Swap… or just critique mine! Mine is YA fantasy - no vampires. I'll read most genres.
EDIT: I HAVE ENOUGH BETAS FOR NOW.
Hi! This isn’t the typical beta request, so I thought I’d post it here instead of trying to contact betas.
I’m looking for someone to critique/edit my completed manuscript… I’d prefer to do an exchange and beta someone else’s work (or do graphic work – see below) as we send our chapters back and forth, but I’d be happy for any serious critique or edit. (I’d feel a little safer knowing what the other person was getting out of it.) I recently decided that my first novel absolutely must be critiqued – it’s been rejected by 30 agents so far, and I worry that the first chapters are too cliché… so I finally decided to join the forum I’d been lurking around and see if anyone was interested!
You must be:
a keen reader and writer
willing to read YA fantasy (a childish high fantasy)
What I can do for you:
· I’m open to reading any genre except nonfiction (which bores me). Genres that I am very familiar with are romance (I’m a historical romance junkie), fantasy, and YA. I also write/read poetry. I could help you with plot-troubleshooting or query letters, too.
· OR – if you have something you want to publish on Lulu or a similar service… I could make a cover for you. I’m a graphic designer and also have considerable skill with digital painting. If you want an illustrated cover (as opposed to a stock photo or something)… that does do take a lot of time, so while you wouldn’t be expected to use it if you didn’t like it, I’d prefer to only make covers for projects you’re actually planning to self-publish. (Instead of spending twenty hours on a cover that you know will sit on your desktop forever.)
· I’d be best at helping you with plot (holes, pacing, etc), characters, and tone. I can make little edits to make your work sound better as I read through. I’m good at spotting most grammatical errors, although I have a heavy hand with commas, so I might not be able to spot those. I’m not good at catching spelling errors unless they’re way off. I’m not good at making dialogue sound interesting. I can tell you what parts work or don’t work. (For things like poetry… I’m not good at evaluating classical meter, but I can tell you if it sounds trite and suggest changes to make words have the right impact.)
· It’s not my nature to balance every criticism with a compliment. If you don’t want a very raw critique, you’ll have to tell me. (I’m open to toning myself down – I won’t avoid saying what needs to be said, but I can try to say it nicely!)
· I won’t let your work languish on my desk. I’ll return it promptly, and hope you would do the same for me.
What you can do for me:
The project I want you to work with is a 69,000 word YA fantasy. It has been proofread by four people, including myself. There shouldn’t be many, if any, grammatical or spelling errors. I worry that the first three chapters are cliché and awkward. I feel that I have a stellar plot, but haven’t made the most of it.
I would like a close read-through of the first three chapters (with “track changes” on in MS Word). Noting and/or changing awkward parts and critiquing the possible clichés. Really, any suggestions at all! I’d like harsh – and by that I mean honest – criticism. I’d also really appreciate if you looked over my query letter!
If you have a longer project you’d like me to work with and you’d like to continue critiquing, we could go on and exchange more chapters after that. I picture this as a tentative commitment in the beginning, which we could renew after my first three chapters were read and I’ve done equivalent work for you. I can make myself available to you over IM or e-mail. (I would expect the actual file transfers to be over e-mail, with real-life names involved.)
EDIT: I HAVE ENOUGH BETAS FOR NOW.
Hi! This isn’t the typical beta request, so I thought I’d post it here instead of trying to contact betas.
I’m looking for someone to critique/edit my completed manuscript… I’d prefer to do an exchange and beta someone else’s work (or do graphic work – see below) as we send our chapters back and forth, but I’d be happy for any serious critique or edit. (I’d feel a little safer knowing what the other person was getting out of it.) I recently decided that my first novel absolutely must be critiqued – it’s been rejected by 30 agents so far, and I worry that the first chapters are too cliché… so I finally decided to join the forum I’d been lurking around and see if anyone was interested!
You must be:
a keen reader and writer
willing to read YA fantasy (a childish high fantasy)
What I can do for you:
· I’m open to reading any genre except nonfiction (which bores me). Genres that I am very familiar with are romance (I’m a historical romance junkie), fantasy, and YA. I also write/read poetry. I could help you with plot-troubleshooting or query letters, too.
· OR – if you have something you want to publish on Lulu or a similar service… I could make a cover for you. I’m a graphic designer and also have considerable skill with digital painting. If you want an illustrated cover (as opposed to a stock photo or something)… that does do take a lot of time, so while you wouldn’t be expected to use it if you didn’t like it, I’d prefer to only make covers for projects you’re actually planning to self-publish. (Instead of spending twenty hours on a cover that you know will sit on your desktop forever.)
· I’d be best at helping you with plot (holes, pacing, etc), characters, and tone. I can make little edits to make your work sound better as I read through. I’m good at spotting most grammatical errors, although I have a heavy hand with commas, so I might not be able to spot those. I’m not good at catching spelling errors unless they’re way off. I’m not good at making dialogue sound interesting. I can tell you what parts work or don’t work. (For things like poetry… I’m not good at evaluating classical meter, but I can tell you if it sounds trite and suggest changes to make words have the right impact.)
· It’s not my nature to balance every criticism with a compliment. If you don’t want a very raw critique, you’ll have to tell me. (I’m open to toning myself down – I won’t avoid saying what needs to be said, but I can try to say it nicely!)
· I won’t let your work languish on my desk. I’ll return it promptly, and hope you would do the same for me.
What you can do for me:
The project I want you to work with is a 69,000 word YA fantasy. It has been proofread by four people, including myself. There shouldn’t be many, if any, grammatical or spelling errors. I worry that the first three chapters are cliché and awkward. I feel that I have a stellar plot, but haven’t made the most of it.
I would like a close read-through of the first three chapters (with “track changes” on in MS Word). Noting and/or changing awkward parts and critiquing the possible clichés. Really, any suggestions at all! I’d like harsh – and by that I mean honest – criticism. I’d also really appreciate if you looked over my query letter!
If you have a longer project you’d like me to work with and you’d like to continue critiquing, we could go on and exchange more chapters after that. I picture this as a tentative commitment in the beginning, which we could renew after my first three chapters were read and I’ve done equivalent work for you. I can make myself available to you over IM or e-mail. (I would expect the actual file transfers to be over e-mail, with real-life names involved.)
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