Once, long ago, Katiemac ran The Great Beta Reader Challenge, which introduced me to the world of betaing. I beta read 2 books from the challenge and received 3 or 4 betas myself. Two years later, she ran The Beta Project, which was a little more tailored towards giving us NaNo writers a kick in the pants to edit our November novels. It's been 5 years since the last Beta Project, but I think back on those challenges fondly any time I'm searching for betas or see someone post on AW looking for betas.
So what is the Beta Project? 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 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, March 14, 2014. (to PM me, click on my user name and select "Send a private message to Sage"). This gives you 3 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, I believe all past entries have been novels, and if only one or two others are entered this time, it may be difficult to find knowledgable betas for you (so encourage others in your category to submit if you want to join with a non-novel). The only requirement I'm going to make for entering is that you're a member in good standing as of Friday, February 21, 2014.
Your PM should look a little something like this:
Manuscript Title: Your current title or "untitled" if you prefer
Manuscript Genre: This will help match you up to readers
Manuscript Word Count: (or Current/Projected Word Count for unfinished mss)
Is your manuscript finished?: Y/N
Hook:
150 words about your novel. It doesn't have to be a full query, and probably won't be with this word-count limit. But it's great practice for summarizing your novel in a way that will hook readers.
First 750 words:
In standard manuscript format (Courier New, 12 pt, double space), 750 words is about 3 pages. Find a spot short of that 750-word mark that makes for a good ending spot.
What do you look for in a beta?
About 100 words about what you're looking for. For example, I might say, "I'm looking for a beta who will point out those pesky plot holes I've been blind to and any characterization that doesn't work. My description can sometimes be lacking, so please tell me when I need more. And I'm nervous about the romance. Is it, well, romantic?"
What genres do you read?
This is for matching purposes and will not be posted. Include also if you like other categories, such as non-fiction, poetry, short stories, etc. just in case we get some non-novel entries.
What happens next?
On the 15th, I will post the entries in the Beta Project Subforum (What? You didn't know that even existed, did you? ). There they will be under the same protection as those excerpts posted in Share Your Work. The password is "beta." 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.
I will assign everybody a certain number of entries to critique. It will be no more than 5, and it will probably be 3 (as it was both times before). This way everyone will get at least 3 critiques on their first 3 pages and maybe their hook and title too (depending on how people crit). 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 and then posted in the thread with its associated entry. That way, you can get critique experience without feeling pressured about what other's 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.
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. EST, Saturday, March 29, 2014, I will withhold your critiques and beta offers. The critiques can be detailed if you wish, or they could just be a few constructive points. I will post all critiques on March 30 using the same formatting used when they were submitted to me. If I get all the critiques before then, I'll post them earlier.
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. Everybody on AW can offer to beta or critique the entries, not just participants! Just PM me. But, don't worry, just because you were selected to critique an entry, you do not have to beta it unless you want to.
Any questions or comments?
Post 'em here!
All right, go get those manuscripts polished and entries together. Or if you're ready, you can PM me your entry now.
So what is the Beta Project? 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 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, March 14, 2014. (to PM me, click on my user name and select "Send a private message to Sage"). This gives you 3 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, I believe all past entries have been novels, and if only one or two others are entered this time, it may be difficult to find knowledgable betas for you (so encourage others in your category to submit if you want to join with a non-novel). The only requirement I'm going to make for entering is that you're a member in good standing as of Friday, February 21, 2014.
Your PM should look a little something like this:
Manuscript Title: Your current title or "untitled" if you prefer
Manuscript Genre: This will help match you up to readers
Manuscript Word Count: (or Current/Projected Word Count for unfinished mss)
Is your manuscript finished?: Y/N
Hook:
150 words about your novel. It doesn't have to be a full query, and probably won't be with this word-count limit. But it's great practice for summarizing your novel in a way that will hook readers.
First 750 words:
In standard manuscript format (Courier New, 12 pt, double space), 750 words is about 3 pages. Find a spot short of that 750-word mark that makes for a good ending spot.
What do you look for in a beta?
About 100 words about what you're looking for. For example, I might say, "I'm looking for a beta who will point out those pesky plot holes I've been blind to and any characterization that doesn't work. My description can sometimes be lacking, so please tell me when I need more. And I'm nervous about the romance. Is it, well, romantic?"
What genres do you read?
This is for matching purposes and will not be posted. Include also if you like other categories, such as non-fiction, poetry, short stories, etc. just in case we get some non-novel entries.
What happens next?
On the 15th, I will post the entries in the Beta Project Subforum (What? You didn't know that even existed, did you?
). There they will be under the same protection as those excerpts posted in Share Your Work. The password is "beta." 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.
I will assign everybody a certain number of entries to critique. It will be no more than 5, and it will probably be 3 (as it was both times before). This way everyone will get at least 3 critiques on their first 3 pages and maybe their hook and title too (depending on how people crit). 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 and then posted in the thread with its associated entry. That way, you can get critique experience without feeling pressured about what other's 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.
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. EST, Saturday, March 29, 2014, I will withhold your critiques and beta offers. The critiques can be detailed if you wish, or they could just be a few constructive points. I will post all critiques on March 30 using the same formatting used when they were submitted to me. If I get all the critiques before then, I'll post them earlier.
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. Everybody on AW can offer to beta or critique the entries, not just participants! Just PM me. But, don't worry, just because you were selected to critique an entry, you do not have to beta it unless you want to.
Any questions or comments?
Post 'em here!
All right, go get those manuscripts polished and entries together. Or if you're ready, you can PM me your entry now.
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