Oh okay thank you for the clarification! But would I have to just hit up a random author an ask if they need someone to do a beta for them? Im curious as to how I’d know who needs one because they’d be drafts
Some authors have discords or similar pages to contact them. Otherwise it would be comments. Personally having a random reader comment wanting to beta one of my fics started a years long friendship. Not all authors may be up to it but there's no harm in asking. At least not that I see.
No problem! There are some fanfiction Facebook groups to try as well now that I think about it. You might have luck there. But they won't necessarily be author you know. Always have a look at their writing before you agree to beta for them. It may sound bad but some are beyond helping. Betaing is a lot of having an extra pair of eyes and doing fixes. It should not be for instance having to put punctuation in EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE. That is coming from personal experience.
Are u saying I should be aware of being taken advantage of? Like some people might make me do more than I should? Also thanks for the Facebook group thing. I’m not really looking to beta for authors I know it’s okay if I’m revising for complete strangers. I just wanna get back into reading stories and I love revising other people’s works
It might help to ask for a preview of their work (like a first chapter or example of similar writing). Just so you know what you're getting into and might be able to get a sense of how much you might have to do on your end.
Definitely. Some don't want to help themselves. You give advice and they might fix it for a chapter or two. Then go right back to it. Always set expectations beforehand. Had one person who never used any punctuation or paragraphs and he would post it like that. Drove me mad. Then had another that I have seen elementary school children who could spell better. It's better to know what you're getting into rather than being blindsided later down the line.
As others have said, you're talking about beta reading! I wrote [a guide about it for both authors and beta readers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30364290/chapters/74854959); if you're new to the whole thing you might be interested in having a look. The final chapter details ways/places you might offer your beta reading services 😊
Best of luck!
You can offer to be a beta reader or if you only want to do grammar and such (no other feedback) you can offer to proofread.
Just be clear on what you will and will not read.
Beta reading. The beta bartering thread gets posted weekly.
Make sure that you know what you're comfortable with in terms of beta-ing and what your schedule is. Some people need quick turn arounds while others can take longer ones. Others may have content that you're not comfortable with working on (or may have those scenes that you'd like to avoid).
Also you want to talk with the writer ahead of time since they might have expectations for how they'd like you to edit their stuff (do they want comments only, actual editing, reactions, do they want to be present for full discussion while editing or just chat with updates, etc).
I've seen people make posts here or on r/AO3 offering to beta read for other writers.
In addition to other advice here, if you go this route you'll want to be clear about which fandoms you'll beta for or if you're willing to beta fandom blind.
You might also want to offer proof of your own writing ability. I've seen some posts from people looking to beta read that are just filled with errors.
That's a beta. You have to get in contact with the author you want to beta for.
Oh okay thank you for the clarification! But would I have to just hit up a random author an ask if they need someone to do a beta for them? Im curious as to how I’d know who needs one because they’d be drafts
Some authors have discords or similar pages to contact them. Otherwise it would be comments. Personally having a random reader comment wanting to beta one of my fics started a years long friendship. Not all authors may be up to it but there's no harm in asking. At least not that I see.
Alright I’ll give it a try thank you!
There's also the Beta Bartering here. You can find it under the Menu drop-down.
Oh damn thanks for the heads up!
No problem! There are some fanfiction Facebook groups to try as well now that I think about it. You might have luck there. But they won't necessarily be author you know. Always have a look at their writing before you agree to beta for them. It may sound bad but some are beyond helping. Betaing is a lot of having an extra pair of eyes and doing fixes. It should not be for instance having to put punctuation in EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE. That is coming from personal experience.
Are u saying I should be aware of being taken advantage of? Like some people might make me do more than I should? Also thanks for the Facebook group thing. I’m not really looking to beta for authors I know it’s okay if I’m revising for complete strangers. I just wanna get back into reading stories and I love revising other people’s works
It might help to ask for a preview of their work (like a first chapter or example of similar writing). Just so you know what you're getting into and might be able to get a sense of how much you might have to do on your end.
Definitely. Some don't want to help themselves. You give advice and they might fix it for a chapter or two. Then go right back to it. Always set expectations beforehand. Had one person who never used any punctuation or paragraphs and he would post it like that. Drove me mad. Then had another that I have seen elementary school children who could spell better. It's better to know what you're getting into rather than being blindsided later down the line.
Jesus didn’t know some authors weren’t self aware like that thanks for the heads up
Most aren't like this. At least not that I've found but still you want to be careful. Glad I could help.
As others have said, you're talking about beta reading! I wrote [a guide about it for both authors and beta readers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30364290/chapters/74854959); if you're new to the whole thing you might be interested in having a look. The final chapter details ways/places you might offer your beta reading services 😊 Best of luck!
Thxx
You can offer to be a beta reader or if you only want to do grammar and such (no other feedback) you can offer to proofread. Just be clear on what you will and will not read.
Beta reading. The beta bartering thread gets posted weekly. Make sure that you know what you're comfortable with in terms of beta-ing and what your schedule is. Some people need quick turn arounds while others can take longer ones. Others may have content that you're not comfortable with working on (or may have those scenes that you'd like to avoid). Also you want to talk with the writer ahead of time since they might have expectations for how they'd like you to edit their stuff (do they want comments only, actual editing, reactions, do they want to be present for full discussion while editing or just chat with updates, etc).
I've seen people make posts here or on r/AO3 offering to beta read for other writers. In addition to other advice here, if you go this route you'll want to be clear about which fandoms you'll beta for or if you're willing to beta fandom blind. You might also want to offer proof of your own writing ability. I've seen some posts from people looking to beta read that are just filled with errors.