I think my novel, DISTANT HORIZON, is ready to be queried, but I'd like to run it by a couple beta readers to ensure it's the best it can be. I've had a couple beta readers so far (and thier advice has been extremely helpful), but now that I have a final version, I'm ready to have someone read it from start to finish, rather than in segments.
Genre: Young Adult dystopian adventure. 1st person, female protagonist, and some super hero elements. 100,000 words.
Feedback: Honesty, please. Granted, I'd like it to know both good and bad, but please tell me both. I'm not really looking for line-by-line edits. I want someone to read through the story as a whole, as if they'd picked it up off the shelf. Comments at the end of chapters are encouraged, and I appreciate it when betas point out missing periods and the like.
I'd be looking for characterization, overall consitancy, plot holes, engaging for the reader, lagging sections, and similar issues.
Publishing: Doesn't matter if you've been published or not, but it would be helpful if you're familar and enjoy YA novels, especially the dystopian genre (think Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent, Delerium).
Other Notes: Please don't share the manuscript with anyone else. I'd prefer to know where my manuscript has been. Also, I don't have a lot of time to do beta reading myself, but if you want, I could line-by-line a few chapters or do an overview commenting on your work. (Preferably young adult science fiction/fantasy, or dystopia).
Edit: I should probably mention that I do typically prefer to have beta readers who've been on Absolute Write awhile, because I'll look through posts or a blog to see how they approach things. It helps me get a better feel for your critiquing style, and feel more comfortable trusting you with my manuscript.
If you'd just like to read a few chapters to see if you're interested in beta reading, I'm fine with that, too.
Current Query-In-Progress
Genre: Young Adult dystopian adventure. 1st person, female protagonist, and some super hero elements. 100,000 words.
Feedback: Honesty, please. Granted, I'd like it to know both good and bad, but please tell me both. I'm not really looking for line-by-line edits. I want someone to read through the story as a whole, as if they'd picked it up off the shelf. Comments at the end of chapters are encouraged, and I appreciate it when betas point out missing periods and the like.
I'd be looking for characterization, overall consitancy, plot holes, engaging for the reader, lagging sections, and similar issues.
Publishing: Doesn't matter if you've been published or not, but it would be helpful if you're familar and enjoy YA novels, especially the dystopian genre (think Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent, Delerium).
Other Notes: Please don't share the manuscript with anyone else. I'd prefer to know where my manuscript has been. Also, I don't have a lot of time to do beta reading myself, but if you want, I could line-by-line a few chapters or do an overview commenting on your work. (Preferably young adult science fiction/fantasy, or dystopia).
Edit: I should probably mention that I do typically prefer to have beta readers who've been on Absolute Write awhile, because I'll look through posts or a blog to see how they approach things. It helps me get a better feel for your critiquing style, and feel more comfortable trusting you with my manuscript.
If you'd just like to read a few chapters to see if you're interested in beta reading, I'm fine with that, too.
Current Query-In-Progress
Jenna’s careful to conceal that she flushes the daily pill. As long as she keeps her crime a secret, the worst the Community can do is send her halfway across the world, and she’d still have a job, food, and shelter. But the upcoming Health Scan threatens to reveal her crime, and she’s got nagging suspicion that there’s more to it than the Community tells her. As she digs through the other student’s blogs who failed, she’s disturbed that none of them responded after the event.
Desperate for answers, Jenna joins the Coalition of Freedom, a small team of rebels dedicated to bringing down the Community. Though she doesn’t plan to cause the Community harm, she’s happy about one thing: this new team doesn’t make her take the daily pill. After all, the daily pill suppresses unique powers, and Jenna is quick to learn she can manipulate plant life. Not so bad, except that hiding unique abilities is only the beginning of the Community’s secrets.
Jenna recognizes she’d have failed the Health Scan, but when the Coalition’s mission takes her into a beastie plant, where those with special powers are transformed into terrifying monsters, it drives the point home. The Community couldn’t protect itself from the outlying countries if it didn’t have an army to protect itself, and it uses the students who fail the Health Scan to form that army.
Faced with the Community’s horrible secret and destroying the efficient society that so many citizens are happy to have, staying alive is the least of Jenna’s worries.
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