Saybird.com -- Free Beta Reading (mystery, humor, alt, other)

Saybird exists to help aspiring writers grow their stories. We offer beta reading services (for free) to projects which align with our interests.

Our primary interest is good writing, which, we realize, is vague and lame. To be more specific, we love elements of mystery, humor, and the weird. But we are open to most any ideas: literary, sci-fi, non-fiction, YA, horror, alt lit.

Please visit us at www.saybird.com and follow the links to read more about us and/or submit partial or whole manuscripts (we like a synopsis first).

Our readers are all aspiring writers. Qualifications vary, but most of us have some minor publications (I have a story hitting the apt Magazine website Monday, for instance). I started the site in an attempt to do something to combat the loneliness and frustrations of aspiring writers like myself. I wanted a space for beta reading where readers don't want anything in return. We have no plans for making money from this. There are no hidden changes. We would like to build up enough of a following to promote projects we like in a meaningful way. I'm sure people will be cautious at first (with good reason), but we'll try to stick it out and stick to our mission of helping aspiring writers grow their stories.

--Matt Coleman
www.saybird.com
@saybirdbooks

Not cold and hard, Williebee. It's fair. We plan to continue to get involved on the boards here and on other sites. And boards are a little attack-y, so we are definitely prepared to have to prove ourselves out. We have several manuscripts we are currently working on, and let's all hope they see crazy success and give us some cred. Until then, the site's there for anyone who wants to take advantage. And we hope the post doesn't get moved from the Beta Reader thread. It is, after all, what we are.

Oh, no, mmallico, I didn't feel attacked. I simply meant, in general, that's the nature of message boards. And, therefore, I'm prepared to have to defend my intentions often. Trust me, these replies feel pure of intention. And 100% understandable.

No scam. We're simply trying to use our experiences and interests to help. But, as I posted previously, we're just getting started, so skepticism is completely understandable. I think what we offer (currently) not found with a lot of beta readers is that we aren't looking for anything to be read in return. And we aren't always your best bet. We select works based on our interests, so we don't offer to read every submitted synopsis. But, for those works which align with our interests, we are another resource out there for aspiring writers.