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Read this stickie before posting.
- In order to reduce the number of new members requesting a Beta reader before they're really ready for one, we've instituted a 50 post requirement before you can start a thread seeking a Beta reader.
- You can still volunteer to Beta for someone else; just please don't request someone to Beta for you until you're more familiar with the community and our members.
Looking for beta readers
- Thread starter Barking Girl
- Start date
- Status
Maryn, who moderates this section of AW, will probably be along shortly to explain to you why you may not get anyone willing to do this for you.
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Welcome, Barking Girl.
I expect there's a precise formula for this that one of the old-timers has stashed away, but here's one for free:
Beta seeker X board participation X "giving" posts = Beta readers X quantity X expertise
Best wishes.
I expect there's a precise formula for this that one of the old-timers has stashed away, but here's one for free:
Beta seeker X board participation X "giving" posts = Beta readers X quantity X expertise
Best wishes.
Actually, I don't moderate here, I'm just kind of mouthy. See, I've done beta reads, and more times than I've received gratitude or a suitcase full of cash I've received an email that said, in its entirety, "Thanks!" (Plenty of times, I've had no response at all.) To me, this is not enough for the ten or twenty hours I gave the person's book, unless I am positive s/he is going to pay it forward, doing a beta for someone else.
New people hoping to snag that many hours of my time and whatever expertise I may have are not getting it. Not because I'm a selfish bitch but because I don't want to do such a huge favor for a stranger who doesn't even try to become part of the community but instead dives in asking for what serves his or her needs, before giving anything at all.
Now, I expect you're probably just eager (and maybe a little scared?) and didn't mean to present yourself this way. This happens all the time. So no one's holding the request against you. But I sincerely hope you'll make the effort to become a part of the AW community before asking for so much from it. As I, and everybody else, gets to know and like you, and sees that you are offering critique and beta reading for others, I bet you'll have no trouble finding what you need. That's how things most often work, here and elsewhere.
(BTW, AW is going to be down this weekend, so that's writin' time. See http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9415729#post9415729)
Maryn, who once wrote Why I Won't Beta Read Your Novel
New people hoping to snag that many hours of my time and whatever expertise I may have are not getting it. Not because I'm a selfish bitch but because I don't want to do such a huge favor for a stranger who doesn't even try to become part of the community but instead dives in asking for what serves his or her needs, before giving anything at all.
Now, I expect you're probably just eager (and maybe a little scared?) and didn't mean to present yourself this way. This happens all the time. So no one's holding the request against you. But I sincerely hope you'll make the effort to become a part of the AW community before asking for so much from it. As I, and everybody else, gets to know and like you, and sees that you are offering critique and beta reading for others, I bet you'll have no trouble finding what you need. That's how things most often work, here and elsewhere.
(BTW, AW is going to be down this weekend, so that's writin' time. See http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9415729#post9415729)
Maryn, who once wrote Why I Won't Beta Read Your Novel
Well, I'm thinking this site is not for me!
Apparently I've not done as I'm supposed to do here. I thought I could post info on what I was looking for. Didn't know I was being selfish or disrespectful.
I am offended by such quick judgment. You don't know me as a person.
I thought I could post and if someone is interested they respond. I have encountered other beta readers who do not need to get to know me before being willing to read my work. It's not my understanding of how beta reading works.
I also have done my share of critiquing others writing. And I am someone willing to trade.
Also I've always believed people give because they choose to, not for the praise they receive in return.
What I don't have is the time to take away from my writing to be trying to develop relationships only with the intent to find someone to read my work. To me that sounds more deceptive and misleading than posting exactly what I'm here for.
I am being upfront about what I'm seeking and if this is the wrong place to do that, fine. I'm a big girl with better things to do!
Apparently I've not done as I'm supposed to do here. I thought I could post info on what I was looking for. Didn't know I was being selfish or disrespectful.
I am offended by such quick judgment. You don't know me as a person.
I thought I could post and if someone is interested they respond. I have encountered other beta readers who do not need to get to know me before being willing to read my work. It's not my understanding of how beta reading works.
I also have done my share of critiquing others writing. And I am someone willing to trade.
Also I've always believed people give because they choose to, not for the praise they receive in return.
What I don't have is the time to take away from my writing to be trying to develop relationships only with the intent to find someone to read my work. To me that sounds more deceptive and misleading than posting exactly what I'm here for.
I am being upfront about what I'm seeking and if this is the wrong place to do that, fine. I'm a big girl with better things to do!
Okey-doke. This is a writing community and if you don't want to be a part of a community, then maybe the fit isn't so good. I've got plenty of jeans like that.
Maryn, urging everyone to suit themselves, but only if the suit fits
Maryn, urging everyone to suit themselves, but only if the suit fits
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- www.about.me
::raises hand::
I'm not a mod.
a) This isn't Craigslist. It's a community.
b) No, strangers who have any sort of publishing experience are not givers, and yes, they expect some gratitude for bothering to read you.
c) Offering to "trade" beta reading does no one any good without knowing what skills the beta reader has.
d) Blunt advice you can take or leave: The length of your memoir tells me you've done little to no research or reading other memoirs, as 65K words is short. By about 15K or more.
e) When a long-time member bothers to try to gently correct you, responding by flying off the handle says many things. One is that you are not willing to accept advice or criticism. That does not bode well for ANY part of the publishing process, from querying to editing. ANYONE who is willing to take five minutes to even try to guide you should be met with a thank you, even if you don't agree with the advice.
I'm not a mod.
a) This isn't Craigslist. It's a community.
b) No, strangers who have any sort of publishing experience are not givers, and yes, they expect some gratitude for bothering to read you.
c) Offering to "trade" beta reading does no one any good without knowing what skills the beta reader has.
d) Blunt advice you can take or leave: The length of your memoir tells me you've done little to no research or reading other memoirs, as 65K words is short. By about 15K or more.
e) When a long-time member bothers to try to gently correct you, responding by flying off the handle says many things. One is that you are not willing to accept advice or criticism. That does not bode well for ANY part of the publishing process, from querying to editing. ANYONE who is willing to take five minutes to even try to guide you should be met with a thank you, even if you don't agree with the advice.
Any online community is like a cocktail party. If you came to a real-time cocktail party, you'd probably introduce yourself first ("Hi, I'm Barking Girl."), then share a bit about yourself ("I'm working on a memoir and I'm nearly done!") and get to know a few people. Maybe you'd network a bit, exchange business cards, find people with common interests. You wouldn't have the brass to walk in the door and shout, "Hey, I need someone to do me a favor!"
And that's what beta-reading is: a favor, a huge one. It requires time and hard work, and you're asking a roomful of complete strangers to do it for you.
You could do a Finnegan-Begin-Again and head over to the New Members forum, introduce yourself and get a proper welcome in return, along with handy links for navigating the site. Then you could wander around and participate in a few of the conversations. Fifty posts later you could start your own thread in the Share Your Work subforum, and perhaps intrigue someone enough that they'd jump at the chance to beta-read your memoir for you.
Or you could just flounce off. It's up to you.
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