Back on topic... I just had a writing break so I offered to beta read on a few sites. I ended up with seven manuscripts from total strangers--and I mean total strangers; on one of the sites I had never posted before, on the other I very rarely post. Not one of them sent me any kind of "don't steal this" message, none of them put a copyright symbol on the MS, and they all sent it to me in MS Word as requested.
Hi! I'm a writer, beta reader and copyeditor, and I'm looking to expand my resume so I'd be happy to look at a few of your chapters for free if you still wanted one! But anyway, I completely understand how you feel about giving people your writing and looking for feedback, but they only give you the grammar notes. That's not what you're looking for in a first draft! I had someone do the same thing to my writing when I was asking them about voicing, style, plot, all of that and all they did was point out the simple spelling errors or whatever. Honestly, I would hope that most beta readers would be much more open to looking at the story as a whole and giving you deeper feedback than grammar. I most definitely do when I beta. You want someone who'll tell you what they think doesn't work in the draft, of course, but I think the best also tell you what does work. Especially because beta readers usually don't charge, I think they are a great resource to use when you're in the beginning drafts. And no matter who you want as a beta or an editor, you can always send them one or two chapters to start with just to see how they edit and give you feedback. This way, you can find out easier if they're going to give you the kind of light or heavy edit that you're looking for. Good luck in all your future endeavors! Happy writing ~Kate
@Kate Cosette, you will be on my list, and perhaps on @K McIntyre 's list, as my next one comes up for publication
I'm back at the writing board again, I was writing so into my story I didn't even realize I wrote 200k words. My first draft reached over 100k, but it did not pass go on common sense plot wise. Just taking a somewhat a break to reanalyze my story. Replies on this thread made me realize, the book has to be under 100k words. My friend said he enjoyed the first chapter of my book, said it was really good but wasn't type of guy to criticize much really until he read five chapters. I realized in today's world the book needs to be 80k-100k words at max to sell, in the end it's how you market your book and what audience you're targeting. I looked at myself as the casual reader, being turned off by thick books. Even though I enjoyed sci-fi books, but lately I only had time to read either on the toilet or when I was at the airport waiting for hours. I'm taking a small portion in the beginning in my book, expanding more in detail that connects to the bigger plot of the story. Working and College full time, while handling my moms estate just barley have time to just focus of finishing it.
I'm not certain if you have experience with LinkedIn but there are tons of professional beta readers you can contact there.
