Asking for beta readers?

ThisAdamGuy

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New guy here. I know that self-promotion isn't allowed on the forums, but is asking for volunteers to beta read a story before it's released all right?
 
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There is no rule that you can't self promo, and there is a chapter discussion threads for discussing your chapters. There is also a feedback section, and people commonly ask for beta readers, review swaps, feedbacks, and some people even make a feedback thread for users to submit.
 
RepresentingWrath

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ThisAdamGuy said:
Really? I keep seeing stuff that says you can't promote your books.
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melchi

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Lysander_Works said:
There is? I thought the Latest Chapter Discussion Forums was for (other author's chapters).
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There are a couple people that like to post there every time they post a chapter in the past.
 
Nolff

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I'm still an idiot for not knowing what a beta reader is. :blob_uwu:
 
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CharlesEBrown

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Hopper said:
I'm still an idiot for not knowing what a beta reader is. :blob_uwu:
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Somewhere between a reader and an editor, someone who looks over a, probably mid-point, draft and might make recommendations, or just say "You're on the right path, keep up the good work" or "Don't quit the day job"

I've tried to be a beta reader a few times. Was actually helpful about three of those, I think seven, times. Only actually finished the book once though (and never even got started before the author had moved on to the next stage once, part of why I rarely volunteer to beta read any more).
 
Nolff

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CharlesEBrown said:
Somewhere between a reader and an editor, someone who looks over a, probably mid-point, draft and might make recommendations, or just say "You're on the right path, keep up the good work" or "Don't quit the day job"

I've tried to be a beta reader a few times. Was actually helpful about three of those, I think seven, times. Only actually finished the book once though (and never even got started before the author had moved on to the next stage once, part of why I rarely volunteer to beta read any more).
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Ahh...

So free unpaid laborer?
 
Avery_Line

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Hopper said:
Ahh...

So free unpaid laborer?
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The beta readers I've always found (and been) come from three places: crit groups, author bootcamps, or online support groups such as NaNoWriMo, pitch madness, writers helping writers, etc. In each of these cases they are communities where I established credibility by reading and critiquing others, and/or applying and being accepted to a peer group who was invested in providing critiques. I'd say to earn the right to ask someone to Beta read a full novel, I'd put in about 9-12 months of regular, detailed crits to show that I am giving to the community first.

Then I'd post my first 300 words and get feedback on that. Take what I learned, edit, then post a chapter. Get feedback on that.

By the time I'm ready to ask for a full beta read I have established relationships with people whose tastes and attitudes I know, so I can interpret their feedback properly. I usually host a dinner party to thank the beta readers, and always credit them in the book.

Online is a little different, but not too different. The tradeoff there is you're pretty much assumed to be offering to beta read for someone else if you request they beta read for you. You can roll the dice on a crit partner or accountability partner, but they will often flake out. So the next step is to sign up for a beta reading swap, where you read and provide detailed notes on five other books, and receive five other crits of your own novel. It never works out that way. I guess the ratio is more like, you'll crit five books, get back three crits, one of which is almost worthless low effort, one of which missed the mark entirely, and one that's pretty good. So, 5 to 1.5.

Not really free labor, in other words.
 
Nolff

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Avery_Line said:
The beta readers I've always found (and been) come from three places: crit groups, author bootcamps, or online support groups such as NaNoWriMo, pitch madness, writers helping writers, etc. In each of these cases they are communities where I established credibility by reading and critiquing others, and/or applying and being accepted to a peer group who was invested in providing critiques. I'd say to earn the right to ask someone to Beta read a full novel, I'd put in about 9-12 months of regular, detailed crits to show that I am giving to the community first.

Then I'd post my first 300 words and get feedback on that. Take what I learned, edit, then post a chapter. Get feedback on that.

By the time I'm ready to ask for a full beta read I have established relationships with people whose tastes and attitudes I know, so I can interpret their feedback properly. I usually host a dinner party to thank the beta readers, and always credit them in the book.

Online is a little different, but not too different. The tradeoff there is you're pretty much assumed to be offering to beta read for someone else if you request they beta read for you. You can roll the dice on a crit partner or accountability partner, but they will often flake out. So the next step is to sign up for a beta reading swap, where you read and provide detailed notes on five other books, and receive five other crits of your own novel. It never works out that way. I guess the ratio is more like, you'll crit five books, get back three crits, one of which is almost worthless low effort, one of which missed the mark entirely, and one that's pretty good. So, 5 to 1.5.

Not really free labor, in other words.
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Well, the first part sounds like you're being the unpaid labor, no?

And you don't really need to wait that long, sometimes, especially on this site. Just post a request for beta readers and boom, you have one.
 
Avery_Line

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Hopper said:
Well, the first part sounds like you're being the unpaid labor, no?
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Not in my opinion. Providing critiques is one of the quickest paths that helped me towards refining my own writing. Many online crit groups have a requirement that you earn your crits by critiquing others. It is a quality control measure that works well.
 
Nolff

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Avery_Line said:
Not in my opinion. Providing critiques is one of the quickest paths that helped me towards refining my own writing. Many online crit groups have a requirement that you earn your crits by critiquing others. It is a quality control measure that works well.
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And that's on crits groups. Not many do that here.
 
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