Beta Reader Marketplace

OuttaInc said:
Hello friends,

I have a 1000 word speculative flash fiction piece that I'd love to get feedback on. I'm looking for 2 - 3 readers who enjoy flash fiction and can return comments by next Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. (Deadline for the contest is Jan 31.)

I'd post in critiques but it's for a themed contest run by a magazine and they are strict about stories not having appeared in any form previously.

The story is about a man trying to hide from his past, and a woman with a knack for exposing peoples' indiscretions. It's as close to being "done" as I'm capable, and if I don't get readers, I will probably submit as is. I'd prefer to have a few extra sets of eyes, though.

Once this is off my plate, I'd be happy to pay it forward in February if anybody needs a beta reader for their short fiction.

Thank you!
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I can give it a read and get feedback to you quickly.
 
Hello! I am new to the community and I am looking for beta readers for the first couple projects of a book series on superheroes. Open to people reading both or just one of the two. More than happy to be a beta reader in return!
  1. The genre for both projects is superheroes and they are both around 60k words. One project is an origin story book for the hero that will be at the center of the overarching series arc. The other project is a short story series broken up into three 20k seasons of 12 episodes that focuses strongly on street level heroism and can be read independently of the first book.
  2. Both projects have gone through at least half a dozen revisions and alpha readers. I want a bit more feedback before I send it to an editor.
  3. I'd like to have feedback on the short story series by the end of March and on the book no later than the end of May if possible.
Thank you to all who take the time to read this and I look forward to connecting more with this community going forward!
 
kbkirtley said:
Hello! I am new to the community and I am looking for beta readers for the first couple projects of a book series on superheroes. Open to people reading both or just one of the two. More than happy to be a beta reader in return!
  1. The genre for both projects is superheroes and they are both around 60k words. One project is an origin story book for the hero that will be at the center of the overarching series arc. The other project is a short story series broken up into three 20k seasons of 12 episodes that focuses strongly on street level heroism and can be read independently of the first book.
  2. Both projects have gone through at least half a dozen revisions and alpha readers. I want a bit more feedback before I send it to an editor.
  3. I'd like to have feedback on the short story series by the end of March and on the book no later than the end of May if possible.
Thank you to all who take the time to read this and I look forward to connecting more with this community going forward!
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Welcome @kbkirtley ! You could also consider posting short excerpts on critiques (once you've been here a while) so that people can get an idea of your writing style, and you can get an idea of the kind of critique you might get.
 
msstice said:
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.
Click to expand...
If you use inkspired you can get free beta readers every month up to 5,000 words. As a heads up.
 
msstice said:
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.
Click to expand...
1. I read most genres except Erotica/Religious books. And no ghost. Period.
2. The max length would depend on how much time I'll have for the reading
3. It is fluctuative from week to week, but this can be communicated beforehand I suppose
 
I have an odd request for a writing forum in that it is audio* so no prob if this request is tierra non boncatus (or words to that effect). I'm writing a novel and am reading it as I go. I'd be keen to see if the plot is coherent enough to follow, if the pace is too slow, and also if the narration is clear enough to understand.
Am up to Chapter 6 of about 56, and would like to troubleshoot big problems before too long in.
*I struggle with spelling and grammar, and also make up words -so the text would not be a fair infliction;)
 
AnRoinnUltra said:
I have an odd request for a writing forum in that it is audio* so no prob if this request is tierra non boncatus (or words to that effect). I'm writing a novel and am reading it as I go. I'd be keen to see if the plot is coherent enough to follow, if the pace is too slow, and also if the narration is clear enough to understand.
Am up to Chapter 6 of about 56, and would like to troubleshoot big problems before too long in.
*I struggle with spelling and grammar, and also make up words -so the text would not be a fair infliction;)
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That's really cool. What genre is it? I normally volunteer for SF critiquing, but I'm a little short of time ATM. It is an interesting idea to go audio first, not only because audio books are popular but because we are often told to sound out our writing.
 
msstice said:
What genre is it?
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It's comedy SF, of sorts. There is a hard(ish) science part, but it doesn't come into the story till later and only in short bursts. The main part is a daft fantasy style 'marooned in outer space' adventure.
The protagonist slowly starts to wonder if everything is as she sees it, and why she can't really remember life on Earth.
Here's the blurb:
Anthony McGinley was ten years old when his mother died.
She was given full honours at a state funeral, but after that life in the McGinley household began to slowly fall apart. Untill Anthony found an unfinished novel among his mother’s things. It described an allegory for a flawed antihero.
  • Can Nancy Goodaim save the solar system from the evil Sozman Borkstapple?
  • Is there such thing as magic?
  • Or are we simply the heroes of our own stories?
msstice said:
sound out our writing.
Click to expand...
I think it helps sharpen things up, I find it helps identifying missing dialog tags and description (y)
 
I recently finished writing my debut novel, The Werewolf Astronaut. It's a funny-ish horror sci-fi fantasy novel heavily influenced by Douglas Adams, Christopher Moore, Bram Stoker, and H.P. Lovecraft. Basically, it's a lot. It currently sits at around 80,000 words. I'd like to get feedback from beta readers within the next couple of months. Anyone willing to give this a go?
 
I'm not sure if this would be my cup of tea, but if you send me the first chapter, I can give feedback on that and say if I would be able to read the rest of the MS.
 
Hi,
I had written the first scene (roughly 3 pages) of my epic fantasy/mystery. The premise of the story is that an archaeologist (the protagonist) becomes the monarch of his nation, investigates the death of his predecessor (the previous monarch), and discovers many secrets about his planet Thera.
I am searching for an alpha reviewer who can review my work scene by scene.
regards,
Agrasya
 
Hi, I have completed the second draft of my novel called 'Shroom Circles'. It's my second novel. Looking for Beta readers. It's a fantasy adventure about a young man who is obsessed with the mushroom forest, and travels into the enourmous mushroom circles next to his town to discover what lies within. 104k. I believe I am influenced most by Robin Hobb and Sanderson. I can send any format (mobi, epub, pdf).
 
Within a month or two would be nice. But even if it takes longer, that would still be very valuable to me.
 
Requesting readers for a soft science fiction (Star Trek-level) novel primarily for a full read (113k words). I have several British characters (including the main character), so it would be great if I could get someone based in the UK. I also have a couple of passages for which I would like an engineer's feedback, professional or otherwise. It's fictional tech, but I'd still like to make sure it makes sense.

I don't write in drafts except in really special cases. This novel was one of the special cases. I wrote the first draft in '02 and left it dormant for 12-13 years before returning to it and completely re-wrote it. So, I guess one could call it the second draft that has been through multiple editing passes. I hope to begin a final edit in November.

The blurb:

Earth Alliance Ship Frontier, Earth's first starship, stands ready for launch. First Officer Kenneth McClance is determined to be successful as they embark on their maiden voyage. However, the ship is suddenly thrown across time and space. Ken must face one life-threatening situation after another, facing off against out-of-control robots, dinosaurs, and a power-hungry military commander as he attempts to get his crew back to their correct time and place.
 
  1. The genres you are willing to read
    1. Anything outside of hardcore gore or torture porn
  2. The maximum length you are willing to read.
    1. Happy to start at 10k words
  3. Your availability.
    1. I'd take one a week?
 
An addendum to the guidelines (appreciate if a mod could edit this into the pinned post if appropriate and possible):

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!"
 
As a signal I've completed one beta read a while ago (the author actually gave me a Amazon gift card in appreciation and I really didn't expect this, and I absolutely don't expect this in the future, but I have to say it was _so_ nice of them!) and am currently doing another beta read.
 
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