Beta Reader Available

[JadeOlivia]

Hello!

I'm looking to beta someone's work. I'm currently studying copy-editing and proofreading, and I would like some informal experience. I also work in a bookstore in the children's department.

I know it takes a lot of guts and trust to share your writing, especially with a person you've never met. But, rest assured that I will treat your work with nothing but respect. I will read it thoroughly and give you as detailed a response as you would like to it.

I read prose mostly, and almost any genre. Some particular favourites that I'm more familiar with would be family-saga, mystery, thrillers, fantasy, dystopias/utopias, offbeat, science fiction. As I work in with children's books, I'm more than happy to beta children's and young adult books, too.

Comment here or private message me with details and a synopsis of your book if you're interested in having me for a beta and if I feel I would be a good match to your work, we can discuss specifics then.

(N/B 18/02/14 The response from you guys to this post has been great - I love the fact that there are so many writers out there! - however this does mean that for the foreseeable future (the next month or so) I won't be able to beta anymore work. But, please keep posting your synopsis' here if you'd like me to beta them after this period.)

Thank you!

[Library Lady 📚]

Messaging you now.

[Josephine]

Hi Jade,

Eighteen-year-old Gaiah's hair grows to her waist every night. She can influence people with her thoughts. She understands none of it.

In a normal London school Gaiah isn't normal.
There's no one to explain what's happening to her. Her father, a reclusive sculptor, is still trying to come to terms with his wife's death ten years ago.
An incident in school takes events out of Gaiah's hands. Her long lost grandparents reappear, apparently having never been lost and Gaiah is forced to confront and deal with worlds she never knew existed.

A trinity of parallel worlds of which Earth is one.

A wonderfully unusual blend of real facts, seen in a different light. Are vitrified rocks in ancient forts really the result of other world weapons? What is actually behind the extraordinary events that allows fish to fall from the sky in desert regions, and what has it all got to do with Gaiah, an unhappy 18 year-old, whose hair grows to her waist every night?

If this appeals at all, let me know and I'll send you the ms.
Thanks a million,
Josephine

[JadeOlivia]

Josephine wrote: "Hi Jade,

Eighteen-year-old Gaiah's hair grows to her waist every night. She can influence people with her thoughts. She understands none of it.

In a normal London school Gaiah isn't normal.
Ther..."

Hi, Josephine

That sounds like a great concept. I'd be happy to read over it, but at the moment I'm reading quite a few and wouldn't be able to give your novel the time I'd like. But, if you still wanted me to, I can read it next month.

Let me know what you'd like.
Jade

[Josephine]

Hi Jade, Thanks for the come back. I would love you to read it next month, or when ever you can, no pressure, just enjoy all your reading! Reading's one of the best parts of my life, I have about three different books going in different parts of my house!
Can I e-mail Shared Skies to you in word doc. ?
Josephine

[Ceri Elin]

Hi Jade
I would be grateful if you could take a look at my novel 'Hindsight'. It's set in Wales in 1974, in a small mining town. Megan discovers she is pregnant at 16, and so does her mother, who bullies the young couple into marrying.
It is a drama/women's fiction of about 100k words. Please let me know if this is the type of thing you would consider reading.
Ceri

[Library Lady 📚]

Jade,
Thank you so much for beta reading my work. Your comments and feedback were not only appreciated by invaluable! I'm working on editing to incorporate your suggestions. Thank you for the help in making my novel stronger!

Lena

[Vanna]

Hi Jade,

I have a YA Dystopian novel that needs a beta reader, if you're interested. More info is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hope to hear from you!

Thanks,

Vanna

[R.L.]

Hi there

As it has been nearly a month since you posted this, I though I would try my luck in case any reading gaps have appeared :)

I currently have a short drama revolving around a dinner party I would like read within a few days if you would be interested in reading that?

Many thanks

[Tina]

I seem to have found you quite late and you may be up to your eyeballs in MS's now.

I have a completed MS of a historical/mystery/thriller which even after numerous drafts was still coming in around the 175K mark. It was then suggested I divide it into two books, ( yay! 2 books) but that was easier said than done. I then discovered 'serial fiction' and after a lot of examination determined that my work would lend itself well to serialization. This was after all, only the first novel in what I believed to be a trilogy, so now, I consider it 'Season' or 'Series' 1 of what will be a very long story.

So, what you would be Beta reading, would be one episode at a time. (some obvious scene restructuring had to take place in order to work it as a serial) The first episode comes in at roughly 19,775K words. Subsequent episodes are aimed to be around the 15,000 mark. So, you would not be expected to read a whole novel.

If this is something you may be interested in, please contact me.

[Shreyonti]

I have a 43,000 YA multicultural. Here's a blurb:

The last two years haven’t been so pretty for S. Her mother killed herself, her dad turned freakishly overprotective and K, the love of her life, gently broke her heart. She thought moving to Kolkata for college would put an end to all the ‘bad’. Not only did it mean a fresh start, but also because news of the big rape case hadn’t yet reached the city.
S couldn’t be more wrong.
The new city is no place for the faint-hearted and definitely no place to start over. It’s a place where people claim to die if they don’t get fish, streets reek of oily food and anybody’s business is everybody’s business. Her roommates are old-fashioned know-it-alls, her landlady’s family tends to have ugly brawls at midnight, her classmates are divided in cliques she can’t fit into and she’s the only girl around who’s never been drunk, never had a real boyfriend and never been kissed.
And the worst part? She still can’t stop thinking about K. S starts writing letters to him, hoping to give him a glimpse of her life without him while still reminding him of what they almost had. But the letters soon take a darker shade, as the ‘big rape case’ slowly grips the city. And the case might just have something to do with S.

If you are interested, please send me an email to shreyonti@gmail.com. The truth is one of my beta readers backed out saying this genre is too 'unusual' and doesn't suit her, which is why I'm looking for a few more beta readers. If they say the same thing, I will drop this project altogether and try starting a new one.

[J.L.]

Middle Grade Sci-Fi Action Adventure Book. The intensity of the book can be best described as Percy Jackson with drops of the Hunger Games.

(89K Words / 300 pages / PG-10: Action, Violence, Light Romance, Implied Language)

Summary: A hundred years in the future, the world is divided, and all communications have been severed: no telephones, Internet, or anything to send information. Barring themselves behind mountain-high force fields and heavy weaponry, the newly formed city-states refuse to entertain the outside world for fear of their own destruction. With the fourth war in eighty years looming, the warring powers are forced to send children, the only ones who can pass through the force fields, on the dangerous mission to take messages back and forth to the battlefield.

Ten-year-old Zeno thirsts for adventure with the legends of the Messengers and their invisibility cloaks thrilling his heart, until one day his world in the Outlands falls apart and his mother makes the difficult decision to take him to the courier children.

Now, Zeno must fight his own fears, beat monstrous robotic chameleons, conquer holographic swamps, and trek miles of treacherous land to deliver a message that could save millions of lives.

If you are interested reply here with your email or email me at jlstovall4 at yahoo.com

[Gillian]

Hi Jade,
Would you be interested in reading about 75,000 words of a memoir? If so, please email me at tjmckee54@hotmail.com . If you are busy at the moment, I can wait a bit, but do let me know.
Thanks, Gillian.

[Steven]

Hi Sue,

I am two or three days away from completing the first draft of a romantic thriller/mystery ("Havoc").

Would you be interested in reading the first few chapters or the entire work? If so, kindly let me know if you'd rather have it in a PDF instead of Word format.

This book is the fourth in a series. I have written it as a standalone work, and I'm particularly interested in seeing if it works well for those who have not read the previous novels.

To see if my writing style is your cup of tea, below are the two volumes that have been published already (#3 will come out in a month or two):
Nefarious
Ruthless

If you're interested, can you let me know what format you'd prefer: Kindle, Nook, or good old PDF? Also, can you let me know to what email address I should send the files?

Thanks,

Steven F. Freeman

[Racquel]

Hi Jade,

I'm looking for a Beta-reader for my book "Last Ashes" it is the 2nd book in my series "Fire of the Soul". I'm happy to provide the first book if you want to read that. It's a Dark Fantasy/Romance.

Here is the synopsis for my book "Last Ashes".

Chaos descended on the Underworld the moment Victor died. Christian has taken over the world as it’s Overlord with Anna by his side as his bride. Everything seems hopeless to Anna until the Rebels start leaving decapitated bodies on the castle grounds. If Anna no longer knows herself, will she be able to defeat her enemy or will she succumb to him?

(Note: I'm still working on the synopsis. If you could also comment on that I would appreciate it. :D )

I would appreciate it if you could PM message me back in regards if your interested or not. Thanks!

Regards,
Racquel