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Beta for YA Light Sci-Fi/Fantasy

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casualrungal

casualrungal

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Well it's finally that time... time for my WIP to have a beta reader! I never thought this day would come ;)

Anyway, it's a 68,000 YA light sci-fi novel. Actually, I'm still a little unsure how to classify it. But for now, light sci-fi is what I'm going with. Hopefully my future betas will be able to shed some light on that point!

In a nutshell: it's about a young girl, Isadora, who suffers from a bizarre illness, one of the symptoms being very vivid nightmares. She lives in a tower with the Mayor of a futuristic (though not technologically sophisticated) city, who provides Isadora with treatment for her illness. All she asks in return is that Isadora live within the tower. As the story unfolds, Isadora begins to realize the Mayor isn't what she seems, and neither are her dreams...

That was pretty vague, but I think much more would be giving away the plot! I am happy to swap, if you have a polished manuscript. Mine is a grammatically polished 2nd draft, fyi. I'm looking for any sort of editing you can offer, from broad strokes to the nitty gritty.

Thanks even for reading this lengthy intro! PM me if interested:)
 
Literateparakeet

Literateparakeet

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If your PM box is full of offers, then just ignore me. :)

However, if you haven't gotten any offers yet, then a couple ideas...(things I would try if I were you).

I have been a beta reader a couple times. The first was because someone posted a request here with a description of a book that I could not resist. If I saw that thing on the shelf I would have bought it! (I was not disappointed in the MS either!)

The second time was because someone posted the first chapter in SYW. I loved it and wanted to read the rest of the story, so I PM'ed the author and asked if I could be a beta. Another way SYW can help is- any problems that critters point out in the first chapter are likely things you will need to fix throughout the entire manuscript.

Good luck!
 
casualrungal

casualrungal

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Literateparakeet said:
If your PM box is full of offers, then just ignore me. :)

However, if you haven't gotten any offers yet, then a couple ideas...(things I would try if I were you).

I have been a beta reader a couple times. The first was because someone posted a request here with a description of a book that I could not resist. If I saw that thing on the shelf I would have bought it! (I was not disappointed in the MS either!)

The second time was because someone posted the first chapter in SYW. I loved it and wanted to read the rest of the story, so I PM'ed the author and asked if I could be a beta. Another way SYW can help is- any problems that critters point out in the first chapter are likely things you will need to fix throughout the entire manuscript.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Ahh thanks for the suggestion, parakeet! I actually posted the first chapter in SYW a little while ago, and I'll post the link below (in case it piques anyone's interest):

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247347

Thanks!
 
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