Beta Reader Marketplace

msstice

msstice

200 words a day = 1 novel/year
Supporter
Joined
Mar 27, 2020
Messages
919
Scope
  1. This is for pieces longer than what is normally posted on the critiques forum: short stories > 1500 words, novellettes, novels.
  2. It is for a reader to primarily give a gestalt impression of the work: character development, plotting and pacing, though they are free to give more mechanistic feedback too.
  3. The intention of the marketplace is to exchange kind-for-kind labor: critique for critique, but there is no enforcement of this.
Guidelines for readers
When posting availability to beta read for others please post
  1. The genres you are willing to read.
  2. The maximum length you are willing to read.
  3. Your availability.
If you have previously critiqued pieces in the Critiques forum, It helps writers to gauge your critique style and level. This is not a requirement for offering to beta read.

Critique requirements
There are no hard and fast rules, but the guidelines found on the "critiques" forum are a good start. Please be constructive and respectful (on both sides - reader and writer) and as far as possible, actionable: please give feedback the writer can use to change something concrete.

Guidelines to request a reading
  1. Your work should be as complete and perfect as you can think of making it before you request someone else's valuable time in going over it. At the very least, you should have spell checked it, grammar checked it and read it yourself at least twice. Ideally, this will be a finished second or higher draft.
  2. State the genre (target audience) and word count and whether you are requesting a full read or a read of specific chapters of a larger work.
  3. If possible state what draft of the work this is.
  4. State the time frame in which you want the critique to be done.

Afterwards

If you have a chron's member beta read your manuscript and it was useful for you, please mention this on the thread. It is helpful for all of us to get some kind of signal if this informal marketplace is working. You probably shouldn't call out the actual betareader, especially without their permission. It's just nice to get a count of notes saying "Hey I asked for beta readers here and I got X responses and Y complete reads. Thanks chrons!"
 
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I can't offer any expertise, but I can offer an honest reader's perspective. I have some posts in the Critiques section, so you should be able to have some idea of how I critique pieces.

1. I'm willing to read any genre (except erotica).
2. I don't think I can commit to longer works, but I'll read anything that's 10K or shorter.
3. My availability fluctuates from week to week, but I should be able to give my feedback to the author within seven days.
 
So, I would like to change my answer to 1 to allso state anything, but no erotica/porn/furries or any other more or less tentacled work of fevered imagination from the murky depths of internet…
 
I tend to be overly critical* where things don't fit but I enjoy a good yarn. I'll keep reading anything if it keeps me reading. I hate tautologies.
  1. Will read mostly science fiction.
  2. Will read long works but I will not be able to give quick feedback. My guess is I can read at most 2000 words per day if I'm really in to it. I give pretty detailed feedback.
  3. Can read one thing at a time. I'm open to beta read right now.

* e.g. you have a Jedi council made of the very best Jedi and the Sith lord has his lair in the floor right below you and has trained an apprentice for years and yet you know nothing about it and keep inviting the Sith lord in for tea.
 
msstice said:
* e.g. you have a Jedi council made of the very best Jedi and the Sith lord has his lair in the floor right below you and has trained an apprentice for years and yet you know nothing about it and keep inviting the Sith lord in for tea.
Click to expand...
Well i know it doesn’t make much sense fictionwise… but in real life it happens anyway XD - I only miss breaking 4th wall here and there to point it out.
 
1. I will read any sci-fi or fantasy. I am writing sci-fi that is more on the hard side right now so am particularly interested in that.
2. Anything up to 10k would be perfect, but allow a week or so for detailed feedback. Don't mind if this is the first 10k of a longer work and will keep reading if I'm super hooked.
3. I'm interested in exchanging right now, especially for the first 10k or so words of longer works/novels.
 
  1. I prefer Fantasy genre, but I'm not that fussy.
  2. Around 10k sounds like a good limit
  3. I'm pretty open unless something comes up.
However, as a caveat, I'm not that good at understanding literature so I'd mostly just be able to give casual reader impressions.

I'd also like a casual readthrough of the beginning 7,500 words of Orphan meets a Monster for anything glaring and maybe an opinion on where to go next. It's low fantasy I think, the target audience is older people who like to read about children, and I'd like it next week but taking a little longer is fine.
 
1. Prefer Fantasy, but open to other genres
2. Around 10k max (as others have said, will keep reading if hooked)
3. Availability changes weekly, but will aim to have feedback within a weeks time

To help understand the lens I will approach things with, I have a BA in History which gives me a good foundation on writing structure and flow, and a MBA which gives me a good foundation on communication (making sure the reader will understand what is being presented).
 
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Greetings. Until the end of the month I will be available to start reading, preferably second or third drafts* of novels from:

Historical fantasy (I love the swashbuckling ones like the Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo!)
Thriller or horror
Military science fiction, dystopia, ucronia or space opera.

I can also read fantasy novels, but I give preference to old forum members with a minimum of 2 years. Besides, I know them better and they also know me, so the work will be much closer and more intense. Call it "family."

I don't have space limitations (last year I read six novels ranging between 120 and 230k: I'm a real piranha), as long as, of course, I like the first chapter, so send that first and from there we talk about the rest. I would also appreciate a brief plot synopsis. Even so, my timeline depends exclusively on whether I like the first chapter.

I don't need to be read back. In these years I have already analyzed about 50 novels and I never asked for it as a requirement. In fact, I have long been part of a quartet of Spanish writers in which we are like Dartagnan and the Three Musketeers: one for all and all for one.

* I think this is pretty self-explanatory, because if you know your craft, then I imagine you know that the second draft is the one that comes after you've let it sit for a reasonable period of time and therefore did a first sweep of probables argument consistency errors in your book. :ninja:
 
Hi folks,

I am seeking Beta readers for the first act only of a draft novel which is 69 'book' pages (6x9). I really want to ensure the setup is tight before I polish and/or rewrite the second and third acts.

It's formatted and decently edited and I've read it at least a dozen times (and subsequently edited) so I believe it will easily pass criteria #1 above. As such, I could send an .epub or PDF. For genre, it is contemporary fantasy, though the fantasy element is fairly low and doesn't show too much until the mid-point and act three. Act one is 15,000 words. Requesting a full read to identify things like readability, pacing, plot etc and not grammar, spelling, style or structure per se.

The plot centres around a young, single mother who works a dead end job and finds it challenging to overcome a unique fear. It is holding her back from engaging with life and moving forward within it. On top of this, her daughter receives a dire medical diagnosis. Mom comes to believe the only way to save her is to steal an ancient artifact from a local museum. She has no experience at all in this regard, and an ancient, shadowy group that wishes to lay claim to it have descended on the town.

Ideally, I'd like to have feedback in two weeks.

Happy to return the favour too!

Brendan
 
Bren G said:
I'd like to have feedback in two weeks.
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Just saw this, am flat out at the moment but wouldn't mind giving it a read. The 13th Vote was a *very easy read so might get it done in time. *I mean that as a compliment, twas quality stuff. (.pdf is prob best if ya want to send it on) (y)
 
AnRoinnUltra said:
Just saw this, am flat out at the moment but wouldn't mind giving it a read. The 13th Vote was a *very easy read so might get it done in time. *I mean that as a compliment, twas quality stuff. (.pdf is prob best if ya want to send it on) (y)
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Thank you sir! You're a good lad!

I will send tomorrow first thing.

Cheers! BG
 
Hello! I'm searching for readers for the first chapter of my WIP of medieval fantasy. It has roughly 5k words, gone through heavy editing and rewriting, and it might be more efficient than posting it piece by piece with little context on the critiques.

It's about a princess that escapes into exile after having the king dehtroned and killed by a powerful general. The magic systems are soft but they're more thoroughly introduced in chapter 3 along with the other main character. Since the first chapter is very important to set the conflict and hopefully have the reader wanting to read more, is maybe the fragment that has gone through the most revisions.

Any feedback will be appreciated. Don't hesitate to ask for a specific format.

Thank you
 
Bren G said:
Hi folks,

I am seeking Beta readers for the first act only of a draft novel which is 69 'book' pages (6x9). I really want to ensure the setup is tight before I polish and/or rewrite the second and third acts.

It's formatted and decently edited and I've read it at least a dozen times (and subsequently edited) so I believe it will easily pass criteria #1 above. As such, I could send an .epub or PDF. For genre, it is contemporary fantasy, though the fantasy element is fairly low and doesn't show too much until the mid-point and act three. Act one is 15,000 words. Requesting a full read to identify things like readability, pacing, plot etc and not grammar, spelling, style or structure per se.

The plot centres around a young, single mother who works a dead end job and finds it challenging to overcome a unique fear. It is holding her back from engaging with life and moving forward within it. On top of this, her daughter receives a dire medical diagnosis. Mom comes to believe the only way to save her is to steal an ancient artifact from a local museum. She has no experience at all in this regard, and an ancient, shadowy group that wishes to lay claim to it have descended on the town.

Ideally, I'd like to have feedback in two weeks.

Happy to return the favour too!

Brendan
Click to expand...
Hi Bren, I'll happily read this for you.
 
Flaviosky said:
Hello! I'm searching for readers for the first chapter of my WIP of medieval fantasy. It has roughly 5k words, gone through heavy editing and rewriting, and it might be more efficient than posting it piece by piece with little context on the critiques.

It's about a princess that escapes into exile after having the king dehtroned and killed by a powerful general. The magic systems are soft but they're more thoroughly introduced in chapter 3 along with the other main character. Since the first chapter is very important to set the conflict and hopefully have the reader wanting to read more, is maybe the fragment that has gone through the most revisions.

Any feedback will be appreciated. Don't hesitate to ask for a specific format.

Thank you
Click to expand...
Hi Flaviosky,

I'd be happy to.

.epub preferred if possible. Otherwise PDF or .docx is cool.
 
Hi, I am looking for a reader for a full book. 112k words.
Set a few hundred years in the future it is (somewhat) hard science fiction mixed with space opera. The story is both a road trip and a prison break.
The book has already gone through a chapter by chapter edit with a critique group yet now I am looking for a big picture critique.
Timeline that I would like for feedback --a month or two
 
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