Library Lady 📚 ’s Comments (group member since Feb 16, 2014)

Library Lady 📚 ’s comments from the Beta Reader Group group.

Lissa,

I have a YA romance with a gay protagonist that will need betas soon. If you want to tack my name on the end of your list, I'd be grateful! You can PM me re: when/if you can get to it.

Thanks so much,
Lena

Hey guys,
There was a lot of spam and random conversations going on in this thread, so please stick mainly to the topic. If you find someone to read for you on here, keep the back and forth in a PM if you don't mind, so we can focus on BETAS here!

Thanks for understanding.

Our betas need to be thanked and recognized, so let's not hog their glory with our author needs. Post that in the correct folder.

If it's the setting, I think it looks fine. People might wonder why they are there at first, but once they read it, they will know. It never hurts to have your readers wondering something from the start.

Agentquery.com is a good place to start.

I would definitely send it twice (I saw that you did that) before writing off an author. I recently had a beta resend her comments when she hadn't heard back from me in a month--I'd never received her first email! We have emailed back and forth several times now and she's on board for beta-ing my next project. So I do think sometimes communication is key.

It goes both ways, too--I've had betas who just said "It was good" or didn't get back at all, and never answered a follow-up email. It's sad, but those things happen. I guess if you never hear back, just count the author out and don't read for him/her again.

How would this work? Do we want to do a circle, where everyone critiques the next person in the circle? In the ones I've done in the past, it worked better if people didn't have a partner, but rather, always critiqued someone who was not critiquing them.

So, maybe we could each send our pages to two people, and so forth, so everyone got 2 critiques. BUT, if anyone didn't come through, they'd automatically be dropped from the circle.

I am open to the idea. I write ya, ya SciFi, and adult fantasy.

They are sooo frustrating and time consuming, but a good one will pull a reader in, so...stick with it! Post a revised one when you have it so we can applaud.

The first sentence is a mouthful. I'd take out "Hope PD". He's a detective, no one knows where Hope is (there's one in Arkansas, too), and you say "small nevada town" in the next sentence, so it's redundant anyway.

Next:

I like the first two sentences of the first one, then the last paragraph from the second synopsis (but cut the word 'hard' from 'push hard').

I don't mind a few errors, and I certainly wouldn't say it has to have gone through a critique group first. I just want to feel like I'm reading a book, not a jumble of sentences!

On the other end of the spectrum, if someone is asking for betas for a book coming out June 1st, they probably can't incorporate major suggestions by then (such as, your character needs more depth, you have no plot, etc). They may be looking for me to catch a few typos, but I know how long it takes to fix huge errors in a book that's already done. I had that experience recently, too. The author sent me the finished copy, and it was obvious she hadn't taken any of my suggestions, so I sort of felt like I'd wasted my time.

Steven wrote: "Lena, what about a manuscript that is ready except for proofing? I recently sent out a MS at this stage. Of course, I proofed it for errors myself, but most authors (certainly myself) don't catch ..."

As Lin said, that's fine. But if I'm so busy trying to get past the typos, punctuation errors, and sentences that don't make any sense, I can't really give a perspective on the story as a whole.

Something that bothers me while looking for books to beta read is when the author says either it's a first draft because sometimes it's such a mess I can't begin to give a reader perspective. I feel like authors should make it the best it can be before sending it out. Otherwise, I'm like the maid who comes over and is told to babysit, cook, and do laundry as well as the dusting...

OR when an author says they are publishing the book next month and need a quick turnaround, because it's obvious they won't have time to incorporate any major suggestions I give, so why bother spending time coming up with a thorough critique when I know they won't use it? I feel like if an author is a month away from publication, what they should be asking for is a review of a finished ARC.

The one without--the font is quite difficult to read.

Abs--it's a genre thing. Lots of books feature this kind of cover, because readers know what they're getting. If your book fits the genre, then go for it. The cover is all about helping readers in your target audience find your book. I'd be surprised if changing it increased your sales--probably the opposite would happen.

I like the second picture much better. But agree w Emily. It screams self-published/created own cover.

You can usually hire a professional who charges very little if you have the picture and know what you want. I've seen some great covers for $30 or so.

I like the very first picture in the first post. I dont think her age shows much since she's kind of in shadow. What does your heroine look like? Those first pics were dark haired, mysterious...the next batch was blondes and a more sunny feel. I do like that one in the water, if she's a blonde.

Please read rules and post in correct folder.

thank you.

Great topic!

I'm an American Southerner.

I can offer help with Southern culture, history, dialect, social customs, etc.

I like unique, but I don't read a lot of NA.

I'd work on the title as I don't think it matches your description. I may be interested later on, but I'm full right now. Maybe add me if you do a second round of betas later.

I love your cover.

Your book sounds like one I'd like, but your synopsis doesn't make me want to read it. Maybe make it more hook-y or exciting?