Beta Reader Marketplace

Also just calling out that if you're looking for someone to workshop a chapter, a character or a critical plot point, happy to do that as well -- and doing that with now.
 
I will just report that I have just had a very successful beta read and report by a chronner, who will remain nameless, (unless they choose to own up here. :giggle: )
It was thorough and just the level of critique that I was looking for. Some touches on the wheel, a few plot glitches flagged up and positive feedback also given in good balance.
Very happy with the way it went.
 
In maybe two weeks, I'll be looking for a beta reader. I'm wrapping a major edit and word count reduction of my novel and I'm worried I've either cut too deeply and masked the plot or created a series of people speaking in white rooms.

  • Genre: A multi-perspective New Adult/Adult Lit Scifi
    • Medium-hard scifi flavor
  • Nice to Knows: There's some light cthulu horror elements, a bit of gore, strong language and attempted kidnapping of a minor.
  • Word Count: 115k ish
    • Currently 119k, but I'm still working through it
  • Draft: v4.4
    • v4.0 was 165k words and had 4 beta readers
    • v4.2 was 142k and had 2 beta readers (but they're friends)
  • Ideal beta reader: A woman
    • The main family / three perspective characters are women

Ask: Either the first half (68k words) or the entire thing.

Posting now because I know it's a big ask.
 
Danny McG said:
What is New Adult?
Is it like YA but for very early puberty?
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It's the age range between YA and Adult. Seems like some publishers recognize it and other's don't.

If Harry Potter is YA because the characters begin as tweens and end as 17/18yo's. NA would be if the characters began and stayed roughly 18-25 -- though, like i said, seems like it's a term still a bit in flux. But knowing I've got on-page violence and the other stuff i listed, it's probably too mature for YA.

I think YA and MG (middle grade) might cover the early puberty crowd?

Just calling it out because I've got two characters who are ~17yo, two middle aged women and one older man.
 
Would anyone like to read Part 2 of my story series, called The Return of the Lost Ones? It's a sci-fi story, set in 2564, in which the main character, empress Dopamine, discovers that one of the greatest enemies to her region of the Galaxy, The Warmots, were actually once human, and were reengineered into virtual killing machines (what the word "warmot" literally means), who could kill without remorse, and whose purpose was to invade wealthy planets and steal their resources, killing anyone who tried to stop them. It's about the challenge of reverse engineering them back into humans, with many interesting reveals along the way. I can't say too much more without spoiling it. It's about 35k though, a little long for this forum I guess. It's at least my 12th draft, and has gotten acclaim from a beta reader on another forum.
 
Danetone said:
Would anyone like to read Part 2 of my story series, called The Return of the Lost Ones? It's a sci-fi story, set in 2564, in which the main character, empress Dopamine, discovers that one of the greatest enemies to her region of the Galaxy, The Warmots, were actually once human, and were reengineered into virtual killing machines (what the word "warmot" literally means), who could kill without remorse, and whose purpose was to invade wealthy planets and steal their resources, killing anyone who tried to stop them. It's about the challenge of reverse engineering them back into humans, with many interesting reveals along the way. I can't say too much more without spoiling it. It's about 35k though, a little long for this forum I guess. It's at least my 12th draft, and has gotten acclaim from a beta reader on another forum.
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Sure, send it my way. Got a beta reader sheet for focus areas?
 
VRlass said:
1 scify - can be hard. I have background in AI, robotics, programming, blockchain. Sociocybernetics only as a hobbyst.
2 if i am hooked there is no hard limit i think… but lets say 10k
3 dont understand… ASAP i guess?
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My book might be right up your alley. It talks about all of this. My academic background is in economics but I got hooked on programming and complexity science after finishing school. The novel is a near-future sci-fi fantasy about a society of very old yet very immortal babushkas ekeing out an existence in the far reaches of Kamchatka. If you're interested I could give you a Google Drive link to the (mostly) edited version, and can recommend a chapter or two to take a look at.
 
  1. The genres you are willing to read: Fantasy, no gore, no horror
  2. The maximum length you are willing to read: 20K
  3. Your availability: about a month
 
I’m looking for beta readers and critique partners for my young adult science fiction novel. I am happy to swap chapters to give and receive feedback. I love reading young adult dystopian, science fiction, thrillers, adventure and anything fast paced. If anyone is interested, send a message.
 
sinister42 said:
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?
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I'd love to get stuck into something like that and offer my two cents. I'm usually alright at picking up on typos and whether or not a particular word has been used more than once in a paragraph (googling synonyms has become my top search thing).

Question for the forum, do we send these out as private messages? @sinister42 if you'd be alright with me sending feedback per chapter as I work through it and keep you posted on how I'm getting on, then this might be fun.

On a side note, for anyone else reading this. I'm having a go at writing my first story, so far I have less than 10k words. It's a noir/mystery/detective thing in a fantasy setting. And if I'm not mistaken, it should read a little bit like Police Squad (starring Leslie Nielsen) and Dungeons and Dragons had a baby and abandoned it in a clown orphanage. I'd really appreciate it for some more seasoned writers to prod me in a better direction as I go along and figure out how this writing thing works.

I think the critique section might be more appropriate for me (given my current progress), but I believe I would need to have been a more active member of this forum before I'm allowed.
 
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Captain Fantastic said:
Question for the forum, do we send these out as private messages?
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That's the easiest way to begin, certainly, and then if both parties are comfortable with it you can move onto using emails.

Captain Fantastic said:
On a side note, for anyone else reading this. I'm having a go at writing my first story, so far I have less than 10k words. It's a noir/mystery/detective thing in a fantasy setting. And if I'm not mistaken, it should read a little bit like Police Squad (starring Leslie Nielsen) and Dungeons and Dragons had a baby and abandoned it in a clown orphanage. I'd really appreciate it for some more seasoned writers to prod me in a better direction as I go along and figure out how this writing thing works.
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If you've got any specific questions, then do start a thread in Writing Discussion and ask for help. Meanwhile, have a look through the last page or so of threads there, which may well give you some help, and in particular have a read of The Toolbox which sets out some general points about writing.

Captain Fantastic said:
I think the critique section might be more appropriate for me (given my current progress), but I believe I would need to have been a more active member of this forum before I'm allowed.
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You're right -- members need a minimum of 30 counted posts before they can post a thread in Critiques, so you've a little way to go yet. But join in discussions elsewhere and you'll soon get there. Perhaps give your thoughts on threads already in Critiques, and most definitely join in the Writing Challenges -- one opened just yesterday. Flash fiction is very different from a novel, of course, but it's still necessary to consider story and word usage, among other issues.

But I would suggest you go along the route of Critiques here before asking for a beta reader, because really a beta's role is to consider a work that is more than just a first draft of a few chapters. Someone who is just starting out on a story, or needs help on a continuing basis is better off finding a writing buddy, or writing group to help, and that can often come after people get to know you eg through your giving and receiving critiques.
 
I'll also bluntly say out loud something I think when I see people who just joined the forum asking for beta reads: Please don't misuse the goodwill of the people here. I've never met any one these folks in person but I have a fondness for everyone I interact with here. I find the quality of the interactions here much, much better and genuine than, say, that website that rhymes with a frog's call. We have a mutually beneficial community here. You wouldn't go into a pub first time and ask people to buy you drinks. You'd hang around, get to know the people, maybe buy a few rounds yourself.

I think the same philosophy works well here. Please join in the "critiques" and "writing discussion" section, look over other people's work, comment, give ideas and so on.
 
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