Beta Project 2017

Maggie Maxwell · May 1, 2017

Ambrosia said:
Until this very moment, I had always wondered why alpha was skipped for beta. Now I see it wasn't. I haven't come across the reference to an alpha reader before. Could you tell me the difference?

I am seriously considering entering the BP as I have just finished the editing of the draft of my first novel and I am going to be looking for betas. The timing couldn't be better. I'm nervous about my ability critiquing prose. I've critiqued a lot of poetry, but only a little prose. It helps it will be anonymous because if I make a mess of it, I won't have my name attached. Learning curves, gotta love them.

I'm also nervous about writing the hook. Time to go study how others did it if I intend to enter this project.

Congrats on finishing the draft!

I approached the hook like I was writing the query, but shorter. IE: Bang my head against the wall and cry a lot.

Ambrosia · May 1, 2017

Maggie Maxwell said:
Congrats on finishing the draft!

Thank you. For all of my worrying over it, I found it easier than editing. :tongue

Maggie Maxwell said:
I approached the hook like I was writing the query, but shorter. IE: Bang my head against the wall and cry a lot.

I suppose you are trying to dissuade me from entering after all. (Or ever attempting a query letter.) :roll:

Maggie Maxwell · May 1, 2017

Ambrosia said:
Thank you. For all of my worrying over it, I found it easier than editing.

I suppose you are trying to dissuade me from entering after all. (Or ever attempting a query letter.)

There's a reason it's call Query Hell. XD But no, no, come play! Writing the hook is good practice for the eventual query, and you'll get good critiques on it.

CJSimone · May 1, 2017

Hi Sage. This is a cool idea (haven't decided if I'll participate or not yet). I was wondering, if we've already critiqued someone's work in SYW, would you avoid assigning us that person to critique (so we weren't just repeating). I don't want to cause you more work (sounds like a lot already). I'm just thinking I've already critiqued probably 9/10 of what's recently been posted in YA SYW and don't think people would want their critique from the same person. I have no idea how many people participating in this would've recently posted in SYW. In the same way you say let you know if we have a critique partner, should we let you know who's already critiqued our most current 750 words in SYW? If that's just too much, I'm cool with it (I really don't want to cause you more work).

I saw you said we can do incomplete MS. So if all I'd want beta read is 15,000 revised words of a 75,000 MS (written, but not all ready to be beta read), I'd just say I want a portion of a novel beta read? I was thinking I'd want feedback on whether or not I'm even heading in the right direction before I continue revising - it wouldn't be a matter of getting the rest revised ASAP and then the whole thing beta read. I really just want the 15,000 words beta read at this point.

Thank you!!

CJ

JJ Litke · May 1, 2017

Maggie Maxwell said:
Congrats on finishing the draft!

I approached the hook like I was writing the query, but shorter. IE: Bang my head against the wall and cry a lot.

This is my query process, too!

Sage · May 1, 2017

Ambrosia said:
Until this very moment, I had always wondered why alpha was skipped for beta. Now I see it wasn't. I haven't come across the reference to an alpha reader before. Could you tell me the difference?

Betas read mss that have gone through the editing process. Alphas read first (or very early) drafts.

CJSimone said:
Hi Sage. This is a cool idea (haven't decided if I'll participate or not yet). I was wondering, if we've already critiqued someone's work in SYW, would you avoid assigning us that person to critique (so we weren't just repeating). I don't want to cause you more work (sounds like a lot already). I'm just thinking I've already critiqued probably 9/10 of what's recently been posted in YA SYW and don't think people would want their critique from the same person. I have no idea how many people participating in this would've recently posted in SYW. In the same way you say let you know if we have a critique partner, should we let you know who's already critiqued our most current 750 words in SYW? If that's just too much, I'm cool with it (I really don't want to cause you more work).

I saw you said we can do incomplete MS. So if all I'd want beta read is 15,000 revised words of a 75,000 MS (written, but not all ready to be beta read), I'd just say I want a portion of a novel beta read? I was thinking I'd want feedback on whether or not I'm even heading in the right direction before I continue revising - it wouldn't be a matter of getting the rest revised ASAP and then the whole thing beta read. I really just want the 15,000 words beta read at this point.

So, I'm personally not going to make an effort to scour SYW to make sure that people who have posted in SYW in the past don't end up with the same critters, and as far as I know, this has never happened. When the crit partner problem was introduced, I actually had assigned one CP to her partner's project (she PM'd in time to fix it), so that was helpful, but in that case, CPs are probably going to know if the other is going to submit to this (they're also going to look ideal for each other's work, lol). If you want to provide me a list of all people you don't want critting yours or don't want to crit, for any reason, that's fine. Put it in the "What genres do you read?" section, which is where I look for that information when I start up the puzzle. I will mark off any applicable entries the same way I do with CPs and genres. If you run out of entries in your preferred genres, you may become my new wild-card critter, though :greenie

As for special instructions about what you're looking for, we have a section for that

Please put any special instructions for what you want from this contest in the "What do you look for in a beta?" section. There is no word count limit there, so you can be as specific or general as you want.

fergusj · May 1, 2017

Yay! Knowing this was coming kicked me into gear to finish up my WIP!

CJSimone · May 1, 2017

Sage said:
So, I'm personally not going to make an effort to scour SYW to make sure that people who have posted in SYW in the past don't end up with the same critters, and as far as I know, this has never happened. When the crit partner problem was introduced, I actually had assigned one CP to her partner's project (she PM'd in time to fix it), so that was helpful, but in that case, CPs are probably going to know if the other is going to submit to this (they're also going to look ideal for each other's work, lol). If you want to provide me a list of all people you don't want critting yours or don't want to crit, for any reason, that's fine. Put it in the "What genres do you read?" section, which is where I look for that information when I start up the puzzle. I will mark off any applicable entries the same way I do with CPs and genres. If you run out of entries in your preferred genres, you may become my new wild-card critter, though

As for special instructions about what you're looking for, we have a section for that Please put any special instructions for what you want from this contest in the "What do you look for in a beta?" section. There is no word count limit there, so you can be as specific or general as you want.

Thank you, really appreciate it.

Sage · May 2, 2017

Okay, folks, here's the sitch!

My parents are surprising(ish) me with a trip to Disneyland on May 9-11. I can't guarantee that I'll be home before midnight on the 11th, which is pretty crucial to make sure that everyone's entries are meeting word count limits and formatted right. So I was going to push everything back a day, but in order to get the three days off, I have to work the 13th, which means I can't put together the critter puzzle that day either.

So now everyone gets an extra week to enter! The deadlines now stand as such:

April 28: You must have joined Absolute Write by this date to participate.
May 18: Due date for all entries
May 19: After a sleepless night, Sage posts the entries in the Beta Project subforum 2 and sends out critique assignments
June 1: Due date for all mandatory critiques
June 2: Sage posts all critiques in the Beta Project subforum 2, unless she's already done so because all you awesome people already finished your mandatory crits

So everyone who's been struggling over your Hook section or wanted to finish a draft or edits before the entry deadline, you have a whole extra week!

I'll update the title and deadline post to reflect this change.

Maggie Maxwell · May 4, 2017

Have a wonderful time at Disney! It's a good thing they didn't actually surprise you with it.

Sage · May 4, 2017

Maggie Maxwell said:
Have a wonderful time at Disney! It's a good thing they didn't actually surprise you with it.

They tried to make it this week but I pointed out that asking for vacation on the 1st for May 2-4 would've been impossible. It was hard enough with a week's notice.

HomewardBound · May 4, 2017

Nice present, but maybe not the best forward planning. Hope you have a good time, though! Sounds like fun.

Sage · May 4, 2017

As of right now, I am caught up on transferring & formatting all entries I've received. If you haven't received a response, check in with me.

Lots of love,
Sage

DancingMaenid · May 5, 2017

Have fun at Disneyland! Definitely better to push things back than to be rushed.

Boy...I'm sorely tempted by this because it sounds great. But I'm only halfway through my first draft and I definitely need more of an alpha reader at this point, so I don't know if it's the best year to do it or not (and of course, with stuff like this, I always worry about being the only person who sucks or something

).

Sage · May 5, 2017

You can absolutely ask for an alpha reader instead of a beta reader. That's what the "What do you look for in a beta?" section is for.

akaria · May 6, 2017

Man, oh man, oh man. This is perfect timing. I'm so in!

Sage · May 8, 2017

Okay, folks, I will make sure that any and all entries that come in today are transferred to my BP document and send out "Got it"s. The next three days, I will be at Disneyland. My computer will be at the hotel, so if I get any time there, I may do some BP work. I'll have my phone and will prolly be on AW while in line, but I don't send out "Got it"s until I check over everything, including word count, and transfer and format your entry into the BP doc. That way I don't miss anyone. This means that if you send on Tues-Thurs, you may not get a "got it" or instructions on word count or missing items until Friday. Friday is all about the Beta Project. But don't feel you have to wait, if you're ready to go.

Sage · May 11, 2017

Here is your reminder that you have 1 week left to enter the Beta Project.

Sage · May 12, 2017

Usually, I have requests for sneak peeks at the stats with a week to go, but you've all been very calm while I was on vacation. We've definitely slowed down in the entries coming in, so I suspect a lot of people are taking advantage of the extra week to work on their hooks (including me!), but I know a lot of entries rush in near the end, so this is by no means comprehensive.

50% of the current entries are YA. Only 12.5% are MG. The remaining 37.5% are adult.
62.5% are in the fantasy umbrella. (Compare this to last year when there were very few fantasy novels entered until the end)
12.5% are straight-up contemporary
All other genres are only 1 entry to a genre so far.

This means that if you have a fantasy novel, come join! You're in good company. Lots of good critters to match your novel up with.

If you don't have a fantasy novel, come join! You're really going to stand out to readers who aren't looking for fantasy. Also, encourage others who write what you do to join, so that you're more likely to get critters who write your own genre or to get to crit genres you read.

And if you really really don't want to crit the first 3 pages of a fantasy novel, please make sure you put that in your "genres I want to read" section. I'll try to make sure that you get genres you like or at least don't hate, even if the percentages keep up like this.

Ambrosia · May 12, 2017

Sage said:
...so I suspect a lot of people are taking advantage of the extra week to work on their hooks (including me!)...

If I knew how to write a hook, you would have had my entry by now.

Here's hoping I figure it out before time's up.

Maggie Maxwell · May 12, 2017

You can do it, Ambrosia! :e2cheer:

CJSimone · May 12, 2017

Sage said:
Usually, I have requests for sneak peeks at the stats with a week to go, but you've all been very calm while I was on vacation. We've definitely slowed down in the entries coming in, so I suspect a lot of people are taking advantage of the extra week to work on their hooks (including me!), but I know a lot of entries rush in near the end, so this is by no means comprehensive.

50% of the current entries are YA. Only 12.5% are MG. The remaining 37.5% are adult.
62.5% are in the fantasy umbrella. (Compare this to last year when there were very few fantasy novels entered until the end)
12.5% are straight-up contemporary
All other genres are only 1 entry to a genre so far.

This means that if you have a fantasy novel, come join! You're in good company. Lots of good critters to match your novel up with.

If you don't have a fantasy novel, come join! You're really going to stand out to readers who aren't looking for fantasy. Also, encourage others who write what you do to join, so that you're more likely to get critters who write your own genre or to get to crit genres you read.

And if you really really don't want to crit the first 3 pages of a fantasy novel, please make sure you put that in your "genres I want to read" section. I'll try to make sure that you get genres you like or at least don't hate, even if the percentages keep up like this.

You're awesome, Sage, doing all this for us!

Sage · May 12, 2017

I'm great at hooks, usually, but I'm still working on mine for this novel too, Ambrosia. It's tough to distill a novel down into 150 words. Just enough words that you feel like you should get some details and voice in there, but not as much as a query pitch, so finding the right details is tough. For me, I'm trying just to figure out which of the three conflict routes my novel takes to focus on. Just remember, you have no idea what people are leaving out of the hooks you see. Lots of examples here: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?244-Beta-Project-Subforum-2 (password: testing) Since you can see the crits, you can also get an idea of what worked and didn't, for those people who commented on hooks at all.

This is how I think of a hook. You don't need to get all the information in there, you just need that one element that's going to hook the reader. It might be comparative titles (I was hooked by a comp to a YA Dresden Files once). It might be some major element (I was hooked by an android MC once). It might be some tiny element (I can't think of a BP example for me, but I always remember an agent talking about requesting a query because it mentioned a "pocket dragon" and she loved the detail). It might be the voice (a voice I like will win me every time)

You also might end up hooking with the writing in the excerpt (I was hooked by a compelling fight scene once, by evocative description another time). So don't stress too much. Just giving enough to give the reader an idea of whether they'd like to spend time on your story.

Ambrosia · May 12, 2017

Yes, I've been reading the subforum. I'm probably overthinking it. I do that in about everything I do, the first time. After I get it over with and have that initial experience, the next time I'm loads less crazy. :greenie

Unimportant · May 12, 2017

Can I sign up to crit even if I'm not entering anything?

Beta Project 2017

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