Availability: Ask again later (Last update: March 15th)
Preferences (strongest to weakest):
-Young Adult (and its numerous subgenres)
-Mystery
-Horror (Warning: I am picky about stuff that tries to sell itself as horror but does not horrify me)
-Speculative Fiction as long as it challenges a preconceived notion or makes me think.
-Romance/Erotica (plot relevant sex please)
-Paranormal that limits itself to few supernatural critters (too many tends to bog down the narrative).
Will Not Read:
-Incomplete manuscripts. I'm a
beta reader. I work with full drafts.
-Pro-religion fiction.
-Fantasy of the Tolkein or Vampire/Werewolf variety.
-"Literary" Fiction.
-Anything that was influenced by Joyce.
-Anything that uses purple prose and isn't being ironic about it.
Uncomfortable With: Almost nothing. In other words, if you need a gritty beta-reader who will not be immediately repulsed by some brutal material, I can probably stomach it.
Critique Style: I'm more of a story editor than a grammar hawk. I will comment on a line if its delivery is especially cliche or jarring, but for the most part I prefer to focus on broader strokes: world building, characterization, pacing, tension, suspension of disbelief, things like that. I tend to pair every critique I can with a compliment in an attempt to maximize effectiveness:encouragement ratios.
What I Write: Almost all of my current material is YA-Mystery told by a disenfranchised and overly snarky narrator. If that describes your book, odds are I will like it.
What I Want in Return: Eventually I will need to recruit beta readers of my own. Naturally I would like to resume those beta reader relationships that worked well from previous endeavours.
A spot in the acknowledgements never hurts either
Conditions: I will grow impatient and frustrated if your grasp on the English language is not competent at the very least. Your MS should be void of elementary errors. It doesn't have to be perfect (if my copy editor has anything to prove, it's that mine aren't), but don't send me NaNo slog either. You should be fairly confident in what you have to share, and I will respond honestly to what you send.
Active members in the AW community are more likely to gain my readership than inactive ones. I cannot trust that a person with 1 post will not disappear after I've given them feedback, when I may call on them in the future to return the favour.
How to Contact Me: Treat me like a warm-up round for contacting an agent. Send me a PM with a pitch along with details (MS length, genre, how you take your coffee) and a small reading sample. If I like it, I'll ask for the first chapter (or prologue if you prefer) and send it back to you to either seal the deal or break it off.
If you agree to offer it, expect me to read "about" 30k words/week. If I finish sooner, take it as a compliment, because it meant I voraciously consumed your MS faster than Katniss ate her meal at the champion's table. If I finish later, I may just be busy. If the pacing is killing me and I don't want to finish the MS, I'll just tell you, along with a detailed feedback report of where things went down hill for me.
