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Beta Readers?

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oldhousejunkie
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Post by oldhousejunkie » Tue June 14th, 2011, 9:44 pm

I'd be interested in participating (or starting) a beta reader group. It's extraordinarily hard to find betas for historical fiction.

I've had one beta do the editing for me, and I have one reading it for their impressions right now, but I would love to turn my MS over to another person or two.
I blog about all things writing and historical at Caroline Wilson Writes!

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads!

Now Available: "Rebel Heart," a romantic historical fiction set in Civil War America and Victorian England.

Available at Amazon

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sgn1
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Post by sgn1 » Fri November 25th, 2011, 10:40 pm

Anyone interested in Beta reading a story destined for the Historical Big Bang ( http://history-bigbang.livejournal.com/ ) in March 2012? The story is set in 6th century Britain and is currently called Joyous Gard ... It isn't Arthurian, as such :rolleyes:

Drop me a PM for further details

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Shield-of-Dardania
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Post by Shield-of-Dardania » Tue November 29th, 2011, 1:50 am

Let me guess. A beta reader is ... someone who reads your stuff and does a kind of critique for you as well, right? Kind of a practice critique, right?

Well, my WIP which is a story about an ancient (11C) kingdom in Malaysia, is currently mostly in Malay, but I have several chapters (including the Prologue) either already translated into English, or written in English from the start. I'm developing my story as a trilogy in two versions, Malay (for our local market) and English (for the locally-based expatriates n hopefully, I dream :) , regional/international readers). I think I'm open to an exchange with like minded friends from HFOL.

My draft Chapter 1 is like a series of flashbacks to several periods in the past, the first one set in the Western Himalayas of 1400 BC, the third in 5C BC (i.e. Achaemenid) Persia. My Chapter 24 is where my prince warrior (the hero) tags along with a powerful Turko-Persian sultan escorted by his two young up-and-coming generals to Constantinople, where they meet the Byzantine emperor and discuss political & business alliances between their kingdoms, plus have some fun while there.

Chapter 25 sees the entrance of a young slave girl of Saxon-Norman descent, and a little orphan slave boy of Turkmen-Bolgar parentage, both of whom eventually sail away from Byzantium as freemen with the hero to his homeland, where they both later emerge to become central characters in the overall story of my Novel 1.

Yes, I think I'd look positively at an exchange of mutual benefit. One could consider exchanging just selected chapters, if one doesn't want to exchange entire WIPs.
Last edited by Shield-of-Dardania on Tue November 29th, 2011, 3:47 am, edited 7 times in total.

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fljustice
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Help!

Post by fljustice » Thu April 12th, 2012, 4:18 pm

My regular beta readers have fallen through (family illness, job changes...life) and they can't get to my WIP for several months. I'd love to get some feedback earlier and will happily exchange with another author...if you have something now or I'll read in the future. Readers who want a sneak peak and a free book when it comes out are also welcome!

This book has already been workshopped and is in pretty good shape. I'll hire a copy editor for the final run through, so not looking for that level of detail. I'm looking for feedback from the reader's perspective...where does the story slow down, get confusing, do the characters feel authentic, etc. The book is short--65,000 words/245 double spaced manuscript pages--set in AD 1C. Here's the prologue as a sample:

The Romans call me Afra—"woman of Africa"—because they don't care to wrap their tongues around my real name. Or perhaps the fact that I am named after Amanirenas the one-eyed warrior queen, who wiped out the Roman garrison at Aswan two generations ago, gives them pause. It matters little now. All I hear is "Afra! Afra!" as the crowd in the amphitheater chants my name, calling me forward to kill or be killed for their amusement. A slave wraps my lower legs with felted wool and straps a fancy greave to my left shin.

Across the room, another slave straps armor on my beloved. She looks at me with pride in her eyes and a brief smile on her lips. We said our goodbyes last night, clasped breast to breast, thigh to thigh, a stolen moment before being sent to our barren cells. My heart beats an irregular tattoo. My love. Light to my dark, fire to my ice. Cinnia is goddess given; from a land of mists and forests, so different from my country of desert and blistering sun. Without her, I would be dead. Without me, so would she. We have suffered, struggled, lived and loved. Now we go out upon the sands of the great arena to die. One by her lover's hands, the other by her own.

It is not the life or death I chose for myself, but it is the one the gods gave me.


Anyone interested, feel free to get in touch with me directly. I can send digital files in whatever format you need or paper if require. Your swapped ms will get first priority from me whenever you need it.
Faith L. Justice, Author Website
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Jeanne
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Beta Reader Available

Post by Jeanne » Tue April 17th, 2012, 10:14 pm

I'd be interested in beta-reading WIPs.

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