speaking? The comments they volunteer are things like, "I really got into it, and couldn't put it down." Or, "You were right on in that scene with..."

PeeDee · Mar 29, 2009

Typically what I do is just write and write for awhile, and then when I've done a few thousand words, copy and paste 'em into an e-mail and say "Here's what I've done, lemme know what you think." And they do. And then they send me words. And so forth.

But mostly, it's just the sort of casual writing-sharing that happens between writers who are also good friends. It's not formalized into a Beta-Reading relationship. (And since I am rarely looking for a detailed critique beyond "does this work? did you enjoy it? Did it hold your attention?" which is all I care about...it works fine for me.)

Beta curiousity

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

Fade

The Captain of My Soul

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

Horserider

Ever onward

dawinsor

Dorothy A. Winsor

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

ChaosTitan

Around

Quossum

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

EFCollins

World Class Rambler

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?