• 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 a beta reader for an m/m supernatural novel

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ravenklaw

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Hello, I'm looking for at least two beta readers to critique my m/m supernatural with 90k words novel/draft. It has graphic sex scenes between men, but it's not erotica. If you're willing, please drop me a line here and information as to where to send it. thanks :)
 
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Viridian

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Hey, Ravenklaw! Welcome to the forums. If I may offer you some unsolicited advice:

Many people post here looking for betas, and most of them are newbies, such as yourself. Few of them find what they're looking for. Betaing for someone is a difficult and time-consuming task, often with no reward. Many users (such as myself) are reluctant to help someone they don't know. Especially when we have no idea what your skill level is.

When I look at your post, I feel excited. Same-sex romance! Erotic but not erotica! That's exactly what I write. It's nice to see someone with similar tastes. Alas, your post contains multiple typos. Seeing those typos in your post might make people reluctant to offer their help. It suggests that maybe your manuscript has the same issues.

Stick around. There's an area of the forums called Share Your Work, where people post short excerpts for critique. This link will take you there. The password is vista. I suggest you take the time to critique the work of others... or, if you don't feel comfortable doing that, maybe reading through some of the critiques other people have posted. Seeing other people discuss and improve their work can help a great deal.

Once you reach 50 posts, you can post your own work there. Showing off your work will not only give you an opportunity to improve -- it will show potential beta readers your skill level. If you want to critique others first, I would suggest the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Share-Your-Work area, which is always bustling with traffic. The Romance Share-Your-Work area is a little dusty, though we're always happy to see something new.

I see you posted before about feeling discouraged after your manuscript was rejected. Don't give up! Even now that the novel is finished, there's work ahead. I hope to see you around.
 

ravenklaw

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Yes,my manuscript may certainly contain many typos, or else I won't be needing an editor and beta-readers. I'll be willing to pay them if they're what I'm looking for. But I need beta readers who can critique beyond the typos.
 

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Ravenklaw, if you want to hire an editor, you'll be better off in this subforum.

Beta readers offer their services for free, and do a huge favour for the author -- which may be "for the love" or may be "quid pro quo" as a crit-swap. Either way, beta readers generally want to know what they're getting into before they volunteer -- is this a manuscript I can read, or will the voice/style drive me nuts? Is this an author I can work with constructively, or is he/she going to send envelopes of anthrax my way if I make any negative comments about their story? Is this beta read going to take me two hours, or ten, or forty? Does the author want line-edits on their use of English, or comments about craft, or a deep structural breakdown of the story's pacing? Is this author someone who will give back to the community, or are they going to take take take without ever lifting a finger in return?

If you stick around the forum and participate, we'll get to know you. Once you get to 50 posts, you can put up your opening scene in Share Your Work and get critiques on it. That will give potential beta readers sufficient information to decide whether you, and your story, will be a good match for them.

Without that.... yes, you may still get beta readers to volunteer, but the odds are much lower.
 
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Maryn

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I think you and I are not using the term "Beta Read" in the same way. A beta reader is someone who is the last reader of a manuscript which the author feels is ready to submit to agents or publishers. It's cleaned up, proofread, spell checked, and is as good as the author can make it on his or her own.

It sounds like you might need people to do critique, perhaps in exchange for the same, which would mean you're after critique partners. It sounds as if this manuscript is not yet ready for beta readers.

Maryn, stickler on what a beta reader does
 

ravenklaw

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I think you and I are not using the term "Beta Read" in the same way. A beta reader is someone who is the last reader of a manuscript which the author feels is ready to submit to agents or publishers. It's cleaned up, proofread, spell checked, and is as good as the author can make it on his or her own.

It sounds like you might need people to do critique, perhaps in exchange for the same, which would mean you're after critique partners. It sounds as if this manuscript is not yet ready for beta readers.

Maryn, stickler on what a beta reader does

I think I misunderstood the concept of a beta-reader.I thought they're like test readers. and after author revision, the manuscript is then sent to the editor and then to the copy editor. I once hired an editor who also did the beta-reading, but it's for the other book. Thanks for the info, anyway.
 

Maryn

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My pleasure. I figured if you asked for what you want using the terms people agree on, you're more likely to get it, right?

Hey, we should all get what we want, at least some of the time.

Maryn, who has what she wants at the moment (pinot grigio!)
 
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