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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.
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- Thread starter JCornelius
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Huge blocks of text, no breaks between paragraphs? Sorry, I'll have to pass. That's literally unreadable in its present form.
As somebody who participates at SYW, you should know that your manuscript's tabs do not "translate" with copy and paste.
As somebody who participates at SYW, you should know that your manuscript's tabs do not "translate" with copy and paste.
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Well, you might have overswung that pendulum--I think a little more would help. What about a query-ish paragraph, or a blurb, to help people get a sense of it?
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Ah, the voice of reason
Thanks for that.But I'm not going to lie; the very first reply made me feel like the object of irritated exasperation which I did not and do not feel I deserve.
Lately I've been living life by a new philosophy--if I feel uncomfortable or unwelcome or both, I instantly cut loose, so I'm now cutting loose from the whole Betas and Mentors subforum.
Tried it, didn't work--onward and upward...
Good luck to everyone here!
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Man, that's some pendulum you've got going. So if I literally struggle to read your post, I should not tell you because you might interpret that as being "the object irritated exasperation"? That's on you, since I don't think that. I just couldn't read it.
No one asked you to delete it. No one said you were not welcome here. All I said--and I stand by it--was that it's quite hard to read a wall of text.
I even checked to see if you were familiar with SYW, and saw you'd posted there multiple times. Based on that, I presumed you'd seen the works posted there were all in block paragraphs with blank spaces between them. All I asked was that you conform to that standard, as the tabs in what you copied and pasted did not survive the trip. (They never do.)
You may not see this, but if you do, I've got home-made salted caramel sauce and ice cream...
I don't this it's unreasonable to expect you to make text you post legible,
No one asked you to delete it. No one said you were not welcome here. All I said--and I stand by it--was that it's quite hard to read a wall of text.
I even checked to see if you were familiar with SYW, and saw you'd posted there multiple times. Based on that, I presumed you'd seen the works posted there were all in block paragraphs with blank spaces between them. All I asked was that you conform to that standard, as the tabs in what you copied and pasted did not survive the trip. (They never do.)
You may not see this, but if you do, I've got home-made salted caramel sauce and ice cream...
I don't this it's unreasonable to expect you to make text you post legible,
It's always your decision. But to be fair, you posted over 3k of text, and in this subforum usually posts are just a para or less asking for a beta and giving some context (as opposed to SYW). You also did offer a fair number of caveats, which I think sometimes does put off potential readers. Everyone is different, but I've found the few times an author had strong prohibitions on what I could examine that those were exactly the things that were problematic. I think as a beta reader it can be odd to have the author tell you what to look for. This is not referring to asking for attention on X or Y topic, but saying, "do not do A B or C." As a reader, you have no way of knowing how you'll respond to the book. For me, the most instruction I can handle is usually line edit vs. holistic response, but anything more granular than that starts feeling weird. Maybe that's just my reaction, though.
You control the text. You can never control the read (once it's "out there), so I think the more unrestricted feedback you get, the better prepared you'll be for publication.
You control the text. You can never control the read (once it's "out there), so I think the more unrestricted feedback you get, the better prepared you'll be for publication.
JCornelius you seem to have difficulty with readers responding to your text with anything other than adulation. The responses were mild, courteous, reasonable and helpful.
I respectfully submit that as a writer you need readers far more than readers need you—and this refers to critters and editors, as well as readers who will, one hopes, pay to read what you write.
You might want to rethink when and how you post in the future (is the piece ready for readers? are YOU ready for readers).
If you post, for crit or for discussion, when you or the piece or both are not ready, you are doing a disservice to your writing, and most importantly of all, to your readers.
I'm locking this thread.
I respectfully submit that as a writer you need readers far more than readers need you—and this refers to critters and editors, as well as readers who will, one hopes, pay to read what you write.
You might want to rethink when and how you post in the future (is the piece ready for readers? are YOU ready for readers).
If you post, for crit or for discussion, when you or the piece or both are not ready, you are doing a disservice to your writing, and most importantly of all, to your readers.
I'm locking this thread.
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