Beta Reader Group discussion
Critique Partners and Swaps
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Beta Reader/CP Swap of Volume 1 of Comic Science Fantasy Trilogy, 202K, 676 Pages, Open to Reading Most Anything in Return!
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Hi. How are you doing?I also have a beta novel and would be happy to swap with you. It is around 55k words and is YA/Fantasy/Adventure. If you would like to work together, please contact me at joybooksjoy@gmail.com. Thank you for your time.
K. Collier
that is one mammoth book. That's Name of the Wind big.
Giovanni wrote: "that is one mammoth book. That's Name of the Wind big."It is. One reason why I need betas to help me decide where to kill my darlings...
Suzan wrote: "Giovanni wrote: "that is one mammoth book. That's Name of the Wind big."It is. One reason why I need betas to help me decide where to kill my darlings..."
have you considered paying a beta reader?
Giovanni wrote: "Suzan wrote: "Giovanni wrote: "that is one mammoth book. That's Name of the Wind big."It is. One reason why I need betas to help me decide where to kill my darlings..."
have you considered payin..."
Like a lot of other writers, for now, my budget demands a trade instead. You know how starving writers are...
Suzan wrote: "Giovanni wrote: "Suzan wrote: "Giovanni wrote: "that is one mammoth book. That's Name of the Wind big."It is. One reason why I need betas to help me decide where to kill my darlings..."
have you..."
Yeah I see where you're coming from.
I feel your pain, but still pay betas because you can demand service from them.
But we get what we can. Again, I feel your pain/am in your situation
I see your 190k first volume of a trilogy and raise you my 426k self contained monstrosity. More details here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I would be glad to do a partial word for word swap (rounded down to my nearest chapter end) with option to maybe continue it as you finish editing more volumes of your trilogy. I am an avid Discworld fan, and I take some inspiration from Pratchett's style, which could help me critique your story. I haven't beta read a full book, but I have critiqued chapters in wattpad, I am researching how to be a good beta reader, and I read fast if I like the book.
Mine isn't quite finished editing. I purchased a program to help with the next book, and discovered that I use way too glue words and have some grammatical mistakes to polish (English is not my first language), but argument and character-wise everything should be in place to the best of my abilities. It would take months to finish polishing it up, and I would like to be aware of more mistakes (and if it is worth it at all to do) before commiting that much time when I could be writing another book.
MiguelT wrote: "I see your 190k first volume of a trilogy and raise you my 426k self contained monstrosity. More details here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/......"
Hey Miguel!
Thanks for the offer! Your book doesn't scare ME, my entire trilogy clocks in at a whopping 1500+ words like some kind of Elder God on steroids. :)
I read your blurb and it looks intriguing. I'm doing one beta for another writer now but should finish up by this weekend. If you still want to trade, email me at: writersuzanphoenix@gmail.com
Genre: Comic Science Fantasy/time travel/adventure-romance with elements of mystery.
General Adult/Teen audience appropriate, all characters are adults. Romance but no sex, nothing NSFW. Light horror but nothing horribly gory. A little light swearing (Damn, Hell) but nothing hardcore. Volume 1 is written to completion, volumes 2 and 3 are finished but still being edited. All three volumes of this trilogy have a similar page number/word count.
Audience aim: I’m an American writer using American terms/figures of speech. This is a ‘comic reluctant hero must overcome challenges/fish out of water’ adventure. If you like Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ series, William Goldman’s 'The Princess Bride' (the book), Harry Harrison’s ‘Stainless Steel Rat’ series, or Carl Hiaasen’s novels, my writing style is much along those lines.
Beta reader/CP combo OK. This is NOT a spelling/Grammar read.
I need general feedback: Is the story enjoyable, does it lag in spots or get too wordy in others, any glaring errors, is anything confusing, did the characters come off as intended, what did you like/dislike about it...you know, basic stuff.
This is volume 1 of a 1500+ page trilogy, not everything is neatly explained right away and some mystery elements are not resolved until volumes 2 and 3. So some things that may seem odd are there for a reason. Human emotions play a large role in the magic system of my MS.
In return I'm willing to read an equivalent number of pages/words for you, any genre, really. If you are interested, message me!
Don't forget to let me know what KIND of read you'd like! Spelling/grammar, general thoughts, readability, if you have anything special you'd like help with, etc.
I prefer to use Word with the 'Track Changes' feature enabled.
‘Dances With Wolves’ meets ‘Army of Darkness’
Even a time traveler can't force magic to behave like science.
Arriving in Oz, all Dorothy destroyed was a 2 bedroom/detached bath home and one inattentive witch. Disinclined time-traveler Jason tops that spectacularly.
When the emotional turmoil of a violent attempt on his life mixes badly with the time crystals used in a time-travel experiment, it pushes Jason’s liminality to the breaking point--making him a rare, high-powered thaumaturgic battery that others would kill to enslave. Tricked into a world-changing mission to the past, in a frenetic showdown between quantum particles and sorcery, brash, impulsive Jason must learn to live in a new land of magic, love, and danger--only two of which he believes in.
Now he is stranded in a savage past where *everyone* offers to kill him, some of it justifiable due to his unwise snark and a tendency to destroy cities. A man rooted in science, Jason is labeled 'wizard' and must avoid being outed as a fraud. All this while watching over his shoulder for foes from his old world bent on foiling his mission. Will he have the courage to abandon modern comforts, throwing himself into the unknown to live with a savage culture?
Oh, and there's this girl...
A magnet for the absurd, Jason’s new landscape is littered with a scorching attraction he cannot deny, garbled superstitions that actually work here, unjustly hostile flora and fauna, and of course, a battle-chicken!
* No, being a time-traveler who suffers from tenuous liminality is a BAD thing. No sudden movements, and DON’T SNEEZE.
* It was just a small fire and only 19 lemurs escaped, NOT 26.
* Quantum particles: Those little bits that squirm away when you look at ‘em. Kinda blurs the line between ‘science’ and ‘magic’, doesn’t it?
* Romance is not dead, it just hasn’t had a shower in 3 weeks.
* Mind if I test this knife on you?
* Blamed for destroying a city.
* Is it possible to disembowel someone in a ladylike way?
* Slamming that origami crane in the door was an accident! It’s not like it’s aliv—you saw it move, right?
* Epic stubbornness, in a magical world to insist on dying on the hill of science. But hey, so long as you’re dead!
* Budding love and base treachery.
* Why would I team up with an angry chicken, again?
* So it’s a wendigo—just give him a good head scritch between the antlers.
* Isn’t it dangerous to engage in a white-hot romance in a world where emotions fuel magic?
* Ah, the local tradition of, ‘Deliver a good smack-around first, ask questions later’.
* No point in going about as the God of Everlasting Shoelaces in a world where everyone wears slip-ons, is there?
* Don’t shoot it, you’ll just make it angry!
* Magic overdose.
* Perhaps that city thing is accurate, after all...
* Time to admit EVERYTHING—just not to everyone.
* Time to admit to EVERYONE—well, maybe not everything...