What is a Beta Reader, What do They do, and Can I be One?

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Okay, before I begin to whet your appetite for my story, I thought I should explain a little bit about what Beta Readers are and what they do.

Almost anyone can be a Beta Reader.  The requirements are:

  1.  You have to read a lot and know what makes a good story.
  2. It’s best to be a Beta Reader for the genre of book you read the most because that’s the one you’re most familiar with.  So, if your favorite genre is fantasy and that’s what you read the most, that is the genre you should be a Beta Reader for.
  3. Beta Readers are volunteers.  They do not get paid, but they do get benefits (I’ll point these out later).
  4. It is helpful, but not absolutely necessary, that the Beta Reader know something about writing.
  5. A Beta Reader may need to give some information about him or herself or sign an agreement stating that he or she will do the job of a Beta Reader and will not try to claim the work as his or her own and try to publish it.

What does a Beta Reader Do?

  1.  A Beta Reader gets the privilege of reading a writer’s book BEFORE it gets published (we’re talking fresh from the writing process).
  2. As a Beta Reader reads the writer’s book, he or she should be paying close attention to the story and make notes on things like:  Does the story make sense?  Is there anything that’s confusing?  Does the story capture your attention on page one and keep it, throughout the book?  Do you care about the characters and what happens to them?  Is there anywhere that the author loses you or where the story slows too much?  etc.  (You may receive a sheet of questions the writer would like addressed along with the completed manuscript).
  3. The Beta Reader is asked to read and return the story with their notes in a specific amount of time.

What are the benefits to being a Beta Reader?

  1.  Well, as I mentioned above, Beta Readers are some of the first readers of the author’s completed manuscript, as they get to read it and give feedback to help the writer in making changes that would improve the story before publication.
  2. A good writer will send you a thank you note and/or gift and/or list you on an acknowledgements page in the published book.

So, now you know what a Beta Reader is and does and what kind of benefits he or she receives, so now you can seriously think about whether or not you’d like to be a Beta Reader for me as you find out little tidbits about my story in the next few posts.

The Beginning of What Comes After Writing

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Hey Everyone, I finished my book Monday night.  Yesterday, I read over the entire thing and made edits and tweaked it.  I am happy with it and I sent it to my writing friends earlier today (you know, the ones I get together with weekly).

Now I’ll wait for their feedback, then I’ll do more editing.  Then I’ll be looking for some good Beta Readers.

Just an FYI, I didn’t write this entire book in one month for NaNoWriMo.  I have still not participated in NaNoWriMo, but hope to next year.  I’ve been working on my story since April.

The genre is Contemporary Christian Romance, so if you read A LOT of that genre or if you write that genre and have time to read my 40,000 word manuscript, you may get the opportunity to do so soon.

In my next couple of posts, I’ll do my best to whet your appetite with a little bit of information on my main characters and a tad bit about the storyline.

If you’ve been a Beta Reader before of have used some good ones you think would be interested, please leave a comment giving me the details.  Thanks!

Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving

by Kelly F. Barr

Red, Gold, Orange and Brown

Leaves floating to the ground.

The air is cool and crisp.

Turkey baking brings feelings of bliss.

Time again for a feast to share

With those for whom we care.

 

Art of children on the walls

Reminds of history’s call

Of pilgrims and Indians working in unity

To create a peaceful community.

Count your blessings one by one

From the rising to the setting sun.

 

Let thankfulness abound

Not just today but all year round.

Live with a thankful heart

And kind words to others impart.

Be sure to always express

Your feelings of thankfulness.

 

So Much is Happening!

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Wow!  There are just so many things happening in my writing life right now!

First, and update of what’s been transpiring between the publisher I met at the conference and myself:  the Wednesday after the conference I received an email from her asking for my first three chapters.  I submitted them to her and Thursday I received an email saying she wants to publish my book if I haven’t already committed to publish with someone else!

However, I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do.  I needed more time, plus there is a contest I want to enter the story in, and the deadline is November 30th.  So, I asked the publisher if I could get back to her after the new year, and I was honest and up front about wanting to enter the contest.  She was very kind and agreed.  I am quite impressed with this publisher and am still praying for God’s guidance.

So, right now I am working hard to finish the story to submit before the contest deadline!

Meanwhile, I have another story niggling at the back of my brain that is itching to come out, so I am anxious to finish my current story and move on to the next one, which I have at least two, possibly three additional story ideas to make this a series.  I’ve written the ideas and a few other notes down to be sure I don’t forget anything.

Finally, the writing group I told you that I meet with on Thursdays, just added a new member to the group who is a professional editor!  I love sitting back, watching God move in my writing life, and just enjoying the ride!  I fully trust Him to guide me and my writing to wherever He wants us to go.

So, what exciting things are happening in your writing life?

Guest Posts

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Having people do guest posts on your blog is a great way to help them build their blog.  Maybe they are new to blogging or have been blogging for a while but haven’t really been noticed in the blogging world yet, so if you have a successful blog, you can help someone boost theirs by writing a guest blog for them.

This can also help you make your blog a bit more successful as well if you have your friend you write a post for include a link to your blog when they post your guest post.

It’s a great word for writers and/or bloggers to help one another.

Yesterday a friend of mine posted a guest post by me.  You can read it, and maybe learn something about me that you don’t know by going to Anecdotes from Along Life’s Road.  While you’re there, be sure to check out some of Jill’s original posts.

ACFW Keystone Christian Fiction Writers Conference

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I couldn’t have received a better greeting upon arriving at the conference — I was at the registration table to collect my name tag and folder, and I heard, “Kelly Barr.”  I turned and saw Mike Dellosso!  He gave me a hug and I told him it was great to hear about their upcoming adoption.

If you don’t know who Mike is, to me Mike is the first, what I consider fairly successful, author that I had a fifteen minute one-on-one appointment with at my very first writers’ conference.  He was so helpful and encouraging.  Since then I have been his Facebook friend and am a member of his Darlington Society.  I also did an interview with him on this very blog here if you would like to learn more about him.  I encourage you to go to Amazon and buy his latest ebook, Fear Mountain now and help him and his family raise the funds for their adoption.  I also highly recommend his book, Centrailia.  His books will keep you turning the pages.

Mike was our keynote speaker.  He presented us with wise words about how to keep writing and not give in to our fears and/or failures.  He used the example of a runner and left us with the scripture reference of Isaiah 43.  We need to be listening to the voice of God regardless of what anyone else says.

Mike also did a session on how to find time to write.  It was a very encouraging session with many things to think about.  The top two things I took away from this session were “Write what you’re passionate about.  The going will get rough and things will upset your schedule, so your passion is what will keep you going.”  And, “If you’re going to start something, finish it because as you go through the process, you will learn valuable lessons.”

Kelly Anne Liberto also did a session.  The title of her session was “Hiding God’s Word in Our Stories in a Post Christian World”.  She had some trouble with her computer at the beginning of her session and again later, so I think this may have caused her to lose her focus.  I have to say that I was disappointed with this session.  Based on the title, I was expecting her to explain how to write a Christian message into your story without using all of the Christian language, and I expected to receive some examples of how to do this.  Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that she adequately covered this, and I felt that a lot of what she did talk about was advice on how to lean on God as you prepare to write and as you write.

Dwight Kopp presented a workshop on “Characters and Chaos”.  He was a very energetic and enthusiastic speaker, which made this workshop very enjoyable.  He explained how important both characters and complications are to any story.  He made suggestions of great places to find ideas for stories, and he left me with a great mental picture, when he said something like, take an idea and play with it like playdough, experimenting with different complications and possible endings and eventually you’ll find a story worth writing.

My friend, Donna Smith, also did a workshop.  Her workshop was “Plotting for Pantsers”.  She gave us lots of information and suggested a couple of books, one of which I definitely want to get my hands on:  Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.  She said it is a very unique book and is great for pantsers.

The conference ended with a Panel Discussion.  I had never seen or participated in one of those before.  It was very educational, informational and enjoyable.  Nine people, consisting of some publishers, agents, editors, and authors sat up front and we were able to ask them questions on any writing topic for an hour.  They talked about writing trends, writing contracts, self-publishing and much more.

During the day, we also had the opportunity for 15 minute one-on-one appointments with agents, editors, authors, and publishers.  I met with an agent.  She was a very nice lady, but from what I knew of her in the past, she pretty much told me what I expected her to tell me, and her advice is not the advice I want to follow.  Later, I met with a publisher and that was a surprising experience.  I handed her my One Sheet, and instead of reading over that and talking to me about my story, she said, “Tell me your story.”  So, I gave a brief oral description of my plot line.  When I finished, she said, “I love it!”  Wow, I didn’t expect such an enthusiastic response.  She gave me a packet of information, explained her publishing and told me to contact her.

The day was quite enjoyable and I left feeling very encouraged about my writing.  Therefore, I thought the day was a success.

A Writers’ Conference!

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I am preparing and getting geared up and exciting for the American Christian Fiction Writers PA Chapter’s first one-day writers’ conference, known as the Keystone Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference!  You can find all of the details here.  If you are interested in writing Christian Fiction and are anywhere near State College, PA, I encourage you to sign up.  You can even still register at the door.

I am super excited about the seminars and I have two appointments — one with an agent and one with an editor.  I’m going to try pitching my first book.  I’m both nervous and excited about this.

I won’t be traveling to the conference alone.  I will be traveling with three other writers, so the trip should be fun.

Sharing with Other Writers is so Rewarding

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So much going on!

We’ve added another writer to our weekly writing group.  Meet Laura at Caffeinated Fiction Caffeinated Fiction.  We are so happy to have her.

Our weekly writing group has created an email chain that we are using to help keep each other accountable and to encourage one another.  We use this email chain to post our monthly writing word count goals, which we post daily or weekly.  We encourage each other to press on toward those goals.  We lift each other up if we don’t quite hit the mark.  We also share prayer requests so that we can pray for each other’s needs.  I really love having this group of ladies to meet with and to rely on.

I also enjoyed speaking with a fellow writer at church on Sunday.  She’s been writing for a long time and has reached a higher level of success than I have yet managed.  She has written much more nonfiction than fiction, but she has done some fiction as well.  We shared a bit about our writing experiences and our upcoming writing plans. She asked me about my current work in progress (WIP), and it was quite fun for me to talk to her about it because she asked for some specific details no one else has asked yet.  (i.e.  She asked how many characters are in my book.)

How are things going in your writing world?  I’d really love to hear about it.  I would really enjoy getting some comments in the comment box, telling me about your writing journey, whether it be successes or struggles.  I’d be happy to encourage you in your journey as I continue to travel mine.

Some News!

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Just an update on what is going on in my writing life:

1.  The editor of our local homeschool magazine contacted me about a month ago and asked me to write a couple of articles for the magazine.  So far, I have written one, which the editor was so pleased with, she told me to write something for her anytime.  My first article in this homeschool magazine has been published in the latest issue exactly as I wrote it!

2.  I just submitted a short true story, in first person, to Chicken Soup for the Soul.  I won’t hear anything for a couple of months, or, if they aren’t interested, not at all.  Of course, I hope to hear from them in a couple of months.

It is quite difficult to fit writing into my current schedule, but in three weeks, that should change, as we are dropping one of our homeschool activities because it has just become to much for us.  I am looking forward to having some more time to not only write, but accomplish some of my household duties that I fall behind in.

Have you published or submitted anything lately?  If you have, I’d love to hear about it.  Leave a comment.

Encouraging Young Writers

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As I have mentioned before, I love teaching writing to young people, especially those who are so interested in writing and eager to learn.

We had our homeschool co-op today and I am free during the 5th period.  One of my students came to sit with me and I was reading something that another student had written, but the young lady sitting with me asked if it was my story.  I told her it wasn’t and pulled out my story and handed it to her.

She’s been struggling with writing but she has a desire to learn how to write stories, and she wants me to assign specific homework!  So far this year, I’ve just told them to write a story and to keep it going as long as they can.  Most of the students are happy with that, but this young lady and a couple of other students want me to give them homework.  I promised I would come up with something for them for next week, but their stories are really good.  I hope they continue to work on them and finish them one day.

Back to this young lady, she read about four pages of my story and said, “Okay, I have an idea for my story now.  Don’t worry, I’m not stealing anything from you, but now that I read some of your story, I have an idea of how to write some of what I wasn’t sure about before.”  She took out her story and she wrote several paragraphs in the course of about a half hour, while I was working on a short piece that I plan to submit.  When I put my work away, she asked me a couple of questions about her story and I offered her some advice.  It was really nice to share this one-on-one time with her.

Here is a piece of advice I shared with my class:  If you begin writing a story and get stuck or decide you don’t like it, Don’t throw it away!  File it somewhere because you could get an idea that would help you finish the story, or you might want to use parts of that story (a character, setting, etc.) in another story.  You never know when something you wrote that you thought was worthless will become valuable.