Need a beta reader? Want to beta? Post here

[Charming, Order theorist]

Authors who would like to find beta readers and readers who would like to beta read, please post here. I am booked up right now, but I would like to recommend to readers that they give this a try. It is a lot of fun, and you get to help out someone who writes the kind of books you like.

It is also helpful to post what you are looking for/what you can offer. E.g. as a beta reader, maybe you good at finding plot holes, but not impressive in your grammar skills. Or as an author, perhaps you looking for input as to whether your characters are sympathetic, but you aren't to the point of thinking about typos yet.

[Charming, Order theorist]

One of our group authors could use a hand here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

[Marjorie]

Charming wrote: "One of our group authors could use a hand here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1..."

I just realized you'd done this, Charming! Thank you! I did actually get one reply in response to your cross-posting ((waves at AllenW)) so thank you twice, Charming.

I'm still looking for beta readers / critiquers and/or reviewers for Man Made Man, my new novel linked in Charming's post, but I've also just barely (haha, pun intended) completed my first m/m romance or gay scifi erotica story and could really use some proofreaders for it!

FREE eBOOK for PROOFREADING SERVICES
The story is titled A First Time for Everything and is definitely part of the larger scifi series The Phoenician Series , but it's also a standalone story. The point is there's more story than mere sex because I wanted to be sure it actually contributed something to the ongoing series arc. Plus I can't write sex that has no point. It has to do something for my characters for me to care if it's good sex or not :)

START BLURBAGE
William Harrington has lived alone in a crowd for what seems like forever. With a military background, he now serves the political powers that be, holding both of the top two positions on the planet. That kind of career success has made him comfortable just about anywhere he goes—except on a date. His “first and only love” sort of died and he hasn’t been able to move on. It’s the “sort of” part giving him trouble. Then Jared Crenshaw walks into his life. When Jared starts talking about power exchange and safe words, Will realizes he might be out of his depth in today’s dating game, but he’s willing to give it a try. Jared’s something new, something different and something Will definitely wants in his life.

As a Class Three MedTech, Jared Crenshaw runs into the Privilege Class often. To him, they’re all just potential benefactors. He’s a gifted scientist, so why shouldn’t they invest in his work? Then he meets William Harrington, a man above the Privilege Class. Will’s in a class all his own—and Jared’s interests in him are absolutely unprofessional. It looks like they’ll have a night of carnal pleasure until Jared discovers Will’s keeping a secret about his ex. Even a player like Jared Crenshaw will get played eventually, and William Harrington is more of a player than he’s admitting. There’s a first time for everything, and Will is about to become Jared’s first…almost everything.

A First Time for Everything is a long short story in The Phoenician Series . It is a Gay SciFi Romance. The events in this story occur about one month after the events at the end of the series novel, Man Made Man, the story in which William and Jared first meet.
END BLURBAGE
((taking commentary on the blurbage too if you have it))

I think the story came out really well but I'm not sure about all my choices for these guys. They are both very smart and somewhat feisty men, not quite two Alphas but there's a serious question about who's really gonna end up on top ... I'm voting for Jared because he's the one with a permanent installation of restraints on his bed >:-]

My sex scene is pretty good I think but it's my very first-ever m/m sex scene and I'm a straight female so who knows if I am remotely nailing it for gay men. I'd appreciate specific reactions to the erotic level (or absence) of my sex scene It's a multi-part long scene, interrupted by a harsh reality as coitus interruptus seems to happen to characters in my books a lot. Poor guys.

I can deliver an EPUB or a PDF file. Although I prefer you use PDF for adding notes, it is possible to highlight and annotate an EPUB file inside iBooks. Not sure about how to do it in the Nook apps but I know Nook has annotation features too. I just ask for markups of typos and/or comments about plot or character development "as you're reading" (in other words, don't think about it, just react and jot down notes as you think of things, nothing substantial like a whole paragraph but probably more than one word)

I'd ask you to get the file from me via email, read it, mark it as you read, then email it back to me. You pay nothing but time and sexual frustration :) I'll mention proofreaders and critiquers in an Acknowledgements section at the back (not yet created)

Interested? Email phoenicianbooks@gmail.com and put WILLIAM / JARED eARC into the subject line, please.

Thanks for listening!

Friday (aka Sarah)

[Tara]

Second cover definitely.

[Allen]

Thanks for the wave Marj! I'm a bit over half way through reading and proof reading MMM. As a devout SciFi reader of 50+ years (ouch!), I have never ever run across a series as unique as this one. Marjorie has a LOT of talent as a writer and her imagination is off the charts!

I am thoroughly enjoying the read. As a proofer.. the job is easy as there are very few mistakes/typos.

MMM is a very long book. You will definitely get your money's worth and hopefully you will get some sleep since it's difficult to put down.
I personally don't wish to read short stories and many e-book stories run less than 200 pages. The term pages is a rather loose concept when it comes to e-books since it all depends on your font size, etc. I suppose word count would be best and I highly encourage authors who do write longer books to include the word count or page count in their description. I usually pass right by books without it. (unless it's FREE)

[Sarah]

My only issue with the new cover design is that the feather looks wet ... but then it DOES get a little wet during use (hee hee hee) yes, I'm in a silly mood, sorry.

[Marjorie]

Tara wrote: "Second cover definitely."

The cuffs lost and the feather has been altered to suit the "colored flame" theme of the series books. I'm so glad everyone else's opinions (here on Goodreads and over on Facebook) were exactly in line with my own - as in "no cuffs, definitely"

ETA: got it tweaked to death now and finally created a page for it here:

[Duane]

Thanks for this thread, Charming!

I have posted the first three chapters of a scifi novel with gay characters here.

I plan to post six more chapters while I finish revising the rest of the book. I'd like to know if the chapters want to see more of the conflicts and the characters. Also, I want to know if it works as a stand-alone. It's actually a sequel, but I want it to work for people who haven't read the first book. Sons of Taldra is a stand-alone sequel to my published novel Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure.

Thanks to anyone who will take the time to read the chapters; they're not long. Details follow.

The people of Valchondria face danger from one of their protectors and from an alien race of shapeshifters.

This novel takes place in the present, in an alternate dimension. Valchondria (Earth) had advanced to space travel but then banned it and stopped advancing. Degranon was a Valchondrian colony, and part of the reason for the ban.

Spoiler alert! The chapters after Chapter 1 reveal plot details from Degranon.

Most of the human characters are people of color, and several of them are gay. However, I’m writing this novel for anyone who enjoys science fiction or fantasy. Native American storytelling inspired my depictions of the shapeshifters.

Keywords: gay scifi, sci-fi, science fiction, adventure, gay marriage, Degranon, Duane Simolke, Native American, First Nation, African American, black, Arabic, Indian, Hispanic, people of color, strong women, female leaders, space travel, health care, shapeshifters, aliens, teen heroes, new adult, diversity, social issues, alternate reality

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 1 Draft
Sons of Taldra, Chapter 2 Draft
Sons of Taldra, Chapter 3 Draft

[Duane]

Marjorie, I love the cover design and think it will still be clear in thumbnail format, which is how most readers will first see it. The name of the series might blur at that size, but the title, your name, and the image should still stand out.

[Marjorie]

Duane wrote: "Marjorie, I love the cover design and think it will still be clear in thumbnail format, which is how most readers will first see it. The name of the series might blur at that size, but the title, y..."

Thanks Duane. I had the lettering in white, changed it to blue but I think I'm changing it back to white specifically to deal with the thumbnail readability issue. Otherwise, unless I get a photo of a naked man's spine being stroked with a feather, I'll just have to go with the floating feather for now :) I'll accept and credit any free photos....anyone? haha

ETA: I've now updated all 4 covers and got a band of matching color on each one so this one now looks great in thumbnail size (PLUS I finally created a page for it - pre-release, coming Nov 7th!)



Well, maybe not "great" and doesn't thumbnail look smaller than book thumbnails used to look? Did Amazon change the size of a Goodreads thumbnail now?


Duane, I'm really NOT a fan of Fantasy genre which your story sounds more like than it does Science Fiction, but I might just have to take a peek in the spirit of paying forward after I've gone and requested readers all over the place here :)

Already took a peek...will private message you.

[Duane]

Thanks for taking the time to read and give feedback, Marjorie!

[Marjorie]

Duane wrote: "Thanks for taking the time to read and give feedback, Marjorie!"

You're welcome. I hope some of it was at least a little helpful. I think I've become jaded getting so many requests to read things for so many other authors, I tend to forget what I was like when I was an eager young newbie (and after 40+ years of writing, critquing others and reviewing, I can no longer claim to be a newbie)

[Marjorie]

Allen wrote: "Thanks for the wave Marj! I'm a bit over half way through reading and proof reading MMM. As a devout SciFi reader of 50+ years (ouch!), I have never ever run across a series as unique as this one..."

I wanted to delete the post with the images inserted but didn't want to delete the part where I said I'm thrilled you're enjoying the read, AllenW :) Thank you for posting here, too.

Friday aka Sarah

[Arshad]

I am interested in finding some additional beta readers to review the first draft of a futuristic time-travel gay romance novel that I just completed, called Zenith.

It hasn't gone to the editor yet, but the text is pretty tight, even so. If anyone is willing to review it and give me feedback on what they thought worked, and what didn't, I would be grateful for their general feedback.

The working cover is something I just threw together, so it might change significantly before release. The first draft of the blub is as follows:

Grounded after a rescue attempt in Earth orbit goes bad, Commander Martin Atkins of the Confederation Navy is approached by the Interscission Project, a consortium of civilian corporations on the verge of perfecting the technology to travel to another star. Despite his misgivings, the chance to get back in the pilot’s seat is too much to pass up, and he convinces his best friend and crewmate, Charles Davenport, to leave the military temporarily and join him as part of the crew of the Zenith, humanity’s first starship.

Edward Harlen is a brilliant young engineer, and a key player in the construction of the Zenith to take advantage of the untested technology of foldspace drive. But Edward has his own agenda in joining the project, and a bitterly personal score to settle with his boss, Trevor Sutton, a vendetta of which Trevor is entirely ignorant. But when Edward’s sister Stella enters the picture and manages to secure a position on the project, all of Edward’s careful plotting is upset, and she might spell the downfall not only of his plans for revenge, but of the entire Zenith mission.

The spark of attraction between Edward and Martin is a complication that Edward can’t afford, but of which he can’t let go. For Edward knows the secret at the heart of the Interscission Project, the hidden potential of the technology that in the wrong hands could become the ultimate assassin’s weapon: the ability to rewrite history, not just once, but many times. As an unseen enemy moves to destroy them, and the body count multiplies in their wake, Martin and Edward must choose whether they will allow the possibility of love to challenge their destinies, or will instead take up arms in a war to control the most ancient and terrible power in the universe.

Time, itself.

Please drop me a line if you'd like to talk about it.

Cheers,
Arshad Ahsanuddin

[Erica]

Putting in a request here as well. This is the more appropriate place anyway:

I'm afraid I scared the crap out of my main beta reader (again, sorry!) so I'm looking for one or two beta readers for my Love's Landscapes story Shopping Mall Massacre. It's a zombie story and it's pretty gruesome. It's more centered around the zombie situation and survival, but there's still some romance between the two 18-year-old guys (it's secondary to the survival though). I need content editing more than spelling and grammar. It's just under 14k words.

Any takers?

[Lilia]

Hi, I’m looking for a beta reader for my new 16,000 word story, “Pet to the Tentacle Monsters.” I’m hoping that title should give an indication of what to expect—I’ll just add that I would characterize it as “yaoi” inspired. I would not call it heavy on the “squick” factor, but it definitely contains tentaclesex and non-con situations. Though I always appreciate any suggestions, I am mostly looking for help with “ugly” sentences (ie. overly complex, convoluted, hard to read), tracking problems and inconsistencies, and general editing help. I am planning to hire a proofreader. I’m not on a hard deadline, though I’d definitely prefer something in the next couple of weeks. If you are interested, send me a message here on Goodreads. Thank you so much.

Note Added: I got a great response to this so I guess I'm all set.