Betas and Questions.
I was just curious if anyone on the forum had any information about the best place to find Beta Readers? I know all about the workshops and everything but is there a board, an LJ-group or a specific site where an author can go beg for an opinion on a manuscript. Do authors solicit fans for Beta readers when they have no friends who read? Is there a trading site? Would it be unthinkable to pay for a good Beta reader? Now I can beta my own stuff, but it's never as good as when a Beta highlights your stuff with comments and opinions...not to mention its an added step when you are ready to move on to the next novel already. i consider myself a decent Beta reader and am even willing to swap services, so if you guys can recommend a place or a person, I would love to hear about it. Am I being lazy? Am I just rushing things...I don't know. I just really miss having a regular Beta-reader, that and it's past my bedtime.

I actually started corresponding with two of my fans. Both always seemed to have good suggestions on the snippits I posted to groups and my LJ and such. So, I had a couple of shorts and asked if they wanted to look them over and give me opinions and such. One turned out to be very good for grammer, spelling, and plot holes. The other picks up nuances of the way people talk and interact and has come back and told me several times...this guy the way you've worked him, just isn't going to act like that in this situation. It's not believable. Otherwise, I've done a cross shift with other authors (*grin*) and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But also other authors have their WIPs going as well, so not as much time availbale.

I love reading other peoples' stories and offering my opinion, I just don't feel like I do a good job. I get crunched for time and feel guilty if it takes to long and I have a hard time articulating why or why not something works. At one point in my life I wanted to be an editor, now I think I'm just not cut out for it.

I'm happy to take a look... I love to read and I like to think I give constructive feedback :) It may not happen immediately, it took me a week or so to read the story I looked at for someone else from this forum.

If you plug variations on the keywords "beta readers" and "beta reading" into the LiveJournal search engine, a number of comms come up. AbsoluteWrite forum has a section for finding beta readers. Romance Divas forum has a section for requesting Critique Partners, which is two-way beta reading - you beta for them, they beta for you. I've found nearly all of my beta readers from my readers; if a reader sends me a detailed critique, I ask them to beta read for me. I've also put out calls for help on forums devoted to my writings. I've found that this works best, from the perspective of not feeling guilty about taking up another person's time, because the person who's betaing is usually eager to get first glimpse of your stories. Some of these beta readers turned out to be excellent, some so-so, some in between. At any rate, I never use only one beta reader for a story.

I do worry that I'm stepping on creative time, but I ask if it's all right and I trust that if the person is too busy then they'll tell me. So far, it's working out well for me.

For some of us, editing *is* creative time. :)

I know that for me, editing is an obsessive/compulsive time at which I lose myself more in details without getting a solid feel for how the reader will enjoy or not enjoy the story. I've seen some fannish-beta exchanges on LJ, and one with that accepts original lit and fanfic but there's always the trust and familiarity issue. Dusk, I will check out the forums that you mentioned and if anyone is willing to Beta an original menage fic, I would be willing to exchange services. I'm also going to do some research into Beta resources, I think and compile a list. I'll post it here when I am done.

Do!

I'm actually planning a talk/class on beta reading and how it differs from things like critique and editing and what my view of the things that need to be determined up front are. Plus tips on beta reading.

That sounds really interesting :)

I'm sure I'll do it as an online class. Let me get it written, then I'll seek a venue for it that is more geared to classes than my own site. I made a note to come back and post details. Thanks for the interest!

BETA RESOURCES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_reader The definition of a Beta Reader with a bit of history thrown in http://community.livejournal.com/betabowl/ Has tips from betas!! Takes requests!! Original and slash! http://community.livejournal.com/story_swap/ Has a survey page !! Takes Requests!! Very active!! Updated recently!! Original and slash! http://www.fangedfour.com/travelogue/id51.htm The Beta Readers Bible, Tips for Betas http://www.rooftopsessions.com/BetaReadernaked.htm Covers author advice and responsibilities concerning betas http://www.uth.tmc.edu/orsc/forms/MSWordTrackChanges.pdf Microsoft Word is an excellent tool for beta-editing and the Track Changes and Comment features are the best