Beta Readers
For those who aren't familiar with the term, a beta reader is simply someone who will read your story before you post it to fiction lists, or to a website. He or she will look for spelling and grammar errors that a spellcheck might have missed, awkward phrases, dialogue that doesn't feel right, errors in canon...
Each reader has strengths and weakness, things they do or don't read for, but this is the idea. A writer and beta reader need to discuss together what the writer wants the reader to look for, and what the reader feels comfortable commenting on. One reader may be excellent with suggesting alternate grammar and phrasing, but isn't familiar enough with certain characters to comment on whether the author got them right or not -- so if you're concerned about whether Buffy sounds like Buffy, you may want to have someone else read it for that aspect. There is nothing wrong with having more than one beta reader for the same story, or having one person read one story, and using a different beta-reader for the next.
Below is a list of people who are willing to beta-read S/X stories, with details about their beta-reading styles. In their own words. (I.e, directly quoted...) It's strongly suggested, whether or not they say so in their individual profiles, that you contact them first, to discuss them reading your story, before you send the actual story.
If you would like to add your name
to this list, please let us know.
Annie
Strengths: Spelling and grammar, cannon details, finding plot holes/weaknesses, characterization
Weaknesses: British slang
Turnaround time: 2-4 days, but give me time if it's a series
Format: Preferably Microsoft Word
Annuniel
Strengths: British speech style and slang (am British, it helps!), spelling and grammar, characterisation, character-speak (well most of them).
Weaknesses: Remembering all the stuff that's happened in the series... I
missed sporadic ones and am unfamiliar with chunks of history.
Turnaround time: 24-48 hours, depending on the computer and its reliabilty. *Maybe* quicker on request.
Format: txt, microsoft word, email. NOT .pdf, or anything that doesn't work on Windows.
Brent
Strengths: Most Spike-speak, imagery, most season
going-ons/ setting stuffs, characterization,
main Angel cast @ any given moment
Weaknesses: some Xander-speak, remebering exact
details w/o lookup, some Spike-speak, sometimes
spelling and grammar, most demonology, latin
Turnaround time: short stories about 24 hrs, longer
ones, up to a week (provided I have internet access at
the time). Subject to change during school year.
Format: .txt, posted in email
Brynhild
Strengths: Grammar/spelling, plot flow, cannon (season 2 especially), Spike/Xander knowledge, original viewpoint with a knack for guessing what's going to happen. Not much makes me go squick, I can handle dark, character death, etc.
Weaknesses: accents, seasons 5/6/7 (I might've seen four episodes out of the entire season)
Turnaround time: One to three days, depending on schoolwork
Format: I think my email will take almost anything...
Notes: *shrugs* Fan of season 2, which tends to inspire darker Evil!Spike&Stripper!Xander, which I'm fine with. I also take light and fluffy. I like 'em all ^_^
Dragonmaster
Strengths: Grammer, Xander-speak, spelling, remembering what happened in the
show, POV (especially 1st person)
Weaknesses: British slang, some characterization (Buffy, Giles and Angel
mostly)
Turnaround time: Depends on whether I'm working late or not. Shorter fics,
usually a day or two. Longer fics and series can take up to a week, but
usually no more.
Format: Any. Shorter fics, try to send in mail body. Keep it simple, I guess.
DramaticalCat
Strengths: Spike- and Xander- speak and characterization and Spike/Xander conversations (helps in this pairing, apparently...), BtVS history (excepting end of s3 and most of s5). Grammer and speellin (grammar and spelling), plot-hole finding, POV correctness and...yeah. Other stuff. Ain't I perfect? *snerk*
Weaknesses: (End of) season 3 and season 5 history, for reasons unexplained. Knowing the name's of demons. PWP is outta the question, but I'll do whatever genre you throw at me. Um, 'cuz I'm nitpicky, long stories may take a while to get back to you.
Turnaround time: Depends on story length and if you have a deadline. Maybe a few hours if it's a short story (and depending if I'm online), a day or two if it's a moderate to long thing, and gimme a lot of time for a series.
Format: Microsoft Word for anything that's not a ficlette. I don't mind if you copy and paste ficlettes into the email, so long as its small.
DsM
Strengths: All creative writing, accuracy based on BtVS, accuracy within fic, series fic, and even non-fanfic writings.
Weaknesses: I'm a little slower, because I'm very, very nitpicky, but efficient. I have serious problems editing things IN ALL CAPS, Beginning In All Uppercase Letters, repeated run-on sentences that have no punctuation between sentences very commonly (ordinary mistakes OK), and the worst of characterization. I'll do my best on those, it'll just take up to three days longer to help.
Turnaround time: Shorter fics in a day or two, medium in less than a week, but long, series-fics in a week or more, depending on length.
Format: Paste into e-mail for shorter stories; readable in MS Word for longer.
Ellie
Strengths: Grammar, spelling, plot, characterization, and editing.
Weaknesses: I can't read stuff that's just quick, it has to be though and flowing. I like PWP's I just can't correct them. If it's NC-17 w/ a plot I can work it.
Turnaround time: I just depends on the story.
Format: Just send it in the E-mail, I can't download attachments.
Notes: I like to know about the story first. I will not take Xander/Spike threesomes, unless the other is Willow. No Wesley slashes, no Angel slashes, and no Willow slashes.
Erin
Strengths: Flow, spelling, spotting grammer errors
that distract from the story or keep it from sounding
right, Xander-speak and character, tenses
Weaknesses: nit-picky grammer, Spike's character and
English-type words
Turnaround time: Generally about 24 hours.
Sometimes RL and/or bitchy teachers with term papers
interfere and it takes a while. I'll let you know if
it'll take longer.
Format: Send as an attachment, in text format
please. My computer will vomit that which it doesn't
like the taste of. Its stomach is especially
sensitive to HTML and Word Documents.
Erin L.
Strengths: plot, description, dialogue, characterization, spelling, some grammar, detailed knowledge of BtVS.
Weaknesses: Not so big on the details of punctuation, AtS, or on Brit-speak.
Turnaround time: [E-mail before sending story, to discuss]
Format: .txt, .doc, .rtf, .html
References: My own fiction (Herc-Xena). You can see how I used to write and how I do now, the progress I've made (IMHO), and decide if you'd like me betaing your work.
Notes: Won't beta mpreg or songfic. I prefer Spike and Xander paired only with each other, but I'll take other pairings in there (most definitely including Angel/Spike or Angel/Xander), so long as Spike and Xander are together. I have no problem with het or f/f in a story.
Goddess D / Diana
Strengths: Technical, characterization, POV, wandering plot/plot holes
Turnaround time: 48 hrs., can do quick betas on special request
Format: Plain text in email or as attachment, .doc files fine if not too
big.
I like to establish pre-beta guidelines; please email me first to let me
know what you need, how long the story is, etc. I will let you know if I
can help you.
Highlander II
Strengths: Grammar, cannon, BtVS/AtS knowledge (tho, I'm a smidge sketchy on AtS S4), character 'voice' - best with Spike and Dawn, but can usually grab Xander and the others; Darla and Angel are my weakest, I think.
Weaknesses: Some British slang throws me off, so I'll ask if I'm lost.
Turnaround time: Gonna say 2 days to a week, but I'll notify if it'll be longer.
Format: .txt, .rtf, or a Word document (.doc)
Notes: Not big on the animal sex; don't like 'mind control' fic - everyone's gotta be in it b/c they wanna be; other than that, I'm game for just about anything.
J Calanthe
Turnaround time: varies with my schedule. Please arrange with me in
advance if you're wanting a very short turnaround, otherwise just let
me know what you expect and I'll let you know if that's not possible.
Format: prefer plain .txt or HTML - no M$Word, cuz M$ is evil.
Feedback provided: pretty much anything you request. I'm especially
good with anything grammar-related.
Kate
Strengths: Inconcievably nit-picky. Really quite picky. About grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and proper writing. I read too much (if that's
possible) so I am chock-full of useless information that may or may not come
in handy. I do good characterization and am picky about POVs. I like most
types of fics, but it's really the series that I like working on.
Weaknesses: I haven't seen season 7 completely, and what I did see, I
didn't really like. Also, I am fully capable of looking up cannon
references online, but I tend not to know them off the top of my head.
Also, people tell me I can be too harsh sometimes when editing. I'm sorry,
so if you want me to focus on specific things, then inform me first. I also
have a strange sense of humor. And I don't like songfics. It has to be
really well-written for me to like it. So, it happens, but rare.
Turnaround time: I read fast. About a day or two, more if you want in-depth
editing.
Format: Word preferably, but .txt is ok and e-mail is acceptable for small
fics (less than a page).
Kenovay
Strengths: Spelling, grammar, flow of story, plot. I'm not just English, I'm also a Londoner, so can be helpful with Spike and Giles. Good on mythology and ancient cultures.
Weaknesses: If you're worried about canon, don't come to me. I really mean it. So long as the story's good I'll ignore/won't notice canon problems. Also American culture, obviously.
Turnaround time: Can't give any exact figures. I'm a very fast reader, though, so as long as I get it and don't have a pile of work about a mile high, 3-4 days should be max, even for really long stories.
Format: Anything that can be read in Word, plus must be able to save it onto a disk.
Leanne
Strengths: Flow, spelling, grammar, characterization, canon.
Weaknesses: Character's speech written with a dialect.
Turnaround time: Depends on my schedule.
Stories of 10k on average have a turnaround within 24 hours. Over 100k,
within 2 weeks.
Format: .txt, .doc, .html. The format you send is usually the one you
get back :)
If you require a specific type of beta, just email me with the details and
I will let you know if I am able to help.
Libco
Strengths: Grammar, spelling, plot, characterization, and editing.
Weaknesses: Seasons 1 and 2 of Angel (ie Doyle, Penn, Lindsey)
Turnaround time: It just depends on the story, how
much time I have and your needs.
Format: Word is best but email is okay.
Notes: I hate super angsty endings and people I like dying.
listener
Strengths: Andrew-voice, knowing when character voices sound off (even the
British ones), grammar, spelling, knowing good smut from bad smut.
Weaknesses:Angel canon, demon names, remembering stuff exactly without
looking it up.
Turnaround time: A day, assuming I'm not busy.
Format: txt, rtf, Word, or whatever.
Notes: The longer the story, the longer it'll take to beta. I prefer PWP to
angst. The gayer and smuttier it is, the more fun I'll have reading it.
Lovessong
Strengths: Grammar, sentence structure (I can make ugly sentences into
pretty ones, it should be a parlor trick), characterization. I have seen
all of the episodes, but many of them only once. So I'm not faultless on
canon, but I should catch more flagrant violations. I am very good with
grammar; I've worked for 3 years at a university writing center, editing
papers.
Weaknesses:If your story is long and plotty, I probably won't catch
plot inconsistencies. I'm better with character inconsistencies. I'm
American, and thus won't be very helpful for Brit-speak.
Turnaround time: A day or two for short fics, under a week for medium
fics. I'd rather not do long fics, you'd be better off with someone with
more of an eye for detail over a long period.
Format: MS Word attachments (and let me know if you have a weird version
of Word that doesn't like formatting tricks, because when I edit I use
colors and boldface unless told otherwise).
Notes: Please, no character death or unrelenting angst.
Michelle
Strengths: Grammar, cannon, Buffy/Angel knowledge, research, hyperactive immagination
Weaknesses: accents, slight squickiness to Giles sex
Turnaround time: One to three days, depending on my location
Format: .txt, .rtf, or a Word document (.doc)
Notes: No buggering of ducks, or any animals for that matter. Otherwise anything goes. I've been doing this for about four years now, so I've got experience.
Morganlefae
Strengths: spelling, syntax
Weaknesses: AtS canon
Turnaround time: Two days.
Format: anything except very recent mac formats please
Notes: french/english speaking
Mwrgana
Strengths: British so can help with Spike-speak (let's exterminate "Cor!" ). Grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary. I also pick up on sloppy time plotting and confusing POV changes, wandering plots and plot holes. Good general knowledge (eg -
S2 canon: someone should have pointed out to Joss that you can't carbon-date a bloody rock!).
Turnaround time: Generally 48 hours; negotiable.
Format: Umm, most, but keep it simple like me.
Nowt
Strengths: Now I know that Spike's supposed to have left London in the early 1900's never to return, but if anyone wants help getting him to sound less Dick Van Dyke and more EastEnders I might be able to help. Grammar and spelling I can do as well.
Weaknesses: Not so hot on keeping canon details straight - memory like a very holey sieve.
Turnaround time: Hmm, 2 days I reckon.
Format: I'll read pretty much anything and I don't think format matters - if I can't open it I'll let you know.
Sophia
Strengths: Grammar/spelling.
Weaknesses: Knowledge about AtS, if your story also deals with those characters.
Turnaround time: Two or three days.
Format: .txt, .rtf, or a Word document (.doc)
Notes: Won't read main character death (i.e. Spike or Xander), and prefer not to receive stories with Xander as a vampire.
Spuzz
Strengths: Grammar, Xander voice, knowledge of BtVS
Weaknesses: Uhhh, not so much weakness as I'm not confident in Spike voice, AtS knowledge and sentance structure.
Turnaround time: Two days.
Format: Word doc., .txt
Notes: I do not do Mpreg., or anything kinda silly like that.
Willa
Strengths: Dialogue, grammar, punctuation, Brit-Speak, Xander-babble, humor
Weaknesses: RL may sometimes slow down my turnaround time. It's best to ask if this is a good time to have a piece beta'd.
Turnaround time: On a good day? 24-48 hours. On a bad day - 3 - 4 days.
Format: If small enough, enclosed in e-mail; if too long, attached in Word or WordPad.
