Writing.Com General Discussion

Kathleen is right - none of my beta readers are writers.

My daughter (who is a visual artist) is my main Young Adult beta reader. She is incredibly honest and harsh.

One of the librarians here has offered to be my adult work beta reader. She is doing well so far. She is a reader, not a writer. The other main adult beta reader I use is a woman who works at the pub where I stay. The first attempt she was too nice and I told her I needed to know all the things wrong to make it sellable, so she went away, came back two weeks later, and had done a great job.

So, yes, no writers in my betas.

My editor used to be a former teacher, but health issues have stopped her being able to do it. I now use students at the local TAFE who are studying professional writing and editing (a course I did in 2010, and so have an "in"). They don't charge a huge amount, and sometimes don't charge at all if I give feedback on their editing.

And, again, I don't use alphas. I also don't use critique partners, but that's only because I struggle to find any where I live.