YA fantasy betas needed—near final draft!

Hello, everyone! I have a 75K middle-grade fantasy that is in near-final draft (I hope!). It has been through substantial revisions, thanks to a few betas found on this site. Now, I need a few fresh sets of eyes to take The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt the rest of the way.

I’m looking for a review of the overall story, plot, characters, pacing, etc. In other words, anyone looking at it should pretend this is a real book. Would they want to buy it? Would they recommend it to friends? Why or why not?

A little bit about it: fans of Pullman and Snicket might find it to their liking. I’d be glad to give a synopsis (or copy of my query letter) if you need more detail.

Would be glad to swap beta’ing as well; I feel my strong points are spotting plot holes, increasing “believe-ability,” and enhancing sentence structure. My beta reads might include fantasy (obv. ;-), paranormal romance, and the like. I am, however, open to other suggestions. I prefer not to read horror or anything too dark in general.

I should have my draft ready around 2-20-12, and am looking to get it back (with comments) two weeks after that. [FONT=&quot]I[/FONT]f anyone is interested, please reply to this post. I’d be happy to exchange a few chapters with you to ensure we’re a match. I’m looking for multiple betas, if that is possible.

Thanks to everyone for reading this post, and anyone who chooses to respond. Happy (belated) New Year!

--Lani (a.k.a. "Straw Spinner")

Hi kysharx! I appreciate the reply, but unfortunately, "gory" is probably not a good match for me (I'm a bit squeamish that way). Also, since my fantasy is MG, perhaps it might not be "gory" enough for you! Also, I'm working on another draft now, so even if I sent you sample chapters, they might not end up being the ones I even want beta'd.


Thank you, though, for thinking of me.



"Straw"