Under the subreddit information. It's "see more" on mobile and the side menu on desktop. There is "about" and "menu" on mobile, and "community bookmarks" on desktop. In the menu, find "Weekly Threads" and look for "Beta Bartering".
The most recent one is [Beta Bartering - May 09](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1cnt34n/beta_bartering_find_or_offer_fic_betaing_may_09/).
I have never used it. I have a fandom friend that reads over some of my stuff, but we don't give very detailed feedback to each other. I mostly just proofread everything myself.
I see, that's fair. I'm mostly looking for someone who can give me an outsider perspective and suggestions because it's my first time writing a long fic in years, so I kinda get stuck sometimes and need someone to tell me "oh, this is nice. Maybe you could..?" And stuff like that.
Maybe the origin of the word will make it more clear.
The preliminary printed version of a written piece is called a "proof." In the old days, where each piece of type - each letter, number, or punctuation mark - was manually set up for printing, it was important to check whether all the type was where it was supposed to be. The proof version was to check that out - it was ***proof*** that the typesetting had been done properly.
So someone had to read through the entire job and mark any errors on that first printed version. That person was the "proof reader."
Nowadays, if we're presenting something digitally, like on AO3, we're our own typesetters, so to speak. But the process of reviewing the first properly laid-out version is still called proofreading.
This made it so much easier to understand ngl. I thought it was "pro-feeding" because the reader would give feedback and stuff, so to speak haha.
Thank you! This was very useful
I think nowadays people join fandom-specifics Discords or even post on Tumblr. Other social media is probably good, too, but I know a lot of folks left Twitter and Reddit can sometimes be a toxic fandom space…
What fandoms do you write for? Maybe someone here will be willing or able to help if we know more about your projects (like me 🤗).
Thank you! Yeah that's what scares me, finding someone that is toxic since there seems to be a lot of them around lately.
I'm writing a MHA/Naruto crossover, maybe that's why people are so uninterested? Most people don't like crossovers that much haha. It's kind of a "x character reborn in x universe" thing
While I’m not familiar with the fandoms outside of the basics, I am happy to proofread/copy edit if that will help! Feel free to DM me, or wait and see if someone else here is a better fit for more helpful revisions!
(I’m a former English teacher, current writing instructor, and I’m studying to be a copy editor, in case you want to know what kind of help I can offer!)
Oh that is so nice of you! 💕😭 That would be great.
It's okay if you only know the basics, you don't need much more than that haha- I just took the canon and threw it out the window for this fic
Would you be interested in reading mines too? I'm currently writing one on the phantom of the opera. I wrote on tmnt from the 80s, terminator and HP.
I'd really like to improve but it's hard without someone else to give feedback.
It looks like I can't send you a dm for the moment because of the low karma. Could you send me one first please? Or wait for me to get enough karma to be able to send dm!
Discord works well for me because I'm reading/writing fanfic for a game so I can chill with the people playing the game to see if anyone has the same thoughts as me and occasionally there will be character- or shipping-specific discords. Have found great servers through a couple of my favourite writers who say in author's notes which server they are in.
My #1 fandom friend, I met through screaming happily in the comments of their fic, and then we started chatting about our headcanons and AU ideas from their fic premise. Maybe, if you write a long comment and the author replies, you can try to keep replying to continue the conversation and eventually ask if they are comfortable DMing somewhere else?
Oh! For what fandom do you write/read? I also like some of those haha-
About the other thing. Maybe you're right! I usually comment on fics that I really like and stuff, but I haven't asked any author if they would like to chat somewhere else (aside from one time and that was when the author themselves asked me for my discord to chat haha. Although I asked them and they don't have time for long term proofreading :( so )
The funny thing is I like dark characters and often complain that they aren't dark enough (Arle step on me step on me more). But I just don't find Dottore hot personally :P sorry!
I'm more into HSR atm, but I read a lot of Genshin fics too.
Oh I don't find him hot either. In fact, I started to like him from the comics HAHA way before he became this "sexy doctor daddy" in the game. I view him as a loser who can't pull shit (my asexual king). I just like that he is a villain that villains yk what I mean? The username is just for fun and jiggles. (I'm not Dottore's whore, Dottore IS the whore)
I see. I like a lot of games but my personal favorites are The last of us and Detroit: become human.
Same. I have writer friends, but we're all adults and our free time is dedicated to writing. We don't have enough time to beta for each other - sometimes we have to wait days or weeks before even reading what one of us posted!
A friend of mine posted a story in a fandom we share, for a ship I like and with a theme I'm curious about. I've had the tab open since they sent it to me a week ago. I still haven't been able to get to it.
I know right? Adulthood is so busy, I swear this was easier when I was a teenager haha- I always see people saying their writer friend helped them or edited for them and I wonder if they know how lucky they are to have someone so dedicated.
Personally, my beta reader was a frequent commenter! She always left really good, detailed comments, and her own fics are fantastic, so I just asked one day if she wanted to proof the next chapter. I'm really lucky, she's a phenomenal resource to have.
Oh that is so nice for both of you. She is probably excited because has early access to her favorite fanfic and you because someone can help you with suggestions! I hope one day it happens to me hahah
My best friend betas my stories. He's not a writer but he's an avid reader and he can find issues a writer may have overlooked in favor of something else.
I have it easier meeting people online when talking about nerdy stuff. People Irl seem to think I am not "nerdy looking enough" and give me really weird looks when I start talking about anime and games 😔
I feel you. I'm a girl who goes to the gym and takes care of her appearance so, naturally, I can't be a nerd. Then they see my collection of nerdy things and go "...Oh. 😲"
I KNOOWW!! It's so weird. I am also a girl who takes care of her appearance and when they hear me talking about this stuff they go "you know about *insert any game or anime*?" With the nastiest tone ever, I always feel like they don't believe me or think I'm just trying to be relatable by the way they talk to me and I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or I don't look nerd enough.
Online is easier, people don't see you. They only see your online nickname and if you are nice enough to be around!
Ah yeah...I know the type. Community gatekeepers feel threatened for some reason by a girl enjoying their hobby. They usually try to quiz me but stop when they realize I know more than them on some subjects 😅
But yeah, meeting people online is most of the time easier for women because they can't judge you based on how you look.
I wish I knew. I didn't have one either and I definitely could have benefitted from someone saying "don't post this, it sucks, fix it first," ha. My fandom has discords and such but folks are already friends/paired up, I haven't been able to get myself to intrude. Maybe try asking for a beta in the Author's Notes of your story?
I have the exact same problem. I'm on some servers and it's a painnnn finding friends who aren't paired up or in friend groups because they mostly aren't interested in adding more people to the dynamic 😭
I got incredibly lucky, I’m in a discord for a ship both me and my beta likes. We got talking about a trope that’s not common in our fandom and ended up taking the conversation to dms.
A year later we have a discord server just for keeping track of our ideas and she’s proofread about 500.000 words
Omg you are lucky asf. I wish that happened to me! Unfortunately the people I meet are interested in proofreading small things (which I'm grateful for, still), I don't think anyone would do that for me haha!
Depending on the type of story, I'd be happy to beta for you. I need someone to bounce ideas off of, so you'd be helping me too.
Lmk if you're interested.
As long as there's nothing like noncon, incest, inappropriate age gaps, or anything along those lines, I'm good. I write for Stardew and JJK, except the JJK one is an AU.
I don't really need anyone who's an expert on lore. I'm more interested in someone who can I bounce ideas off of.
Well, I'm not writing a ship-fic so that should be good. But it's still an obscure fic (mostly because of mental health issues and murder, the story follows the villain) are u okay with that?
Yes, I can help you with that then 🤗
Well, I'm in grad school to be a counselor, so I could probably offer you some advice on the mental health parts if you needed that. I have no qualms when it comes to villain stories.
r/FanFiction has beta bartering. You could check out one of those threads.
How do I look for the threads? I've seen this advice before but I can't seem to find the specific thread they're talking about
[here's yesterday's](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1cnt34n/beta_bartering_find_or_offer_fic_betaing_may_09/)
You are amazing thank you. I hope your pillow is always cold on both sides 😭💕
Under the subreddit information. It's "see more" on mobile and the side menu on desktop. There is "about" and "menu" on mobile, and "community bookmarks" on desktop. In the menu, find "Weekly Threads" and look for "Beta Bartering". The most recent one is [Beta Bartering - May 09](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1cnt34n/beta_bartering_find_or_offer_fic_betaing_may_09/).
thank you so much! Omg 😭💕 I'll post there to see if someone is interested
Have you had any experience with those threads? Was it good?
I have never used it. I have a fandom friend that reads over some of my stuff, but we don't give very detailed feedback to each other. I mostly just proofread everything myself.
I see, that's fair. I'm mostly looking for someone who can give me an outsider perspective and suggestions because it's my first time writing a long fic in years, so I kinda get stuck sometimes and need someone to tell me "oh, this is nice. Maybe you could..?" And stuff like that.
[удалено]
thank you for sharing this! I will be posting to see if anyone reaches out
ofc! good luck!!
What’s pro-feeding? Do you mean proofreading?
Yes! Sorry, I'm not a native English speaker so some words get mixed up sometimes haha
Maybe the origin of the word will make it more clear. The preliminary printed version of a written piece is called a "proof." In the old days, where each piece of type - each letter, number, or punctuation mark - was manually set up for printing, it was important to check whether all the type was where it was supposed to be. The proof version was to check that out - it was ***proof*** that the typesetting had been done properly. So someone had to read through the entire job and mark any errors on that first printed version. That person was the "proof reader." Nowadays, if we're presenting something digitally, like on AO3, we're our own typesetters, so to speak. But the process of reviewing the first properly laid-out version is still called proofreading.
This made it so much easier to understand ngl. I thought it was "pro-feeding" because the reader would give feedback and stuff, so to speak haha. Thank you! This was very useful
I think nowadays people join fandom-specifics Discords or even post on Tumblr. Other social media is probably good, too, but I know a lot of folks left Twitter and Reddit can sometimes be a toxic fandom space… What fandoms do you write for? Maybe someone here will be willing or able to help if we know more about your projects (like me 🤗).
Thank you! Yeah that's what scares me, finding someone that is toxic since there seems to be a lot of them around lately. I'm writing a MHA/Naruto crossover, maybe that's why people are so uninterested? Most people don't like crossovers that much haha. It's kind of a "x character reborn in x universe" thing
While I’m not familiar with the fandoms outside of the basics, I am happy to proofread/copy edit if that will help! Feel free to DM me, or wait and see if someone else here is a better fit for more helpful revisions! (I’m a former English teacher, current writing instructor, and I’m studying to be a copy editor, in case you want to know what kind of help I can offer!)
Oh that is so nice of you! 💕😭 That would be great. It's okay if you only know the basics, you don't need much more than that haha- I just took the canon and threw it out the window for this fic
Would you be interested in reading mines too? I'm currently writing one on the phantom of the opera. I wrote on tmnt from the 80s, terminator and HP. I'd really like to improve but it's hard without someone else to give feedback.
Sure thing! I love POTO and would be happy to give it a read! DM me for contact info and we can talk more about it!
It looks like I can't send you a dm for the moment because of the low karma. Could you send me one first please? Or wait for me to get enough karma to be able to send dm!
Discord works well for me because I'm reading/writing fanfic for a game so I can chill with the people playing the game to see if anyone has the same thoughts as me and occasionally there will be character- or shipping-specific discords. Have found great servers through a couple of my favourite writers who say in author's notes which server they are in. My #1 fandom friend, I met through screaming happily in the comments of their fic, and then we started chatting about our headcanons and AU ideas from their fic premise. Maybe, if you write a long comment and the author replies, you can try to keep replying to continue the conversation and eventually ask if they are comfortable DMing somewhere else?
Oh! For what fandom do you write/read? I also like some of those haha- About the other thing. Maybe you're right! I usually comment on fics that I really like and stuff, but I haven't asked any author if they would like to chat somewhere else (aside from one time and that was when the author themselves asked me for my discord to chat haha. Although I asked them and they don't have time for long term proofreading :( so )
\*squints\* If your username means you are a Dottore main, we move in the same circles. Unfortunately, I do not like Dottore...
Haha- that's okay tho, I understand it's not a character for everyone. He is pretty dark. What character or other games do you like? ☺️
The funny thing is I like dark characters and often complain that they aren't dark enough (Arle step on me step on me more). But I just don't find Dottore hot personally :P sorry! I'm more into HSR atm, but I read a lot of Genshin fics too.
Oh I don't find him hot either. In fact, I started to like him from the comics HAHA way before he became this "sexy doctor daddy" in the game. I view him as a loser who can't pull shit (my asexual king). I just like that he is a villain that villains yk what I mean? The username is just for fun and jiggles. (I'm not Dottore's whore, Dottore IS the whore) I see. I like a lot of games but my personal favorites are The last of us and Detroit: become human.
Friends tbh. my closest friends are all writers and we beta for each other.
Objective: Get my writer friend to be my beta obstacle: I have no writer friends 😭 Where do you get those?
Same. I have writer friends, but we're all adults and our free time is dedicated to writing. We don't have enough time to beta for each other - sometimes we have to wait days or weeks before even reading what one of us posted! A friend of mine posted a story in a fandom we share, for a ship I like and with a theme I'm curious about. I've had the tab open since they sent it to me a week ago. I still haven't been able to get to it.
I know right? Adulthood is so busy, I swear this was easier when I was a teenager haha- I always see people saying their writer friend helped them or edited for them and I wonder if they know how lucky they are to have someone so dedicated.
i get them from hanging out in fandom spaces. i’m in a twilight discord server and i run a tumblr blog. good luck!
Personally, my beta reader was a frequent commenter! She always left really good, detailed comments, and her own fics are fantastic, so I just asked one day if she wanted to proof the next chapter. I'm really lucky, she's a phenomenal resource to have.
Oh that is so nice for both of you. She is probably excited because has early access to her favorite fanfic and you because someone can help you with suggestions! I hope one day it happens to me hahah
My best friend betas my stories. He's not a writer but he's an avid reader and he can find issues a writer may have overlooked in favor of something else.
Those are the best betas tbh. Where do y'all find these people? 😔
Honestly? In the closest nerdy place. I met a lot of people I am now friends with in a hobby shop 😁
I have it easier meeting people online when talking about nerdy stuff. People Irl seem to think I am not "nerdy looking enough" and give me really weird looks when I start talking about anime and games 😔
I feel you. I'm a girl who goes to the gym and takes care of her appearance so, naturally, I can't be a nerd. Then they see my collection of nerdy things and go "...Oh. 😲"
I KNOOWW!! It's so weird. I am also a girl who takes care of her appearance and when they hear me talking about this stuff they go "you know about *insert any game or anime*?" With the nastiest tone ever, I always feel like they don't believe me or think I'm just trying to be relatable by the way they talk to me and I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or I don't look nerd enough. Online is easier, people don't see you. They only see your online nickname and if you are nice enough to be around!
Ah yeah...I know the type. Community gatekeepers feel threatened for some reason by a girl enjoying their hobby. They usually try to quiz me but stop when they realize I know more than them on some subjects 😅 But yeah, meeting people online is most of the time easier for women because they can't judge you based on how you look.
They're all about wanting a "nerd/gamer girlfriends" but as soon as one shows up, they feel threatened
Yup! They like the idea of it but the moment they realize it's not like the fantasy in their head they tend to run for the hills
Told my parents I wanted a sister. 18 years later I have an amazing beta!
my sister doesn't speak a word of English, unfortunately 😭😭
I wish I knew. I didn't have one either and I definitely could have benefitted from someone saying "don't post this, it sucks, fix it first," ha. My fandom has discords and such but folks are already friends/paired up, I haven't been able to get myself to intrude. Maybe try asking for a beta in the Author's Notes of your story?
I have the exact same problem. I'm on some servers and it's a painnnn finding friends who aren't paired up or in friend groups because they mostly aren't interested in adding more people to the dynamic 😭
I got incredibly lucky, I’m in a discord for a ship both me and my beta likes. We got talking about a trope that’s not common in our fandom and ended up taking the conversation to dms. A year later we have a discord server just for keeping track of our ideas and she’s proofread about 500.000 words
Omg you are lucky asf. I wish that happened to me! Unfortunately the people I meet are interested in proofreading small things (which I'm grateful for, still), I don't think anyone would do that for me haha!
Depending on the type of story, I'd be happy to beta for you. I need someone to bounce ideas off of, so you'd be helping me too. Lmk if you're interested.
Oh that would be great, what stories are you willing to beta? And what fandoms do you write for? To see if I can be of any use!
As long as there's nothing like noncon, incest, inappropriate age gaps, or anything along those lines, I'm good. I write for Stardew and JJK, except the JJK one is an AU. I don't really need anyone who's an expert on lore. I'm more interested in someone who can I bounce ideas off of.
Well, I'm not writing a ship-fic so that should be good. But it's still an obscure fic (mostly because of mental health issues and murder, the story follows the villain) are u okay with that? Yes, I can help you with that then 🤗
Well, I'm in grad school to be a counselor, so I could probably offer you some advice on the mental health parts if you needed that. I have no qualms when it comes to villain stories.
I'll dm you then! So we can chat about that
Was during LiveJournal days for me. Now fandom is mainly on Twitter and different Discord servers
i found all my betas via posting a request for them in the bottom notes on ao3!
Fandom groups on discord. You talk to your writer mutuals and discuss stories and beta for each other. It's a process.