• 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.
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Why I Won't Beta Read Your Novel

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shakeysix

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I once took something to beta read that was so much better than anything I could ever write that I went into a blue funk and never finished it. Still feeling guilty. And talentless--s6
 

SunshineonMe

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I am wondering if any one here would beta/trade manuscripts with me. And if not, maybe you could recommend someone I could ask if they were interested in trading :) I have a 60,000 word memoir (link below) :D :D
 

Little Anonymous Me

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Just wanted to give Maryn another round of thanks for creating this thread. And for giving me 27 pages of interesting conversation to read. :D


LAM, who spent far, far too much time on AW today. ;)
 

SunshineonMe

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PS- Sorry if I shouldn't have asked here. I thought it would be a teeny bit ironic an maybe make someone smile. But I also thought I might get a recommendation. Sorry if I came across pushy. Sometimes the idea is better in the mind, then written out. :D
 

Nekko

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PS- Sorry if I shouldn't have asked here. I thought it would be a teeny bit ironic an maybe make someone smile. But I also thought I might get a recommendation. Sorry if I came across pushy. Sometimes the idea is better in the mind, then written out. :D

Sunshine - usually if a post is better suited to a different thread, one of the mods will move it.
When it comes to beta reading, you might try asking a) people you've already interacted with on AW b) other people in your genre (you don't have to, I had a beta who wrote in a different genre)

Sorry I can't offer now. I really trying to stay focused on writing my next/last 20k words! :)
 

ZachJPayne

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This has been 1) a very interesting read. 2) a 17 page distraction from working on my novel and 3) a reminder that I should be very careful before asking anyone to read my stuff. Just because I think it's okay doesn't mean it actually is.

;) Wonderful war stories from the Writerly front. Carry on!
 

SunshineonMe

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Sunshine - usually if a post is better suited to a different thread, one of the mods will move it.
When it comes to beta reading, you might try asking a) people you've already interacted with on AW b) other people in your genre (you don't have to, I had a beta who wrote in a different genre)

Sorry I can't offer now. I really trying to stay focused on writing my next/last 20k words! :)

Thanks for your response Nekko! I know my manuscript is a special genre, and that's one reason I don't want to ask (I have asked a few people, and then read this thread to see why not ;) ) There is one wonderful person who did beta for me- and I am so thankful for her! I thought I would be half tongue in cheek, posting here, because I can't find anyone. :p Please delete it mods- sorry for the trouble!
 

Lisagh

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This has been 1) a very interesting read. 2) a 17 page distraction from working on my novel and 3) a reminder that I should be very careful before asking anyone to read my stuff. Just because I think it's okay doesn't mean it actually is.

;) Wonderful war stories from the Writerly front. Carry on!

I was thinking the same thing, Zach. While I agree reciprocation is a beautiful thing, one must remember that we all have to start somewhere, and we all don't start out knowing exactly how good you need to be to beta read. For instance, I would LOVE to beta read for people. I want to offer, but am afraid that my lack of experience in seeing how it's done by those better at it than I, will result in a poor beta reading job done by me. I don't want to do a bad job beta reading. Yes, I can read and write, and would love the chance to try.

I will be VERY careful before I ask anyone too. I don't want to offend anyone here, or look like a parasite with her hand out, lol.

I try to be here and interact, and dammit if I didn't forget my password and cannot get into the forums. Now I'm stuck not being able to interact with you folks in the forums at all. I may need to create a new account, darn. Any suggestions on that front? I would like to start getting myself better known and 'liked' as Maryn put it. Thank you for the heads up, girl.
 

Maryn

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Lisagh, I doubt that you'd be as bad as you fear. After all, you read books, right? Can you sometimes identify passages which don't quite work? Find plot holes? Notice sections where the pace is slow and your attention wanders? Spot scenes where it seem like the character would not do or say what s/he did? Catch goofs like a character surrendering his gun at a checkpoint, then winning a shoot-out? Spot inconsistencies where a character turns a corner from Street A onto Street B, when earlier they ran parallel? If you can beta at that level, and if the manuscript is pretty polished, then your input will be a "good beta."

You can also be open with people for whom you offer to beta, telling them you haven't done this before and asking specifically what sort of input they desire or expect. I don't know about other people, but I have certain weaknesses I know about and try to correct, so I'd have you be on the lookout for those.

The password for the Share Your Work forums (fora? ;) ) is vista, except for poetry and erotica.

Maryn, whose area is so windy the house is shifting
 

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Hey Maryn!

Thank you for that great reply Maryn!

I can do those things you pointed out. I think when we start out, we all have these fears about being bad at it. I know I do. I'm a very paranoid writer, LOL. That said, I can point out bad writing because I have read a lot of it, and I do know my way around all those things you mentioned. I am feeling a LOT more confident now, thank you very much!

Just offered myself up as a new beta reader. We'll see what happens now. :)

I thought it wanted MY password! LMAO! See how clueless I can be? *grins* Thank you for letting me know! I need to try and get around this place more often and maybe I would notice this stuff.

Thank you again for your help with this. I know I'll be asking a lot more questions in the future.
 

Nekko

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Lisagh - It helps to critique on SYW for a while. It will give you a feel for what people are looking for and you'll see the kinds of things that others point out.

But as Maryn says, you're a reader - you know what works for you and what doesn't - that's the foundation.
 

benluby

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I was thinking the same thing, Zach. While I agree reciprocation is a beautiful thing, one must remember that we all have to start somewhere, and we all don't start out knowing exactly how good you need to be to beta read. For instance, I would LOVE to beta read for people. I want to offer, but am afraid that my lack of experience in seeing how it's done by those better at it than I, will result in a poor beta reading job done by me. I don't want to do a bad job beta reading. Yes, I can read and write, and would love the chance to try.

I will be VERY careful before I ask anyone too. I don't want to offend anyone here, or look like a parasite with her hand out, lol.

I try to be here and interact, and dammit if I didn't forget my password and cannot get into the forums. Now I'm stuck not being able to interact with you folks in the forums at all. I may need to create a new account, darn. Any suggestions on that front? I would like to start getting myself better known and 'liked' as Maryn put it. Thank you for the heads up, girl.

The purpose of a beta is inherently different than that as an editor, Lisagh.
When I choose Beta's, those I have are all readers, and only one to date is a writer, and I do that for a reason. I write for readers, not writers.
If a writer can read my work and offer constructive criticism (and if someone cannot accept criticism of their work, they don't need to be writing anyway, because it is impossible to please everyone) and point out holes and inconsistencies.
If the pace is too frantic, I want my reader to tell me that, as well as if they went off to find something better to do.
Writing well, to me, is a lot like a song. It has to have the right pace and rhythm, with just enough slow down at the right spots to give the reader a chance to catch their breath, and then hitting the gas again before they wander off to watch paint dry.
But my big reason I choose who I do is I only pick those that don't try to get their voice in my writing. We're all unique, with a differing style of writing. It's why some of the best authors get caught when they try pen names, because the writing style and flow are the same.
How I would describe something will be inherently different than how you or anyone else would, and that is something that I watch for.
I don't have time to beta right now, but I will do so eventually again, after I finish my current work in progress.
 

Reziac

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For instance, I would LOVE to beta read for people. I want to offer, but am afraid that my lack of experience in seeing how it's done by those better at it than I, will result in a poor beta reading job done by me.

Me, I don't want writerly, scholarly, technical, or line-edit beta responses; I'm long past the "how is my writing" stage and those are no longer useful to me. Now I want 'ignorant' beta responses: complaints, questions, reader-WTFs that make me think out more of what's going on in my books and write new material, because I have to work up an explanation to cover the beta's question or complaint. My favorite of all those to date was a six word gripe: "I don't believe in your mudworms." This generated more good stuff in my writing than all other betas combined.
 

benluby

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Me, I don't want writerly, scholarly, technical, or line-edit beta responses; I'm long past the "how is my writing" stage and those are no longer useful to me. Now I want 'ignorant' beta responses: complaints, questions, reader-WTFs that make me think out more of what's going on in my books and write new material, because I have to work up an explanation to cover the beta's question or complaint. My favorite of all those to date was a six word gripe: "I don't believe in your mudworms." This generated more good stuff in my writing than all other betas combined.

Mudworms? Now my interest is piqued. Please provide more information on mudworms. Are they bait for catfish, or are they critters that view us as crunchy and good with ketchup?
 

Reziac

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Mudworms? Now my interest is piqued. Please provide more information on mudworms. Are they bait for catfish, or are they critters that view us as crunchy and good with ketchup?

I dunno how they taste, but they look revolting and behave like leeches. Originally an anti-smuggling measure; harmless in atmosphere but in space they'll eat right through the hull. -- And extrapolation from that became 13,000 years of galactic history. :D
 

Lisagh

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Lisagh - It helps to critique on SYW for a while. It will give you a feel for what people are looking for and you'll see the kinds of things that others point out.

But as Maryn says, you're a reader - you know what works for you and what doesn't - that's the foundation.

Thank you very much Nano! I'll be doing just that. ;)
 

Lisagh

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Me, I don't want writerly, scholarly, technical, or line-edit beta responses; I'm long past the "how is my writing" stage and those are no longer useful to me. Now I want 'ignorant' beta responses: complaints, questions, reader-WTFs that make me think out more of what's going on in my books and write new material, because I have to work up an explanation to cover the beta's question or complaint. My favorite of all those to date was a six word gripe: "I don't believe in your mudworms." This generated more good stuff in my writing than all other betas combined.

I would probably have believed in your mudworms honey. :)
 
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