• 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.

Saber Tooth (YA Fantasy currently about 24,000 words)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Adrianna Burch

Angry owl is judging you.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
196
Reaction score
15
Location
Maine
I'm looking for people who might be interested in beta reading my WIP Saber Tooth. It's currently about 24,000 words, but this will change. I haven't touched it in at least four years, so I'm going over it and updating. It's still pretty darn rough, but I'm not sure how to go about making it less so. I'm looking for someone who could read the whole thing as I update it and finish it/ I don't care in the least how brutally you tear it up as long as you're not too rude when you do it. I am also definitely open to swapping stories, so if you need something read as well, I'm more than happy to oblige (even a whole novel).

I am also looking for someone from Wyoming who could help me with the first few chapters (which are set there).

The story is basically about a seventeen-year-old girl who has been in and out of foster homes her entire life after being found abandoned on the hillside when she was barely two years old.

Over the course of the book, she finds out that she was originally born in an underground refuge for fantasy creatures and is actually a weresabertooth and she spends the book going on a quest to regain her sabertooth form.
 
Last edited:

meowzbark

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
1,188
Reaction score
142
Location
Arizona
I think the novel length is the reason many people aren't volunteering to beta for you. At 24,000 it is only a third to a halfway finished, according to word count, unless you are working on a novella.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,447
Reaction score
25,473
Location
Snow Cave
I suspect the fact that it's not already the best you can make it, coupled with the fact that it's incomplete, makes it seem... what word am I looking for? Unpromising, maybe.

Because I'm thinking that when you haul out a manuscript you haven't touched in four years, you're going to see things you'd change, ways you can improve it, even a few mistakes or weaknesses in the writing itself.

I propose you do those improvements, and finish it at whatever length it turns out to become, before you even think about betas. After all, it wouldn't be unusual for an author to realize as s/he nears the climax that the book started in the wrong place, and should have begun right around what is now the 25,000-word mark.

Maryn, knowing this isn't what you'd like to hear, and sorry about that
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,533
Reaction score
22,767
Location
Aotearoa
Adri, is 24K the complete manuscript, or is it the first third-ish of an uncompleted novel?
 

WriteMinded

Derailed
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
6,209
Reaction score
775
Location
Paradise Lost
The best time to search for a beta is after the MS is finished and polished. Isn't it?
 

Adrianna Burch

Angry owl is judging you.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
196
Reaction score
15
Location
Maine
I find that having a beta reader as I go along helps me to develop the story and keeps my writing tighter during the actual writing. Plus it's ten times easier to correct a fatal flaw before you've finished creating it, so yes, I am looking for a beta reader.
 
Last edited:

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,533
Reaction score
22,767
Location
Aotearoa
Adrianna, maybe give an indication of the time period you foresee the committment lasting? Usually a beta reader will read a completed manuscript, taking however long it takes them, hands it back, and then may or may not engage in a bit of Q&A with the author. If you're looking for a writing partner who would help you develop the story and read each section as you write it, that's an ongoing committment that could take months to years, depending on how long you anticipate it will take you to complete this manuscript.
 

Adrianna Burch

Angry owl is judging you.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
196
Reaction score
15
Location
Maine
It's a however long they're willing. That alone gives me an idea of how the book is doing.
 

lambauman

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
109
Reaction score
18
It sounds like you are looking for a critique partner rather than a beta reader. A CP is an ongoing relationship, and it needs to be someone you trust and feel comfortable with. It also needs to be reciprocal, mutually beneficial. It is big commitment to give ongoing feedback for the duration of your creative process. If you are willing to reciprocate the critique and support, you may have a better chance finding someone.
 

Adrianna Burch

Angry owl is judging you.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
196
Reaction score
15
Location
Maine
I'm definitely willing, as I said in my original post.
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,533
Reaction score
22,767
Location
Aotearoa
Thanks for the additional info, A.

It's probably more of a committment than I would want to make with someone I'd not worked with before, so I'll pass on the opportunity.
 

thothguard51

A Gentleman of a refined age...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
9,316
Reaction score
1,064
Age
72
Location
Out side the beltway...
I find that having a beta reader as I go along helps me to develop the story and keeps my writing tighter during the actual writing. Plus it's ten times easier to correct a fatal flaw before you've finished creating it, so yes, I am looking for a beta reader.

This may be good for you, but not always good for the beta reader, for many, many reasons...

Have you tried joining a local writing group, or a site like critters.org to help you develop your story and writing abilities? More what you are looking for in my humble opinion.
 

Adrianna Burch

Angry owl is judging you.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
196
Reaction score
15
Location
Maine
That's alright Unimportant. :)

thothguard51 I think they could benefit from the same thing being done to their work, could they not?

Also, the only local writing groups around me I know of (as in aren't just groups among a few friends made by people I don't know) cost money I don't have. Starving artist and such ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.