WHAT IS THE BETA PROJECT ALL ABOUT?
The Beta Project is an attempt to pair AW members to the best beta reader for their novels. And if you don't know what a beta is, then
this is the thread for you. Betas are invaluable resources for writers, pointing out the problems with characterization, plotting, descriptions, dialogue, and so. Some may be detailed and some may be more general. Usually, you'd discuss with your betas what kind of things you want them to look for, although that will not stop them from pointing out things you never even thought of as a problem.
How does the Beta Project work?
Each participant will submit a private message to me by
Thursday, July 4th at 11:59 p.m. PDT (to PM me, click on my user name and select "Private Message"). This gives you 2 weeks to polish up your entries and finish up your novel if you were close to being done. You can submit unfinished manuscripts, and you can also submit short stories, non-fiction, poetry, screenplays, comic books, whatever you need a beta for. However, most of the past entries have been novels, and if only one or two others are entered this time, it may be difficult to find knowledgeable betas for you (so encourage others in your category to submit if you want to join with a non-novel). That said, one year we did have a set of short stories submitted, and it got a few requests.
Personally, I prefer finished, polished mss to beta, but you absolutely can enter with an unfinished novel, and those have gotten requests in the past. Last year we had a lot of unfinished mss. Please do make sure that you note that information in your entry. If you have any other unusual beta requests, note those please too.
On July 5, I will post the entries in the
Beta Project Subforum 2, which can be found with this link or by going to the Beta Reader, Mentor, and Writing Buddy forum and clicking on the Beta Project Subforum 2 at the top. There they will be under the same protection as those excerpts posted in Share Your Work.
The password is "testing." That's a great place to see examples of what the last Beta Project was like.
The entries will be anonymous. Don't worry about it if you've posted about your manuscript elsewhere on AW and know that it might be recognizable, but we're hoping that beta offers come because your hook and first 3 pages catch the reader's attention, not because everyone loves you (you don't need the BP for that
)
I will assign everybody 3 entries to critique. This way everyone will get at least 3 critiques on their first 3ish pages and maybe their hook and title too. Since the entries will be posted publicly, critiques may also come from people who were not assigned to you. The critiques will be anonymous as well, and will be sent to me via PM. I post them in the thread with its associated entry. That way, you can get critique experience without feeling pressured about what others might think, but the critiques will still be posted so that others can learn from them. And you'll be surprised how much you'll learn critiquing other people's work.
These mandatory critiques are just on the 750-word sample from each entry. Entrants may request to beta any of the entries, but it is not a requirement.
You will be given 2 weeks to critique the entries assigned to you. If you fail to PM me the critiques by
11:59 p.m. PDT, Thursday, July 18, I will withhold your critiques and beta offers. Don't make me do that. Nobody's ever failed to get me their crits, so don't be the first. The critiques can be detailed if you wish, or they could just be a few constructive points (but it'd be a good courtesy to put in the effort you'd like to get back on your own stuff). I will post all critiques on July 19 using the same formatting used when they were submitted to me. If I get all the mandatory critiques before then, I'll post them earlier.
Everybody on AW can offer to beta or critique the entries, not just participants!
If you see one or more entries that you wish to
beta, PM me with the entry number(s) you liked, and I will share your name with the author(s) so that they can choose to contact you. But, don't worry, just because you were selected to critique an entry, you
do not have to beta it unless you want to.
In previous years, if someone had sent in their critiques early, I gave them the names of any beta requesters as they came in. I imagine I will continue that tradition this year. Betas may request at any time after the entries are posted.
)
My laptop died on me, folks, it died on me right as I was in the process of doing one of my assigned crits.* 
