McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
What are beta readers?
JRBobC:
--- Quote from: Shecky on October 13, 2008, 03:35:30 PM ---Yes. Unless it's Cool WIP.
--- End quote ---
*whacks Shecky with rolled up newspaper*
Bad Pun.
Something else that should be said about the betas is they like to spread the pain around. Or as I like to call them teasing A-holes, bastards (with a British accent), etc. ;D. You get the idea. :D
Shecky:
Wrong. It was a very good pun, thank you.
Imagine this: You get that book you've been waiting for. You sit down with it... and get told you won't get to see anything past the first chapter until you go over that first chapter with a fine-toothed comb and spell out exactly what you like and why, what you don't like and why, and every little nuance that even seems a little off to you, not to mention typos, funky grammar and consistency issues, as well as too-frequent repetition or insufficiently-clear references. And do it NOW. Once you're done with that, you have to look at what the others saw and suggested and respond to that.
Now that everyone's finally done with that chapter, wait a few days - the next one will come sooner or later. Probably later, given how busy your fave author has been lately. And when that chapter comes, do it all over again.
In all honesty, as cool as it is to be able to help out my favorite author AND get a slow trickle of sneak peeks at what he's got in the works, this ain't no la-la tiptoeing through the spoilers all tra-la-happy-sunshiny. It's a voluntarily-taken obligation and one that has to be taken seriously. But most of all, that special joy of getting that new book in your own hands, when you can blow off work and set up shop at your favorite coffeehouse or diner-type place while you devour the book whole... it just ain't the same. But the benefits of being able to help out and see a little bit ahead more than outweigh that loss.
JRBobC:
I am not doubting the difficult and much appreciated job of the betas Shecky. Those things that you outlined are the exact reasons I could never, ever do it. Whenever I see most errors I just automatically fix them in my head without even realizing it. (Example Ramirez->Rodriguez(sp?)->Ramirez, I know the name is supposed to be Ramirez and I just fix it in my head) In fact the only time I ever saw anything that jarred me I'm still not certain it was an error.
So while I poke at you guys in a tong-firmly-implanted-in-cheek fashion, I still appreciate your dedication to finding all these errors so the books read smoothly.
Shecky:
--- Quote from: JRBobC on October 13, 2008, 04:58:21 PM ---tong-firmly-implanted-in-cheek
--- End quote ---
Ow? Wouldn't that hurt?
JRBobC:
--- Quote from: Shecky on October 13, 2008, 05:07:40 PM ---Ow? Wouldn't that hurt?
--- End quote ---
Yeah. Considering I had a minimal brain fart and it should have been planted not implanted.
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