I'm not sure if this is in the correct thread or not. I am having trouble with my current novel that I'm trying to get published. I'm looking for someone to read it. i know there is a place here on the site but i don't want to use it. I know someone who has and is having a bad experience with it. Does anyone know any other sites that i can go to look for a beta reader?
question on beta
- Thread starter asfirewing
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asfirewing,
I'm not trying to sell the beta section here, and don't get a free toaster for every 20 folks I shuttle to syw, but here is a few questions:
1. Did you get any sense of what this other person's problem is? I don't think I'm being unreasonable to guess 90% of the problems, if not more, are "this sucks, mostly because I just found out my dumbass beta doesn't recognize the magnitude of my sheer, unassailable awesomeness," "I got a beta who isn't comfortable with critting beyond 'this is awesome, I would so read it...,'" or "my beta flaked out on me". So, what is the problem your friend experienced? Are you sure it was even a real problem, and not the swift realization that they don't handle critiques well? Choosing a beta can be hit and miss, as an alternative you can put part on the regular syw section, and get a dozen people to look and offer varying opinions.
2. Whatever the problem, unfortunately, what would make you think it is unique to here and another site exists that is able to screen or weed that sort of problem individual out?
a bit more info would greatly assist in helping us to help you (this is why I never beta, I can only speak in Jerry Macguire-isms)
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! - You're not going to gel with every beta reader. The best way to find one is to get to know people on the board and find a beta that way, ask someone whose opinion you respect. This is part of the 50 posts rule for SYW - get involved, get to know people. Then you're in MUCH better position to see who might help you. This would go for any other place on the net. Use betas that you have had other dealings with so you have an idea of their personality, and they have of yours.
2 - What sort of bad experience? There's a difference ebtween a beta pointing out things you don't want to see and a beta never getting back or being rude etc.
Really, anywhere you ask for betas, getting to know people first is your best bet.
2 - What sort of bad experience? There's a difference ebtween a beta pointing out things you don't want to see and a beta never getting back or being rude etc.
Really, anywhere you ask for betas, getting to know people first is your best bet.
Two excellent replies. It also seems pretty strange to say to us, "This place is full of meanies--can you recommend some place that's better?"
I'm sorry your friend is struggling to acknowledge the value in any feedback he or she is getting at the Share Your Work board where it's posted. In my experience, the critiques which really sting are usually right, and usually the most insightful, too. You might want to suggest that this person copy the feedback received, post a general thank-you-all-for-your-time-and-input, then put it all away. Returning to it after some months have passed often makes it less painful.
Maryn, pleased to meet you
I'm sorry your friend is struggling to acknowledge the value in any feedback he or she is getting at the Share Your Work board where it's posted. In my experience, the critiques which really sting are usually right, and usually the most insightful, too. You might want to suggest that this person copy the feedback received, post a general thank-you-all-for-your-time-and-input, then put it all away. Returning to it after some months have passed often makes it less painful.
Maryn, pleased to meet you
mirandashell
Banned
From my personal experience on SYW, you will always get crits from people who don't quite get what you are doing. And crits from people who do get it and don't like it for various sound reasons. As the poster, it's up to you to decide whether or not the crits are helpful. And that's the important thing: the help.
As for the beta board... you know one person who is having a bad time for whatever reason. But hundreds of others have had a lot of good advice and help.
Obviously, it's up to you how you take the advice.
As for the beta board... you know one person who is having a bad time for whatever reason. But hundreds of others have had a lot of good advice and help.
Obviously, it's up to you how you take the advice.
hmmmm....
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216596
are you sure this isn't about your personal experience?
if it is, are you sure you aren't looking for fluffers instead of betas?
there are certainly other boards out there, AW is one of the more "publishing-oriented" and as a consequence folks tend to be very blunt, most of them knowing from experience the one thing worse than a stinging crit is a bland form rejection.
that said, I see your earlier beta search wrapped up this summer; you have been a member for well over a year. But you have 13 posts. Are you actively participating, or just stopping in long enough to get whatever you want and then splitting? Because there is a hell of a lot to be learned here, but what you get out of it is directly related to how much time you put in personally.
Good luck,
Quick
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216596
are you sure this isn't about your personal experience?
if it is, are you sure you aren't looking for fluffers instead of betas?
there are certainly other boards out there, AW is one of the more "publishing-oriented" and as a consequence folks tend to be very blunt, most of them knowing from experience the one thing worse than a stinging crit is a bland form rejection.
that said, I see your earlier beta search wrapped up this summer; you have been a member for well over a year. But you have 13 posts. Are you actively participating, or just stopping in long enough to get whatever you want and then splitting? Because there is a hell of a lot to be learned here, but what you get out of it is directly related to how much time you put in personally.
Good luck,
Quick
I hate to say it, but the tone of your post sounds like you couldn't take the heat and you want to get out of the kitchen. That said. There are thousands of members on the forum, veteran and new, who can help you. At least one of them is a match for you. Actively participate in the forums. Give your opinion in the the threads and answer someone else's question to the best of your knowledge and get other people's points of view. Give and you'll certainly receive in return.
And don't take it personal when someone tells you why something isn't working and what needs to be worked on. It's not personal, but writers take it that way because writing is in some way an extension of the writer. It hurts, but it's all for growth. So I say try again and go about it a little differently. Don't let the join date in my profile fool you. I've been on this site for years and have learned a wealth of information.
And don't take it personal when someone tells you why something isn't working and what needs to be worked on. It's not personal, but writers take it that way because writing is in some way an extension of the writer. It hurts, but it's all for growth. So I say try again and go about it a little differently. Don't let the join date in my profile fool you. I've been on this site for years and have learned a wealth of information.
It is not always up to you as a writer/poster to decide whether or not to take the critiques as helpful. If that was the case a writer would be hesitant to learn anything new.
A writer must be willing to seek out their weaknesses in their story. Be willing to overcoming pride/ego/lacking of understanding - in order for their writing to improve.
Just because you disagree with a critique, doesn't make it wrong or something to disregard.
A writer must be willing to seek out their weaknesses in their story. Be willing to overcoming pride/ego/lacking of understanding - in order for their writing to improve.
Just because you disagree with a critique, doesn't make it wrong or something to disregard.
It takes some time and experience to become a good critiquer, or 'beta reader', as they call them here. It's a skill like writing itself, but different enough to need its own practice and experience. I could not have published without the help of some wise readers.
A good beta reader doesn't try to impose his/er concepts on the novel. "I don't like fantasy. Write a crime novel instead."
A good beta reader has enough experience to be able to identify why s/he's bothered by a particular part of the novel. It's a pov problem, or a character inconsistency, or a plot hole, or an anachronism, etc.
A good beta reader can see the novel as a whole organism, as well as minute parts. Does it all fit together? Will the average reader like it even if the characters don't mesh well or the plot is weak? Is there a good way to strengthen a character?
One beta reader is rarely enough, unless it's someone you know well and have worked with before. I belong to a critique group of seven people who have done mutual crits on one another's work for years, so I know how to interpret their crits.
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I'm not sure you'll come back to the forum within six months to read this post, but I strongly recommend instead of looking for betas for your own work, you volunteer to beta-read somebody else's work. I think critiquing others' work is the best way to learn how to be objective about what you write when it's time to revise and edit...and if you can do that you don't need a beta.
I don't know anything about you so I don't think I would be able to recommend a better site. Although I will say the people here may be blunt, and sometimes over the top, but it's up to you to decide on how to take and respond to everything.
My advice? Don't take your friend's word for it. Find out for yourself because odds are either your friend blew the responses out of proportion or they really were treating him bad and either chose not to say anything or to fight.
Many new writers, perhaps most of them, don't know how to take a crit. They go in expecting attaboys: you're the most talented writer since John of Patmos. Your writing gleams like burnished steel.
But what they get is, The storyline is solid, but your main character is too perfect; no one is without flaws. How did he get from the clan chieftain's castle to the fairy cave, and why would the chief fairy want to fall in love with him after he killed her son? Your paragraphs are very long; some should be broken up. Etc. Etc.
At that point, some new writers will conclude that the critiquers are jealous of his work, or at least needlessly destructive, and marches out the door, looking for someone who'll recognize his/er genius.
This is not to say that critiquers, especially inexperienced ones, often don't know how to write a good crit either. It's a learned art, just like writing.
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Just because one person has a bad experience doesn't mean you will, too. There are plenty of people on AW who would be willing to help you if given the chance. And regardless of what site you use, there will always be a risk of having a beta not work out.
Best advice I can give: be more involved. Get to know people, and let them get to know you. Then you'll have better luck at finding a good beta.
Best advice I can give: be more involved. Get to know people, and let them get to know you. Then you'll have better luck at finding a good beta.
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