Open Call for Beta Readers

And how are you going to work that into the office theme XD

Why not snakes on a plane? I watched that last year while traveling. the whole family was there and it was on TV (in a hotel) I just couldn't believe how bad that was and started laughing like mad, then the rest of the family joined in. I didn't know that movie was famous (or maybe infamous from what I saw of it!!!)

 

Oh that is easy, but we are derailing this convo. The office building I work in has labs on the lower floors, so that is how the mutated goats were created. So book 3 is going to be progressing through labs, but I cannot say more than that without giving away potential spoilers lol.

 

You should but if the author had self published that first book he might have been trying to go back and get it prettied up.
The person in question still should have taken the help with a nod and smile, or maybe a grimace, but not made you feel bad about it. Beta readers who do the job of finding errors and pointing them out, and not just read the book, are worth a hell of a lot.

 

I have a Noob question, I am pretty new to all of this.
I've heard it said that Beta Reading should not be done until the work is pretty much done and polished. In reading some materials I found alpha reading where reviewers read a 'manuscript in the making' (If I correctly defined it.. ). The purpose being to see if the author (perhaps new) is on the right track with their writing. I would hate to write a whole manuscript and then get feedback that some fundamental part of my writing is flawed. I would much rather have a good amount done; enough that it gives context, plot, character introduction, and shows my technical writing skills reviewed sooner than later. As a new
writer I would also appreciate constructive criticism. Have I articulated that ok? Would there be any interest in doing that? Not something I will be ready for until another 30,000 words and an edit of that but hey, planning ahead

 

According to the handy-dandy video, some authors feed chapters at a time to their betas. I have too many books to read to beta, so I shall pass, but you have my support here : )

 

Alpha reader would probably be the correct term, but I think if you want to see how you are doing you could post the first several chapters and ask people what they think. Royal Road is probably good for this. I have never used RR but I do have an account there, and thought about throwing stuff out there, to see how it worked. Then you can link it here and ask if others would be willing to give some feedback. I've seen several authors do this, and the stuff they have in RR changes quite a bit in their published version.

 

Any thoughts on the amount of work I should get done before I post?

 

Honestly, that is tough to say. From what I understand of that place, do not post it all at once. Do a scene at a time maybe, and probably post a scene a day or something. Someone that understands RR better can probably respond better. If you have several chapters with several scenes you might be good. Mostly you are just fishing for feedback, so I would not think you'd need a lot initially. Since it sounds like you mostly want to test to see how well your writing is received.

I get it, writing is very personal and doubt eats at you on every word you write. At some point you just have to jump in somewhere and make the mistakes, and then learn from them. When you do jump in, I recommend reading any bad review and walk away before responding. After you've thought through it craft a very positive response. Thank them, maybe ask for clarification on a few points. Psycho 101 (yup, I said Psycho), you are basically baiting them by doing this. At this point they will be invested in what you write because they will feel like they invested in your craft. They might even brag to their friends later about how he or she helped you write your book, and then those people buy it to check it out.

 

Wise man ^

 

I've done beta reading and alpha reading. mostly authors have found me. I have done alpha reading. But it can be painful (and useful). Leaving helpful comments or pm's on rrl can make a difference. Not sure what to do when asked to read and then I encounter the Oh gods this hurts to read books. I try to stay constructive. It's not an easy thing. Glad to have done it. Sometimes I can spot a thing that makes it a tighter work. Not sure what point in revisions beta reading works best.

 

I can't say I'm fond of ARC. My best beta reading is when people still have some wiggle room on story. Especially when it comes to tightening up the beginning. That's usually a prime pain point. and spotting stuff that doesn't read well that blows the flow.

 

Thank you guys I appreciate the input....I will continue working on that first part of the story and editing it until I feel that I can put a few chapters on RR for initial input

 

Beta reading for my forming team is third pass stuff. They get it after my editor goes over it, who got it after my very rough pass. Once the beta readers are done, I give it another pass, just incase. Here real soon though I'm going to have to find a real editor and pay them to give it a go over as well.

 

2nd and final installment. All hail Jenna!

 

Available if you got your stuff sorted out Nyar.

 

I have to say that @Matthew James been incredibly helpful by doing some beta reading for me! I'm hoping to include some of his suggestions in my next draft. Anyone else who is looking for something to read let me know.

 

What do you have @Nyarlanotep ? Other than a giant pile of submissions that I'm behind on, I've got some reading time.