Larry’s Pretty Good Reading List

This is the official call for Beta Readers.

Things you need to know upfront:

This is a Beta Read; which is not as nitpicky as a line-by-line hunting of tyops, but requires attention to story, character motivation, setting, narrative flow -- you know: the easy things.

This is a volunteer gig.  Nobody's getting paid, except in Auctorial Gratitude, which means that I will with great joy list you on the Acknowledgements Page of the finished book (unless you don't want me to, ref 2(3) below).

At this point in the proceedings these are the things I need to know in order to preserve the last rags of my sanity and turn the book in on time:

1 Does the story make sense/keep your interest?

2 Are there deadends/extraneous/unresolved story lines? Tell me what they are

3 Does the story and/or a particular section lag? are you confused? Tell me where.

4 Have any of the characters changed their name? If so, tell me where and who.

5 Anything else that bothered you as a reader.

5a If you find a particularly ugly or confusing sentence and feel compelled to mention it, you must give me a search string so that I can find it. Again, typos/grammatical errors are NOT the reason for the season.

6 A Vow of Secrecy is required: You may not reveal the plot (or, in fact, the title), or any details of the novel in question.

7 There's a fast turnaround: I'll need comments no later than February 11.

If this sounds like something you'd like to do, and can commit to, here's what you need to do:

1 Email me at liadenuniverse AT gmail.com (where AT=@)

2 Tell me: (1) your preferred format (.doc, .odt, .rtf. I can probably cobble up an epub, but it will be ugly); (2) where I should email the file (even if it's the address you're writing from); (3) how you would like your name to appear on the Acknowledgements Page of the finished novel (if you don't want your name to appear, explicitly state that, please).

Because we're scattered throughout a zillion time zones and countries, I will be taking volunteers until Friday, January 23, 9am US Eastern Time.

In the interests of preserving the above-referenced rags of my sanity, only those people who have been accepted will receive an email. If you have not received an acceptance by Saturday, January 24, noon US Eastern Time, know that I love you, and honor you for standing up, but that all positions are filled.

NOTE: You do not have to be USian to be accepted as a Beta Reader, but you do need to realize that I am USian, and be certain you can accommodate our crazy spelling and sentence structure.

. . . I really do think that's it.

Let the volunteering begin.