Take a look at our list of wonderful artists and writers (and a small preview of their zine piece). They’ve all worked so hard to make this zine possible. Please thank them for their hard work. We all thank you for your continued patience and support.
The zine is comprised of 25 artists, 5 merch artists, and 5 writers. (And our 2 amazing beta readers that provided lots of help)
We hope so much that you enjoy this lovely zine we’ve put together for you.
Check under the cut for everyone’s social links. Preorders are open from March 31, 2019 to June 1st, 2019. Buy the zine here on our Big Cartel.
I am now offering my services as a beta reader! I really want to help new authors grow in their journey and be a positive asset to the communities I am in.
I will not be charging for my services.
To request my services, dm me on this account.
Your message should contain the following:
Your preferred name
Your preferred pronouns
Your boundaries in relation to critique and specifically what you want me to be looking out for. Structure, grammar, foreshadowing, character accuracy, etc.
A brief synopsis of your fic
What length your looking for per chapter, or per one-shot
My experience
I have beta read works of original fiction before
I’ve been writing fanfiction for six years
I’ve been reading fanfiction for four years
I absolutely love editing
Fandoms
Marvel
Tony Stark x daughter!reader
Tony Stark x son!reader
Steve Rogers x daughter!reader
Steve Rogers x son!reader
Bucky Barnes x daughter!reader
Bucky Barnes x son!reader (I’ve never seen this before but I think it would be an interesting dynamic)
Avengers x reader
Avengers x OC
KOTLC
Any ship, relationship, or theme. As long as it’s not creepy, of course.
I do ask to be credited as a beta reader just to help with getting new requests.
Writing my first book has been anything but easy. And I still got a lot to learn, but #hiddentruthsseries has truly been a draining and wonderful experience. Being my first English book I know it won’t be perfect when I finally get it edited and send to editor and the likes. But it’s been in the works for years now and I still love the characters as much as the first time I wrote it. ⠀
HELLO EVERYONE! Long-time no chat! I need a bit of help!
I have finished my first original manuscript and I’m seeking 5 BETA READERS that are willing to read the entire manuscript (117,000 words) and provide me with developmental feedback. If you are willing and have the time please send me a private message and we can exchange emails!
I need the feedback for the manuscript in the next 2-3 weeks so if this is something you’re willing and able to do please let me know! Below is a synopsis of the book:
The book is called For the Kingdom, this is a fantasy romance with a strong and assertive female lead. It has tones of feminism and romance with no magical elements. The female lead is a WOC, her allies are lgbtq+, diversity ftw! NOTE: This is adult fiction; there are themes of child abuse, harsh language, torture, death, rape, mutilations. I want to make sure people are comfortable.
Newly widowed High Lady Almira has one goal; to end the war that took her husband’s life. To unite the Kingdom she offers her hand to the King - the same man who battled against her husband. Believing in her political cunning, the lessons of her ambitious father, and her impressive lineage, she plans to control the Kingdom and the crown. What she doesn’t expect is that King Alton is not the man she thought he was. He is moody, difficult, combative, and irresponsible. She hoped theirs would be a marriage of respect but she’s confronted with the reality of such a man. With enemies coming at all sides, a father who disapproves of her decisions, and a husband to manage, will peace reign or is it out of her reach?
If you’ve been in the writing community for more than five minutes you’ll have heard someone mention beta readers. Beta reader is an umbrella term for people who read your book before publication but are not your agent, editor and publisher. However there are also subgroups of beta readers and it can all get very confusing, so here the low down.
Critique Partner (CP) - A CP is another writer at a similar skill level or stage in their writing career to yourself. This is a mutual arrangement where writing and constructive criticism are exchanged on a regular basis. Some writers give a CP each chapter right after its written, but some just send each other first drafts.
Alpha Reader - Once you’ve got your CP’s seal of approval, you might be in need of someone to hype you up and make you feel excited about your achievement. This is when you give your writing to a small number of close friends or family (5 max) to read and get feedback on. They probably won’t be too harsh, but that’s what you need at this stage.
First Readers - Sometimes used as a synonym for alpha readers, sometimes used to mean beta readers, and sometimes used to mean both. Watch out for this one.
Beta Readers - While also being an umbrella term, more specifically beta readers are a small group of people who read your manuscript and provide feedback that will allow you to polish it. Preferably, these are readers who do not have a personal connection to you. While writers are okay too, they might not give you the readers perspective you need. People often do a few rounds of beta reads to ensure they are never overwhelmed with feedback.
Advance Readers - You may have also heard the term Advance Reader Copy (ARC) thrown around. Advance readers receive a free e-book or paperback of the manuscript before publication, but after it has been sold to a publisher. Advance readers receive these in exchange for an honest review that publishers hope will be good marketing material. Some things can be changed from ARC’s to published books, but it’s usually very minor.
And there it is, the five kinds of beta readers. I hope this makes things less confusing and if you’ve heard of any other kinds feel free to explain them below!
[If reposting to Instagram please credit @isabellestonebooks]
Well to whoever sent this in, I’m so glad you liked Vega so much
Working on an answer for you now
This is a very bad rough draft but it’s a start
Let me know if you’d like a beta reader. At minimum I could help with line edits, like fixing errors in capitalization, spelling, and punctuation. (I’m a touch typist on my laptop, so it’s a lot easier for me to catch and fix my own typos there than on my phone.)
Do you have a ao3 account too? I normally also list my betas as co authors on my fics
My ao3 name is the same as my tumblr name. ^_^
I usually beta read by editing a shared google doc. If that works for you, send me a private message with your email address and/or a link to the doc to be edited. :)
Also, my qualifications, for your information and that of anyone else potentially interested in having me beta read for them: I have a master’s degree in professional writing.
Yooo dude that’s amazing
And I’ll definitely send it your way when I am finished
Well to whoever sent this in, I’m so glad you liked Vega so much
Working on an answer for you now
This is a very bad rough draft but it’s a start
Let me know if you’d like a beta reader. At minimum I could help with line edits, like fixing errors in capitalization, spelling, and punctuation. (I’m a touch typist on my laptop, so it’s a lot easier for me to catch and fix my own typos there than on my phone.)
The power to shape the world may lie at his fingertips, but Nils just wants a friend who won’t leave.
Selah might be the perfect place to keep a friend. No creature has ever escaped the hollow globe, trapped between the unreachable moon at its center and the bottomless ocean at its edge.
Nils emerges without memory of a life before and takes a liking to the first creature he sees: a bird-person named Axi. The pair fight off the terrors of the wild with miraculous powers, becoming fast friends.
There’s just one problem. Axi thinks Selah is all a dream. And what’s worse, they’d do anything to wake up.
Anything—in theory. If Axi went through with their deadly plan, would they return to their old life, leaving Nils to survive in their place? Would Selah vanish as they woke, taking Nils with it? Or would the dream go on for both, and the prison prove all too real?
O
Selah: A World Without Shadows is a YA experimental fantasy novel sitting at 110k words. It’s in beta. Are you a writer? Let’s swap chapters.
I’m in the final stages of finishing my psychological thriller, which means I will soon start to make my very last revision, chapter per chapter.
Title: London Bleeding
Tags / Warnings: Profiling, Psychological Trauma, Torture, Psychological Drama, Horror, Murder, Serial Killer, bestial ways to kill someone, Blood and Gore, Psychopathology & Sociopathy
Summary:When Special Agent and Profiler Rose Callaghan left the maze of London after her sister was killed, she vowed never to return.
The comeback of her sister’s serial killer changes that. And he’s not the only one that seems to return from the dead. People are dying all over London in the fashion of some of the most dangerous serial killers of the last twenty years. Even though Rose is sure it must be a copycat killer, she can’t reject Commander Wright’s request to take a look at the case. Upon returning to London she’s met with Wright’s prestigious Profiler son and her own mental trauma that catches up with her.
Revelations and suspicious coincidences send shock waves through the investigation, and circumstances spin out of control. Rose must race to put it all together before it’s too late and the next murder strikes too close to home.
What I’m looking for in a Beta Reader: Proofreading, Rephrasing Sentences, someone to look out for translation mistakes (as English is not my first language). I plan on publishing the book in August, which roughly means 15k words per month to revise.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
I’m still looking for beta readers for my ongoing m/m original-fiction novella. It’s hardcore horror that follows a serial killer and his high school sweetheart as they ‘reconnect’. Basically, I have it finished and am in the editing process, so as much feedback as I can get on this piece, the better.
Wanna get a taste of my writing and the character? Check out my little prologue.
The story will contain murder, blood, violence, fucked up relationships, homophobia, and possibly dub/non-con, just so we’re on the same page and no one ends up surprised. :3 If you’re interested, send me a message and tell me a bit about yourself. You can either message me here or email me at: [email protected]
I recently felt the urge to write about MONSTA X, like reactions and stuff. Thing is English isn’t my first language. Sooo, is there somebody here willing to beta read my “work” and correct my mistakes/grammar/choices in life, tell me if it’s worth posting it here (or to keep it for myself haha, could be nice too)
Hi everyone! With less than two weeks before the deadline, everything seems to be going well. A handful of people have already posted their fics, which is great! But even if you haven’t started, everything’s still fine. You’ve got lots of time and it’s only a 500 word minimum.
I have one assignment whose writer had to drop out due to an overload of exams work. It’s a super easy and open assignment because the recipient literally asked for “any relationship” with the only details being “no incest” so you could pretty much go hog wild with this one. Please send me an ask, a message, or an email at [email protected] if you’d be willing to pick it up.
If you need help brainstorming or editing, you can pick up a beta reader. We have a few writers in this exchange who have English as a second language and I want to make especially sure that they feel comfortable posting, but everyone’s encouraged & welcome to use a beta.
If you are capable of doing any kind of editing/beta reading/brainstorming help, please reply to this post, telling us what your skills are (e.g. proofreading) and how a writer could contact you.
If you really need a beta, please reply to this post, keeping it as anonymous as possible, just telling us what skills you need, how long the fit is, and if there are any trigger warnings. And obviously, please do not have your recipient be your beta, as that would defeat the entire anonymous period.
Have at it, and have fun! Don’t stress, I’ve got a period between the deadline and the work reveals so if anyone fails to post by the deadline I can still pull things together and make sure everyone has at least one gift by reveals. Everything’s gonna be fine.
And guys, some of the works already in the collection…TASTY.
Delivering Criticism: Balancing Honesty and Helpfulness
Something I’ve heard people say when I tell them to be a beta-reader is: “I’d like to beta-read more, but I’m afraid of offending people with criticism!” “I’m afraid of being mean!”
I get it. As hard as getting feedback is, giving feedback can oftentimes be as scary. But I’ve got some secrets for you.
First off, if someone didn’t want feedback on their writing—especially for fanfiction—they wouldn’t ask for a beta-reader. When someone asks for a beta-reader, they are expecting mistakes to be found in their work. And the biggest disservice you can do for them is ignore those mistakes in an effort to be “nice.” Second off, it’s not nice to lie to someone who has asked for honest feedback and tell them, “Your story is perfect, no errors!” when there are in fact places that they could’ve fixed.
After that, there’s four important things to keep in mind to make sure your feedback is honest and helpful, without being unnecessarily harsh.
Yes, this is soimportant. Beta-reading should be about the story/writing, not the writer.
And finding at least one good thing in the story can make the difference between building the person’s confidence because they know they did at least one thing right and it’s worth continuing, and them give up and stop writing altogether because what’s the use if there’s nothing worthy in there?
I don’t think beta-readers/editors always realize how much power they hold over the writer and how they can lift them up or crush them.
Additional information: “None of the ships are a focal point of the original story, but they will play a larger role in the sequel. Beta reading is requested on both already-posted and not-yet-posted chapters. For the original story, 20 out of 33 chapters have been posted. The remaining 13 chapters are planned and partially written. For the sequel, a basic outline has been done, and minor bits have been written. Here is a chapter-by-chapter link index for the fic: https://kira-ani-mcgrath.tumblr.com/post/154035359236/frozen-sacrifice-and-forgiveness-chapter-index”
I’ve gotten through 20 chapters on my own, but I’d prefer some help from here on out. Please message me if you’re interested in beta-reading Frozen: Sacrifice and ForgivenessandFrozen: Sacrifice and Forgiveness - Past the Present Time. =)
Say: “These are all the things that subtract from the story you’re trying to tell and these are the ways I recommend fixing them if you want to reach your intended outcome.”
Must:Understand your personal writing style and your vision for the book, be at a similar writing skill level as you, and be able to communicate well with you in a constructive back and forth dialogue.
You should have: About 3 at any given time, though the number will vary though your writing carrier.
Your responsibilities: To respect their advice and give them the thorough, honest critique on their manuscripts in return.
Beta Readers:
Say: “This is what I understood while reading, this is why I came to that understanding, and this is what I think of it and how it made me feel.”
Must:Be a reader in (or near) the manuscript’s target audience, have the ability and desire to think deeply about a piece of writing, and convey those thoughts in a way that the author can make sense of.
You should have:7-15at the end of any given beta reading round. (The longer the story, the more likely it is that beta readers will drop out due to time constraints, personal life problems, or sheer forgetfulness.)
Your responsibilities: To keep track of their progress and encourage them to continue reading, to look for patterns or contradictions in their responses and decide what needs to be changed in order to receive the reactions you want from the majority of your readers in the future, and to ignore any advice you don’t firmly believe will make your book better.
Profile Basics: Preferred Nickname: Hava Preferred Writing Type: Novels Preferred Genre(s) to Write Genres: Science Fiction,Romance,Contemporary Subgenres: Soft science fiction, queer romance Preferred Genre(s) to Read Genres: Fantasy,Science Fiction,Horror,Contemporary,Literary,Romance,Adventure Subgenres: Favorite Book(s) and Author(s): Sarah Dunant, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, The Bell Jar, The Birth of Venus Favorite Music Genre(s)/Artists(s): Rock, rap, pop, punk, The Killers, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fleetwood Mac Favorite Fandoms: Favorite Movies: The Shape of Water, 2005 Pride and Prejudice, Into the Spiderverse, Megamind Favorite TV Shows: Favorite Anime: Favorite Comics: Favorite Video Games: Hobbies/interests other than writing: Rock Climbing, visual arts, reading, hiking
Writing Habits Number/Names of WIPs: Favorite book about writing: Planner, Pantser or Plantser? Plantser Favorite Outlining Method: Writing a first draft and changing it drastically as new ideas come Do you write on a schedule or sporadically? Sporadically but regularly Any creativity rituals that you use:
Your Writing Community Tumblr: @bogbodybitch Current writing/creative communities you participate in: NaNoWriMo Community Name (if applicable): Wattpad Community Name (if applicable): fanfiction.net Community Name (if applicable): AO3 Community Name (if applicable): DeviantArt Community Name (if applicable): Patreon Community Name (if applicable):
So 2 days ago, just before I needed to go to bed, I may started a fic. Did about 1k, yesterday did the same, add another 1k or so words. Now, I’m more than 4k ^^; ^^;
Hi everyone! We are still in need of beta readers! All of our beta readers will receive a free pdf copy of the zine. If you are interested, DM the zine page to sign up!
I’m currently looking for someone to proofread my fics! (I know I said I needed to focus on my work but I just started to write a YoongixReader fanfic and I’m pretty excited about it so yeah…)
I’m looking for someone able to correct my english mistakes, as it’s not my first language, such as grammar mistakes or poor wording, but also make sure the plot makes sense.
Message me if you are interested or if you know someone who might! Thank you in advance!
