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Alpha Readers Thread


Mandamon

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1 hour ago, Robinski said:

Sorry Kaisa, I would usually stick my hand in the air at this point, but I'm just really jammed at the moment.

Totally understandable, Robinski! No worries.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi. 

I'm reading a few novels this month and am closed to finished wiht them.  Before I start a new one, I thought I put out that I am interested in becoming part of this.  If you need a reader let me know.  

Although not required, I'm hoping someone may read my first novel which I plan to finish in October (it's a a Dewsy), and give a quick rewrite of some of the first chapters.  (I wrote them before I knew what passive voice was.  Anyhow, if you need a reader, I'm available.  I'll need a few weeks tough.  

 

Matt

Edited by M.Puddles
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I just finished alph-reading @Coop's "Clouds" manuscript. Those of you keeping up with his weekly submission won't be disappointed. It continues well and ends well. There are some content/pacing things that need some level of revision, but the overarching story is a good one, and I liked it very much. I hope it revises and polishes it up for submission. I'd be more than happy to add it to my class library.

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On 9/24/2016 at 1:54 AM, Ernei said:

Well, I have a YA novel finished. It follows Cassie, a teenager who discovers that she can draw the future. It's short (less than 50k words) though, and after what happened to my first few chapters of my newest project I'm kinda reluctant to submit it anywhere. But if you wanted to take a look, I guess I can send it - I need fresh eyes to judge it.

About your novel, it depends on what theme is it. As long as it's fantasy rather than s-f, I can read it - though since I start university (in my country we start in October), it may take me some time. I just don't know how it will look like yet.

E: On the second thought, though... I'm too embarrassed to show that book without a thorough revision first, and it will take time. But I'm still willing to alpha-read your book, if it's fantasy :) 

 

Send me your book.  My work isn't polished either.  It's a draft. :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Some time in the next, say, month (maybe two?), I will be needing some alpha readers for book three. It'll be a rough ride, but probably won't make your eyes bleed. Anyone think they'll have time to have a look?

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  • 1 month later...

Hey, all. I'm completely new to this site, having heard about it while listening to a back episode of Writing Excuses. Is the Alpha Readers exchange still active? I've got one (paranormal lesbian romance. 66k) ready for alphas and one in the pipeline (heroic fantasy, about 55k done of 80-100k). Looking forward to exploring the forums more.

Janell

Edited by JanellR72
typo :)
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@JanellR72 welcome! The weekly sub thread is far more active than the alpha one, although we do see some activity here from time to time. You might consider, instead, subbing a 5000 word chunk per week in the weekly sub, as that's where most of us hang out. We could use some fresh blood, too, and personally always excited about queer romance.

Note that our mod, Silk, is MIA. If you want to do the weekly sub just PM me and we can exchange e-mails. I can then send your sub through the list serve to everyone (and send everyone's back to you) until we get a new mod. 

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Hey @JanellR72, welcome to Reading Excuses, great to have you on board. Your first story sounds interesting - need a bit more to go on for the 2nd one :). I think maybe we are coasting a bit at the moment due to NaNoWriMo, or maybe that's just me and the others have their own excuses! There is life though - Kaisa has been keeping our collective head above water recently.

Like @kaisa says, the weekly subs probably get more attention, although I like to alpha read (in the other 11 months of the year!). Normally, I would stick my hand up at this point however, I have been promised a certain ATD to alpha in the near future <cough> (looking @kaisa), so I'd better not over-commit.

But please do sub something soon, interested to read.

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20 minutes ago, Robinski said:

I have been promised a certain ATD to alpha in the near future <cough>

It's ready! I want to do one more read through and was planning on sending it to you Tuesday. Would that work @Robinski?

@JanellR72 if you'd be interested in doing a full swap, I'd do an alpha on yours. I need crit work on mine as well. Bonus though, ATD also has lesbians!

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6 minutes ago, kaisa said:

was planning on sending it to you Tuesday. Would that work?

On the basis that I might not get started till the weekend, by all means send it on Tuesday!

The small print on my offer, which I will remind you of, is that I am a rather slow reader - I can't promise progress rates like yours on Waifs and Strays, I'm afraid.

Say, how long is ATD? (not that I'm planning ahead...)

Edited by Robinski
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56 minutes ago, Robinski said:

I can't promise progress rates like yours on Waifs and Strays, I'm afraid.

That's alright! @Mandamon and I are about to do a full trade as well (he's a top notch CP, by the way) and so I'll have other things to keep me occupied. The due date for ATD got pushed back so I have breathing room. Trying to decide what project to tackle next. Short novella or novel with how Ne and Yor met, or start a new series?

57 minutes ago, Robinski said:

Say, how long is ATD?

In its current rough form, about 80K. So only half of Waifs and Strays!

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Hey, all. Thanks for the welcome. I will check out the weekly subs thread. @kaisa, I will PM you, and we can discuss the possibility of an exchange :) I am mainly looking for Mary Robinette Kowal's alpha reader items plus 1. So...

1. What bores you
2. What confuses you
3. What don’t you believe
4. What excites you (things I should definitely keep)
5. What promises have I made that I have not fulfilled

Can you tell I listen to the podcast?

The second book is more traditional fantasy with some modern sensibilities (like women in the army). My NaNo tagline for it is " A girl with wings attempts to help other freaks like her who are avoiding or attempting to escape forced service in the king's army." I finished the NaNo part (50k!) and submitted the prologue as a short story for an anthology, but the book still needs to be finished.

Janell

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14 hours ago, kaisa said:

That's alright! @Mandamon and I are about to do a full trade as well (he's a top notch CP, by the way) and so I'll have other things to keep me occupied.

Thanks! For anyone wondering, @kaisa is also great at digging out problems in a story!

@JanellR72 I would take you up on alpha reading, but I'm full up at the moment, with reading for kaisa and working on two of my own books at once... Maybe when I get this latest draft finished I can read over something for you, but it will probably be end of the year.

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On 28/11/2016 at 11:15 PM, kaisa said:

he's a top notch CP, by the way

Yes, he and I go 'way back' (3 years, @Mandamon?). Since we're blowing trumpets, I can fully vouch for his CP skills as well!!

 

On 28/11/2016 at 11:15 PM, kaisa said:

about 80K. So only half of Waifs and Strays!

Well Kaisa, you'd better write something else then :P 

 

On 29/11/2016 at 1:33 PM, Mandamon said:

@kaisa is also great at digging out problems in a story

Yup, she gets my vote too.

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5 hours ago, JanellR72 said:

I'm doing an alpha swap with @kaisa right now

And update for you, @JanellR72, I just hit the halfway point with yours.

@TKWade I'd recommend you do CPs for a while, too, to help with the smaller scale development stuff. CPs fill a very different role than beta or alpha readers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have some time to do another alpha read, especially if someone is looking to do a swap. PM me if interested.

Quick reminder, however, to be sure to do a few crits on the board before getting into the alpha stuff. Critiquing is hard to do, and hard to read on your own work. Getting a feel for the community and how we work can be very beneficial in helping interpret critique feedback. 

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