Do you prefer to read other's works first, before they read yours? Or vice versa? Do you prefer to read something you would find interesting? Such as genres you read and write in? Or can you read anything? Perhaps chapter swapping? I read one, you read one, onwards and forwards? The reason I ask all this is that I'm currently working on my fifth draft of a book in my main book series, and in X months, I may take the step to ask for collaboration. However, considering that I am a very slow reader, even for work I enjoy, I would probably want to read my collaborator's work first. This would also give them an idea of my level of feedback, so they aren't disappointed. Or in worst case, they give me tons of good feedback and I can only repay the favour halfly. So, how do you prefer to collaborate with others? What steps do you take? Methods to use? Etc?
I read relatively fast, and I don't require people read my stuff in order for me to read theirs. I find genuine joy in beta reading, and have kind of made it a hobby. I ask what kind of feedback they're looking for, and if they want me to point out spelling/grammar/punctuation stuff. I don't do close line edits, though, because I feel like that's just distracting from finding the story. I don't generally have a preference for reading something, either. I don't know how much help I'd be in a specific non-fiction book, like sports history or something like that, but I like helping people with their work if I can.
For me I'm just interested in the genres I write in. I'm better at critiquing what I know. I'm not the audience for say, a purpley prose contemporary literary work, and me saying it stinks because of my personal preferences wouldn't be helpful to anyone. I prefer the idea of doing chapter swaps, say three at a time, and come back and share the results when each party is finished. Or a word count, since chapter lengths can vary quite a bit. It's much better than finding oneself in an awkward scenario where one party has finished the whole book and the other hasn't even gotten started yet. I also don't do line edits, as at this point in the process, the manuscript really should be close to perfectly polished.
