• Read this stickie before posting.

    • In order to reduce the number of new members requesting a Beta reader before they're really ready for one, we've instituted a 50 post requirement before you can start a thread seeking a Beta reader.
    • You can still volunteer to Beta for someone else; just please don't request someone to Beta for you until you're more familiar with the community and our members.

Looking for Beta Readers - Fantasy - Monsters, Vampires, Sword and Sorcery

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CWSmith

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  • Genre. Pretty much what you see in the title. Fantasy with monsters(a collection of weird and unique beasts and horrors + some less unique creatures like wyverns and vampires), plenty of bloody combat, and a splash of magic for good measure. My writing style is easily read. I keep clear of over the top prose, but I do include a single 'flowery' character.
  • Feedback. Would be happy with any kind of feedback. Always looking to improve, but also looking for early reviewers and people that may be interested to continue on with my stories (as betas).
  • Publishing. This series is self published.
  • Credentials. As long as you're interested in monsters and that sort of thing, I'm easy.

G'day potential reader!

I'm looking for beta readers for a story I'm working on. It is my fifth novel, and due for completion by August.
The story is set from the perspective of a warrior who protects her town from all sorts of monsters. The conflict is that an army of men attack the town and the warriors have issues killing men. They are overwhelmed, and then one of the monster groups that were feeding on them, vampires, come to the rescue--well sort of, it's real messy and complicated. The vampires are neither good nor bad. I made it my goal to avoid anything werewolfy or romancy through the story (the warriors do have a small stand off against average wolves at one point, and in a short story linked to the characters they encounter wolf-men and wolf-amphibians). I did, however, have the protagonist's love interest disappear, only to reappear as a vampire. But it is far from a lovey dovey romance--more of a bittersweet thing.

I do have a few short stories involving the town and characters to wet your appetite if are interested. None of these actually have a vampire theme though. There's also a prequel novella which hints towards a vampire problem, but other than drained corpses, they aren't seen. I just wrote it to flesh out the town. The POV is a coward and the story is witnessing him try to survive the horrors of the town. You can grab that free, even if you don't want to beta read: here

If you're interested in beta reading, do let me know.
 
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Maryn

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Whoa, there, stranger. For someone who joined in 2015, you've interacted here so little we don't know you. Now you want a huge chunk of time without having given any of your own to help other writers improve.

Some people here retain their basic trust in the goodness of humanity. Time permitting, they will beta read for anyone who asks. This is wonderful, of course, and I like to imagine fine beta-for-beta arrangements stemming from their generous spirits.

But I'm not like that, and there are plenty of AWers like me, burned by authors seeking beta reads. We've become stingy with our time and distrustful of people we've never seen around. We won't beta or even critique for people aren't familiar names at AW. Way too many of them are glad to take our help but never help anybody else.

I'm not saying you'd do that. I don't know you. And I guess that's the essence of my reluctance.

You'll find that you can get us to beta read if you do things which make you a part of the AW community rather than someone who's here only to take, with no plans to give.

  • Become a regular presence at your genre's board. Ask questions, or answer without being a know-it-all. Get reading suggestions. Share a few titles you really enjoyed. (They'll feel like they know and like you in a matter of weeks.)
  • Critique other people's writing at your genre's Share Your Work (SYW) board. (Those who are actively writing will feel like they owe you one. Don't know how to critique? Sure you do. You know how to read, right? What parts work for you? What doesn't? Why not? There, you're critiquing. I knew you could.)
  • Get active in the 'overview' board of whatever you write, whether it's novels, short stories, memoirs, or scripts. (A broader group will know you and like you.)
  • Join in on the activity at any of the non-writing boards, from politics to cooking or movies. (People will know and like you--but a different and far more diverse group than just your own genre's writers. I bet you're seeing a pattern here, huh? Being a person who's known and liked means people are happy to help you write your best. That includes me.)
  • After you've hit 50 posts, which will take no time if you get involved at multiple AW boards, post your first chapter at the appropriate SYW board. Make sure you read the sticky about how to format it, since AW doesn't support tabs and won't recognize your italics or font size. This lets people see what you've got.

Now you'll be somebody we know and like, who's a part of the AW community, who's contributed his or her own time before asking for anyone else's, and you'll have a pretty good shot at getting exactly what you want, just not immediately.

Maryn, getting off the soapbox
 

CWSmith

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G'day Maryn. I joined here a while ago, lurked a bit, and only just came back. To be honest, I won't offer a beta for beta as I don't have the time. I'm more looking for someone who would enjoy a read before it is released into the world.

I recently Googled 'vampire story beta readers' and was brought here, so slapped down a post. I understand your point though, this is more an author forum, not a reader platform. I do critiques on another online forum, so get where you are coming from.
 

Maryn

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That's good to hear. If you'd do critiques on this platform instead of or in addition to wherever else you do them, it would earn you substantial good will and perhaps a beta reader or three.

The way you phrased your reply suggests that you view asking for a beta reader before you release your book as doing a favor to your potential beta reader, letting them see it early. It's quite the opposite, a favor to you. Beta readers aren't pleasure-reading but reading critically, seeking flaws and weaknesses that ought to be shored up before you release. It's work. Maybe your beta reader will enjoy the task, but it's still a task.

Still, you're here and we hope we can get you involved with your fellow writers. Come on by Ray's House of Love--the hot tub never closes.

Maryn, who'd like to see more of you
 

davidjgalloway

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I won't offer a beta for beta as I don't have the time.

Your reasons are entirely your business, of course. But in general, whenever I see this phrase occur in this forum, it turns me off. Yes, everyone has their own schedules and lives and things that take up time. But to me it says, "I want you to do this, but I am not going to prioritize the same for you." That ruins any chance of a reciprocal relationship. As you say, that's not what you're looking for, but I would tend not to beta for someone who presented it that way. It just seems to strike the wrong tone out of the gate. Even in cases where I've gotten beta reads without doing one in return, I've offered to reciprocate. I think it's important to know how the phrasing affects the message (and +++ everything Maryn said above, much better than I could).

Just a thought. You can also PM folks in the "Willing Beta Readers" thread.
 

Unimportant

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I'm a bit confused. "Someone who would enjoy a read" sounds like you're offering free copies of your book as an early release, just for kicks. I read free books for enjoyment all the time. It's no effort on my part, but the author doesn't get anything out of it (other than if I leave a review on Kobo or Amazon or wherever). "Beta reader" for an unknown length novel (assuming 80K average?) is something I do for paying-it-forward or paying-it-back reasons, but I do it much less frequently as it involves 5 - 30 hours of time and effort on my part.

If you're offering the former, maybe just ask people to PM you for a link to a free download. If you're looking for the latter, you may have more luck doing a swap on the forum where you are already actively critiquing.
 

Shay Dee

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I understand what everyone is saying, however, I don't see CWSmith's post as a big deal. The beta reader section of AW has a handful of types like CWSmith every week (members who have contributed little but are asking for a lot) and they post here and generally find each other. The issue sort of resolves itself as long term members of AW probably won't offer their time.
So either one of two things happen:

1. The non-contributors help each other because no one else will.
2. No one helps non-contributors and they look elsewhere.

When I first joined AW, I asked for a beta very early and got the same response: "please get to know everyone and help other writers first", but that didn't stop the DM's that followed asking for swaps or reads despite my very low post count. Those readers are now long term members whose post counts are higher than mine! I myself have a very low post count considering how long I've been a member for, but the amount of friends I've made and swaps I've done (some I've read without swapping) make me feel as if I've been around AW a lot longer than my post count will have you believe!

Having said that, helping publicly helps everyone, so :welcome: @CWSmith. Stick around!
 

Maryn

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We're glad to hear that worked out well for you and those with whom you exchange beta reads, Shay Dee. That's not the way it usually ends, but hey, I'm a sucker for an unexpected happy ending.
 

PandaNinja

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I have to say that I agree with Shay. I've been a member for a while now, but I mostly lurk and post a comment/start a thread every once in a while. However, when I first asked for a beta reader, (without being able to return the favor), I still got DMs from others wanting to beta read my manuscript. I do understand where everyone else is coming from, but I do believe that it depends on the person.

Hopefully CW was able to find a beta reader!
 
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