I've done as much as I can with my manuscript. So now what? I don't want to swap novels with somebody else and do critiques, and this not from a selfish standpoint. I don't think I can offer the insight that others would want. Betas? Who? How? Why - I understand. Hire a pro for a copy edit?
If you have the money, yes. There are services out there, one that was mentioned in the publishing forum is Cat Skinner's Beta Reader. Google her. I've never used her but she was recommended by another member. She's not free though. I think she's around $80 to $150 depending on the length of your work. Also, some people here may be willing to just do a beta read with an eye towards developing their editing skills. I don't know if the forum rules allow for this though. I only remember having to do 2 critiques for each piece of work I post but I can't remember reading about beta readers. PM a moderator and ask. Or maybe one of them will weigh in. Scott
if you're going for trad the argument for paid editing is weaker, since if you are successful they will provide an editor anyway... i might be inclined to go with a beta reader or two then a paid proofreader 80-150 is very cheap for an editor by the way... a full edit for a full length novel will be in the region of a grand... if its just a beta read not an edit, i wouldnt pay for it
Moose that make sense. Thanks CW, I sent Cat an email, and I think I'll try to get a couple of extra eyes on it. If anyone has any recommendations - adult, humorous commercial fiction - I'd appreciate it. Thanks - this is a good site.
once you've been here a while we have a collab forum where you can ask for beta readers, but you need 90 days and 100 posts
You can get beta readers here for free. There's a section for it. I don't know offhand what the requirements are, but you need to have been a member for a certain amount of time, made a certain number of posts, and probably some of them as critiques in the Workshop section. If you check the FAQ and new member section it's all explained. Looks like Moose is a little quicker on the draw than I am...
$80 to 150 sounds like it might be just a copy edit and proofreading. A full developmental edit should cost a lot more, assuming it's done by a professional worth their salt.
Hi - update - I booked Cat to look at my novel, $200 because it's over 100k words, it would have been half the price if it was under that length. She seems very cool, I'll send more info when she finishes her reading next month. Thanks again.
Cat’s beta read for me. I was very pleased with her feedback and reworked parts of my MS based on it. Great experience for me. Good luck!
Update - my experience with Cat turned out pretty OK. My review was pushed back, but it gave me some time to do a major edit. My novel was eventually reviewed by her agent, Luke, who did a very thorough job. He gave some tough love that was spot on, as they say.
