Seeking beta reader for 183,000 word "urban fantasy" (no, you don't have to read the whole thing!)

Three post and you already are asking a member to beta read your 183,000 word novel?

That takes balls...

Joshua,

I apologise if you think my comment was a bit harsh. But in my experience, most people remember something when someone is blunt and direct more so than sugar coating the message. And my comment did get your attention and we learned something about you from your reply...

As to the word count, yes it's a bit much for a first novel. The good news is you are aware of this and do plan on cutting back. The bad news is that you seem to have this attitude that you don't want to butcher the novel in the process based on comments.

There is an old saying in writing, that it takes nearly a million written words before a writer finds his voice, his style, and knows somewhat what he/she is doing. Sometimes butchering is needed for the sake of the story. Killing our little darlings is never easy...

As to self publishing, why would you think about this before you even know how good you are? What I find is that many self pubbed e-books are published before the writers and the story are ready, or any good. Publishing before ready is a sure way to get a bad name. But that is your call.

Me, I would hang around a while, join in some of the other threads and when you get 50 post, go to SYW and post a few chapters of your work. I do warn you now though, sometimes it can hurt if you are not ready for honest criticism.

Just some friendly advice because you can never tell someone how to respond to a post, or give a critique...

I'll third the suggestion to wait a bit and post in SYW. I've only posted a few snippets on my work in there, but the advice I received was pure gold, and my work has improved immensely as a result.

Generally, I'd say it's best to post a little in SYW before asking for a beta, if only because SYW crits can highlight the more obvious issues your work might have, leaving your future Beta with a more polished piece to work through with you.

Also - how long are your chapters? Because the "first six" might be a lot of reading, or - not.

You know, my first book was close to 250,000 words and my chapters were 30 pages long, single spaced. I had trouble getting anyone to read past the first chapter. Why? Because it became a chore...

Amazing how much you can cut out by removing overuse of adjectives, adverbs and redundancy, cutting down the PoV where not needed and eliminating chapters that are more author vanity than anything related to the story. After 6 rounds of editing, I was able to cut it down to 110,000 and I still had an agent tell me to lose another 10,000. Ouch... But I did and my beta's all agreed this version was a winner.

Joshua Horne said:

If I get no responses I'll take the thread down, build up to the recommended magical 50 posts, and perhaps repost this thread then. Thanks for your time, guys!​

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He was going to work up the amount of backbone

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a growing sense of dread

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Get Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print and apply.

Learn to combine scenes. You can set up the girl while he's on the phone. He doesn't need to do one thing, and then the next. Let him multi-task. But all you're going to get from any decent beta here is to cut. I'm not going to tell you specifically what to cut if I beta read this, just tell you the pace is too slow and you need to cut.

So get the book, and start learning how to apply it. Critique some other people's work in Share Your Work and remember that what you don't like in their work, shouldn't be in yours.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

The extract that you provided, which has now been deleted, needs work to bring it up to publishable standard. When you've made fifty posts, put up a shorter extract in Share Your Work and think carefully about the responses it attracts.

Joshua Horne said:

The novel is far too long for a first novel, and I understand that. I'm willing to edit it, I'm just not willing to butcher it, and for that reason I'm beginning to think that epublishing might be my only method for getting it out there.

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Having read your extract I'd guess that you could cut it down to under 100,000 words and only improve it. You might consider this "butchering" it, but removing extraneous words and tightening it up can only help make it more readable and therefore, more buyable.

I think you're also confused about e-publishing. E-publishing is a format, just like a paperback or hardback book, or an audio book. Why would one format be preferable to another for a longer book? I suspect you're confusing format with business model: many people who self-publish now only produce electronic editions, rather than print or other formats. Perhaps you meant that your only option was self-publishing? Your book's length shouldn't restrict you to self-publishing at this stage, because based on the extract you provided your book isn't ready to be published. It needs a lot of revising and editing before you reach that stage, and by the time that's done you might find that the book is a far more manageable length.

And remember: the most important thing about all of this is how good your book is. It doesn't matter how long it is if it's poorly-written; it won't get published, and even if you self-publish it no one is likely to buy it.

Oh: and welcome to AW.

Joshua, honest: it's fine. You don't need to delete. In fact, you've shown yourself as someone who can take a hit (or two, or three) and not flame out in jackassery.

This is your badge of honour. Wear it proudly.

Welcome to Absolute Write. Don't you go disappearing on us now.

Then I am so in. Right on.

Also, we don't delete threads here: it screws up the database and leads to members taking less care about what they post.

Don't worry, Joshua. We all make mistakes, me more than most. Just participate. Comment on the work of a few of our other members; it'll stand you in good stead when you post your own work here for criticism.

Joshua, if you get up to just fifty posts by helping others in SYW I'm sure it will be much appreciated. And working out the flaws in others' writing is really helpful with improving your own work--you won't be wasting your time.

Joshua Horne said:

Pyekett, in particular, thanks in abundance for the time you invested in that first post.

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Your courtesy is appreciated.

I know it caused a bit of a kerfluffle, but I really enjoyed the slice of your story. I would be willing to read more when the time is right for you (crap! That reminds me, I had promised review to someone else in PMs, gotta get back to her).

I read at about 1000 words/minute for fun, a little slower for editing, so I turn around things fast. The problem is that I have short windows of fun in between stretches of work, and work gets intense. You have to catch me when the moment is right.

Good luck with it. Stay in touch.