Beta Reader Group discussion
Authors Seeking FREE Betas
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ATTENTION: Spammers and scammers in the group
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Mod
Also, I just want to mention again that voluntarily using AI is different than handing your manuscript off to somebody who then feeds it to AI without your knowledge.
Edit: I also just want to add onto this and speak to something with as much empathy and sensitivity as possible. I do not believe in profiling people. I do not believe in discriminating against anybody based on gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, etc.
A beta reader being internationally based is no reason to automatically be worried.
However, I do think it should be acknowledged that some of what we're seeing is individuals in developing nations with a less than perfect grasp of English using AI to make a quick buck. (Helen Mary, Julie Catherine, DennyProof, etc.)
I get it. It's potentially a lot of money, it's easy, and you could be facing hardship in a way that I simply do not understand. It's a quick buck, but it isn't an honest one. Therefore, while I am sympathetic, I still believe it is unethical.
Mod
Mod
"I wanted to share a cautionary note in case others are contacted. I was recently approached by someone using the name Blessings and the email booktaylor31@gmail.com. The payment email they provided did not match the email listed on their Goodreads profile or their official website."This is false information. Simply not true. And I will gladly speak out and support Blessing. I have used her service for close to a year now, and have never had any issues with communication or payment, let alone anything else.
I suspect you may have put in the wrong information, or there must have been a misunderstanding/miscommunication.
Blessing has always been willing to talk and communicate through issues, especially like this.
I would try reaching out to her again and explaining your issues.
- Dave R
Liz wrote: "I recognize that accusing people of using AI is tricky but there have also been a few instances where the person's grasp of English (and I'm not trying to be cruel here) and how they speak casually..."OK, I don't support AI for reviews. If I want an AI review I can do it myself and not pay someone to do it BUT...
Rather than joining the witch hunt and using these rubbish 100% accurate guaranteed AI checkers that flag H.P. Lovecraft as using AI, I would approach it differently.
Was the review helpful? Did it point out inconsistencies, plot holes, or date mixups? Things like reaching in his pocket for his phone (IN 1979), Suggestions for improvement? Poor grammar,
If it did, then WTF are you bitching about? Whether a human or a machine did it, IF IT HELPED, why do you care?
The AI reviewers I’ve seen were unhelpful. Take Autocrit’s ‘Deep POV’' It’s a joke. It’s hysterically funny and not in the slightest bit helpful. Other aspects of it ARE helpful.
What it means is that if Victor Canning, H.P. Lovecraft, and many other best-selling authors from bygone days submitted manuscripts to agents or publishers. THEY WOULD BE REJECTED AS BEING AI.
Is this what you REALLY want?
Be careful what you wish for.
Mod
To be honest, I find your comments in general to be unnecessarily combative. You are, of course, allowed to post but I don't see myself in engaging with your comments in the future.
The problem here is that people are lying about using AI and passing it off as their own work. Others do have an issue with this and that is why this thread was created and people have contributed to it.
Liz wrote: "Henry,To be honest, I find your comments in general to be unnecessarily combative. You are, of course, allowed to post but I don't see myself in engaging with your comments in the future.
The pr..."
I agree with Liz.
Henry, what you have said in your most recent comments, you’ve already said before, almost verbatim.
I also don’t understand why you responded to my most recent comment talking almost solely about AI usage, when my comment had nothing to do with said topic. I was calling out unfairly tarnishing the reputation of someone just because the person used a different email for receiving payment.
Of course, everyone is invited to make their comments on this thread as long as they don’t divert from the topic at hand. But I would definitely suggest you to make a separate thread so you can keep defending AI use (as that is what I interpreted from your “I don’t care if a machine does it as long as it’s helpful” comment), or anything else you’d like, and have the people who are interested in engaging with you on this topic, participate in it.
(RANT)The use of AI is a very grey area. My use of it was solely with pro-writing aid. Line editing, grammar and punctuation. It is capable of much more. Yet I am concerned that if I were to delve deeper into its abilities and suggestions with rephrases, the voice that I have dedicated many years to cultivating would be lost. It is likely that my writing would be devoid of personality and originality, resulting in generic content without any authentic connection to the reader's or my own life.
I did experiment with Stable Diffusion and Adobe Firefly. Upon recognizing the source material that contributed to the images I was scripting prompts for, I promptly stopped using it. Why? Because I was a visual artist myself, who had been ripped off multiple times in the past. With the corporate scraping of online content to train LLM Ai with no compensation to either writers of word, visual or musical art, there needs to be a line drawn in the sand about its use or training of.
I have read reviews here on good reads, that, to me personally, scream it was written by Ai. I find this blatant in its laziness. I give the reviewers the benefit of doubt. My thoughts are speculation. However, this is based on pattern recognition of words used by AI.
I imagine AI could and has been used to churn out 'airport paperback' fiction stories quite quickly. Some examples I suspect I have seen published on Amazon. Another author is miraculous in his talents, I do not recall his name offhand, I did discuss this with an acquaintance a few months back, where a particular author had the ability to churn out over 380 titles in almost 10 years (or thereabout.)
This can be another scam of sorts, factory writing with AI. One person running a team of hopefuls churning out e-books en masse, flooding the market with predictable, formulaic stories—burying the potential exposure of potential writers who do have talent. As long as it generates top-down revenue for the bigwigs and themselves, everyone seems happy.
AI has its uses when used ethically, but when its used to generate a quick buck as someone else has pointed out, or used to write reviews, and beta reads—thats when my feathers get a little ruffled. If a beta reader has difficulty in grasping english language well enough to write a review, then the onus on them is to state the fact when they publish there ad for services.
They should state that they may use Ai assisted translation in writing of a review. However if it is found they are feeding your manuscript into an AI service of some description, to spit out a review a few days later, thats when the hammer has to come down hard on them. Ban them from goodreads—PERMANTLY.
AI services use the data between the server and the user to train their AI. This could lead to instances where someone's work is indirectly influenced and/or created from and by the introduction of original and innovative concepts written by another, the original author. I would not be at all impressed if my work was being fed into a likely free AI and then subsequently used to train an AI somewhere else. I would be fuming and also devastated if I found concepts unique to me and my story, I spent a total of thirteen years developing, turn up somewhere in another persons work.
If I can sit here spending over a week writing a review, everyone else can as well. So yes, keep doing what you do, and if beta readers and reviewers are using Ai, drop the bloody hammer on them.
(/END RANT)
Mod
Username: Chelly
Email: chellynora00@gmail.com
This person has been warned multiple times about posting in the free section despite the fact that they have said outright that they charge.
There are other indicators/typical behavioral patterns that suggest to me that this person might be a scammer.
Dave wrote: ""I wanted to share a cautionary note in case others are contacted. I was recently approached by someone using the name Blessings and the email booktaylor31@gmail.com. The payment email they provide..."Without wanting to sound rude, how long have you been in this group? Blessing's account is wayyyyy more older than mine and I joined this group on late 2023. I stand by Blessing!
Dave wrote: ""I wanted to share a cautionary note in case others are contacted. I was recently approached by someone using the name Blessings and the email booktaylor31@gmail.com. The payment email they provide..."Sorry, I wanted to comment on Sable's comment, not yours! Sorry, mate
Thank you so much Courtney, Olivia, Liz, Dave, and Olga. I appreciate you taking the time to pen something down about me, it warms my heart🫂.
Mod
Julie Catherine has changed her username to Inkworth and is now friending people privately instead of commenting publicly because she knows she will be called out.
This may be an approach others use as well.
For authors: I know this thread is a lot to keep up with but please check the list of known scammers and know that this group of people may comment on your posts seeking a beta reader, may DM you, friend you, or email you. If you cross reference, chances are you will be less likely to be scammed.
Anyone know about thebeta edit? I’ve seen them before on another post but I’m not sure
Are you seriously trying to tell me that feedback like this is AI-generated?Line-by-Line and Flow Notes
Paragraph 1: "She woke before dawn, unable to remember whether she’d slept at all."
This is a great, weary opening line that immediately establishes her state of mind.
Paragraph 2: "The kitchen appeared to be closing in around her." The phrasing
"appeared to be" is slightly weak. Consider a more direct or sensory description: "The
kitchen walls seemed to press in," or "The kitchen closed in around her," or even tie it to
her: "She felt the kitchen closing in around her."
Paragraph 3: "the kind of silence that felt as if it were arranged." Excellent. This is a
specific and chilling detail.
Paragraph 4: "doorbell buzzed, a raw electric rasp" Perfect sound description.
Holloway's Introduction: The description of him is fantastic. "a posture that made
apology a full-time occupation" is a brilliant line. It tells us so much about his character
instantly.
Dialogue - Holloway: His dialogue is sharp and consistent. He sounds like a worn-down,
sharp-minded ex-cop. Lines like "The brass don’t want dirt; they want concrete" are great
character-building.
Mod
"Hello Liz
I think it is now high time you address this issuing of you damaging my reputable image and pinning me as a scammer. Kindly remove my name cause I did not talk before cause am not that type of person and I think I can address what I did not do. If you want more proof I can send you my portfolio link to see the what people I have worked with said about me. So stop tainting my image
Warmly
Julie"
What do you think?
I already regret engaging with this. Henry, I know you want to defend this person and that's fine. You're free to but since many people have had negative experiences with her, perhaps take that into consideration. This will be my last exchange with you. Good day.
Well, now, your spiteful and vindictive attitude stands out. I never even said who this extract came from. You only ASSUME.I understand completely. Once you have stuck your neck out so far, it's impossible to admit that there's even a tiny chance you could be wrong.
You should read Atlas Shrugged. Proof and facts are unimportant. It's how you FEEL that matters.
This matter is CLOSED. I want nothing at all to do with you. I only hope your colleagues have a better attitude than you.
Mod
I feel as though, if one were to take a look at our comments, somebody would be labeled spiteful and mean-spirited but it wouldn't be me.
"I never even said who this extract came from. You only ASSUME."
The extract was typed up after I gave an update. Given your history of defending this person, it seemed like a reasonable assumption.
"I understand completely. Once you have stuck your neck out so far, it's impossible to admit that there's even a tiny chance you could be wrong."
This is called projection.
"You should read Atlas Shrugged."
I have.
"Proof and facts are unimportant. It's how you FEEL that matters."
Thank you for emphasizing this with all caps.
"This matter is CLOSED."
I certainly hope so! I'll be blocking your account now. I'm sorry you got ripped off. I actually am. You're rude as hell to people though so once and for all: good day.
Sam wrote: "Anyone know about thebeta edit? I’ve seen them before on another post but I’m not sure"they've contacted me about doing a beta read for my book but it's a new account so I'm waiting until more information about them comes out
EDIT: Looks like their account is deleted
Hi everyone. I wanted to say a little something in support of Julie Damsey. She has beta read two of my books, and I have interacted with her frequently. She subscribes to my author newsletter and is a responsive and supportive member of my reading community.
I've found her editing suggestions to be very helpful. She doesn't use AI to do these. I've heard that AI checkers often over-call the use of AI, so perhaps this is the issue?
I completely get your point, and I'm so glad you are trying to keep goodreads free from scammers and bots - but Julie isn't one of them. Please remember, there's a person behind this account who can be hurt by negative accusations.
Mod
I certainly find it interesting that you're the second person who has spoken up for her but am unsure how to reconcile this with others who have said she uses AI. There were other mentions of this in different threads as well.
I think what really sticks with me is this thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Mod
Just wanted to point out that we have two new accounts that are writing similarly to one another.
One is going by Beta George and the other is going by Dorcas. The quotation marks are not mine.
Beta George:
"Hi [Olga S], It’s great to meet another writer who’s also offering beta reading! I’m a professional beta reader myself, and I really admire how you approach authors with care and respect for their work it truly makes a difference. Wishing you the best with your first novel and your beta reading journey! "
Dorcas:
“Hi [Rob], your short story collection sounds fascinating, I really like that it mixes genres with a touch of whimsy and sci-fi alongside horror and comedy. I’d be happy to beta read and provide feedback on characters, pacing, and overall flow. A Word document works best for me, as it makes in-line commenting easier. Looking forward to diving in if you’d like to share it!
This could absolutely be nothing but because the style/format was similar and they're both recent accounts, I thought I'd point it out.
Liz wrote: "Update: Just wanted to point out that we have two new accounts that are writing similarly to one another.
One is going by Beta George and the other is going by Dorcas. The quotation marks are no..."
And I thought I found it so odd that I immediately searched the other topics and this Beta George had commented only mine. I was just about to comment here, but Liz beat me to it. Also, why the square brackets around my name?
Mod
" Hi Bassey, this is really nice! I love how you explained the value of beta reading and the way you support authors. "
This user is going by James Reads.
Again, could be nothing but I did find it odd as randomly complimenting people like that is not something we see that often?
Mod
they've contacted me about doing a beta read for my book but it's a new account so I'm waiting un..."
This account looks to be back with a review mentioning their work. The reviewer joined this month and looks to have no other activity and I find that a little suspect. Again, could be nothing, but I figured I'd mention it anyway.
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
They appear to have plagiarized their bio from this person:
https://reedsy.com/caryn-rivadeneira
Their Goodreads Bio:
"A proud member of Authors Against Book Bans; INK: A Creative Collective; and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, I hold a BA in English from Calvin University and an MA in Worship from Northern Seminary. I live in the near-west suburbs of Chicago with my husband, three kids, and beloved rescue pit bulls."
The Reedsy site for somebody else entirely:
"A proud member of Authors Against Book Bans; INK: A Creative Collective; and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, I hold a BA in English from Calvin University and an MA in Worship from Northern Seminary. I live in the near-west suburbs of Chicago with my husband, three kids, and beloved rescue pit bulls."
Edit: The email being used is: jeffmaxwelleditor@gmail.com
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1...
They appear to have plagiarized their bio.
Part of their bio:
"I'm a passionate editor of genre fiction. You can count on me to take your light entertainment very seriously.
The developmental edits you'll receive from me come in three parts. First, I'll attach hundreds of comments to your story calling attention to each specific issue I find. I will also send you a detailed editorial letter that discusses your story's quality and flow on a more holistic level. My critique style is honest and kind. You'll get direct feedback and actionable suggestions that will leave you feeling energized and excited to dive into your revisions."
Here's where they took it from:
https://reedsy.com/mary-novak
"I'm a passionate editor of genre fiction. You can count on me to take your light entertainment very seriously.
The developmental edits you'll receive from me come in three parts. First, I'll attach hundreds of comments to your story calling attention to each specific issue I find. I will also send you a detailed editorial letter that discusses your story's quality and flow on a more holistic level. My critique style is honest and kind. You'll get direct feedback and actionable suggestions that will leave you feeling energized and excited to dive into your revisions."
Edit: The email being used is: blessingedithor@gmail.com
I'm fairly certain that Grace Nice is using AI to give feedback on books.
I absolutely agree. The scammers spoil it for everyone, but accusing people of AI is not as foolproof as you think. Works for years ago (Victor Canning, H.P. Lovecraft, to name two). I’m sure there are many others. If you use Grammarly, ProWritingAid or Autocrit, you are using AI. OR, would you rather read books full of grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes?