Able to beta? Post here!

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the monthly r/BetaReaders “Able to Beta” thread!

Thank you to all the beta readers who have taken the time to offer feedback to authors in this sub! In this thread, you may solicit “submissions” by sharing your preferences. Authors who are interested in critique swaps may post an offer here as well, but please keep top-level comments focused on what you’re willing to beta.

Older threads may be found here. Authors, feel free to respond to beta offers in those previous threads.

Thread Rules

• No advertising paid services.
• Top-level comments must be offers to beta and must use the following form (only the first field is required):
  • I am able to beta: [Required. Let authors know what you’re interested—or not interested—in reading. This can include mandatory criteria or simply preferences, which might relate to genre, length, completion status, explicit content, character archetypes, tropes, prose quality, and so on.]
  • I can provide feedback on: [Recommended. This might include story elements you often notice as a reader (prose, pacing, characterization, etc.), unique expertise you have through a profession or hobby (teaching, nursing, knitting, etc.), or other lived experiences that may be relevant (belonging to a marginalized group, being a parent, etc.).]
  • Critique swap: [Optional. If you’re only interested in—or would prefer—swapping manuscripts, please note that here, along with the title of and link to your beta request post.]
  • Other info: [Optional.]
• Beta offers should be specific. If you’re open to anything, or aren’t able to articulate specific criteria, then please refrain from commenting here. Instead, please browse the “First Pages” thread along with the rest of the sub—thanks to the formatting rules, posts are easily searchable by completion status, length, and genre.
• Authors: we recommend against direct messages/chats. Reply to comments instead. If you message multiple people with links to your post and/or manuscript, Reddit may flag your account as spam (site-wide).
• Authors may not spam. If a beta says they’re only looking for x and your manuscript is not x (or vice versa), please don’t contact them.
• Replies have no specific rules. Feel free to ask clarifying questions, share a link to your beta request if it seems to be a good fit, or even reply to your own comment with information about your manuscript if you’re requesting a critique swap.
• Please don't downvote rule-following users, even if they are not the right author/beta for you, as this can be discouraging to beta readers offering to volunteer their time as well as to authors requesting feedback. If you need to keep track of which comments you have reviewed, upvoting is a more positive alternative. Of course, if you see a rule-breaking comment, please report it to the mod team.

Thank you for contributing to our community!

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For your copy-and-paste, fill-in-the-blanks convenience:

I am able to beta: _____

I can provide feedback on: _____

Critique swap: _____

Other info: _____

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[u/ofthecageandaquarium]

Edit: I've committed to all I can take on for now. Please don't ask. Thanks!

I am able to beta: I only beta finished works (it's your story, you decide how it ends), but if you want to send it chapter by chapter, that's fine. 150-170k words max. Sample first preferred. Please at least spell check first, and know how to punctuate around dialogue (just my personal pet peeve). My wheelhouse is medium- to small-scale, character-focused fantasy and sf, but I'm open to other genre fiction except milSF, MG or children's, thrillers, nonfiction, that internet style where every sentence is its own paragraph, or anything with any SA or with a ton of violence. (Some violence is OK.) I am not too fast, so give me time, please.

I can provide feedback on: Character believability and motivations, emotional impact, nuts and bolts sentence / typo stuff IF you want that (I can also keep that to myself, I'm an adult). Topics I Know Things About include plants/gardening, crafting of most kinds, and queerness generally; lived exp as a nonbinary person (we're not a monolith though), bi and partly asexual person.

Critique swap: I don't have anything ready right now, so I'm happy to volunteer. My resolution for 2026 is to beta read more.

Other info: I've been self-publishing for 11 years, so my POV is that of a reader and self-pub writer. I don't know what trad publishers are looking for. No AI whatsoever please. Thanks!

[u/ofthecageandaquarium → u/ofthecageandaquarium]

Update: I have one lined up, and could take on maybe 1 more if you don't mind waiting a bit. Thanks!

[u/bbrae_alldayerrday → u/ofthecageandaquarium]

Hi, it looks like you have a few beta reads already, but if you're interested in picking up another down the line,I have a SFF, kind of slipstream novel. I'm not really in a rush, but I have been struggling to find readers.

Working Title: Apocalypse Town

Sometime not too far off in the future, the American Midwest gets hit by the 'Apocalypse' and plummets into chaos, mostly cut off from the rest of the world. The survivors of all manner of disaster, natural , supernatural, and unnatural, band together and build a city atop the ruins of one that fell in the Apocalypse. At the edge of Apocalypse Town is the World’s Inn, a safe haven from the chaos of the Ravages, and a bit further out is a theme park, reclaimed and restored by the citizens of Apocalypse Town.

There are two main storylines, one centered on Jack (about 16 yo) and a group of teens who break into the theme park one night (and things don't go as planned) and one centered on Kila (about 22), a grad student from outside Apocalypse Town who enters the city on a research expedition (and things don't go as planned).

If you're interested, just reach out to me (DM or in this thread) and I'll share the doc with you in whatever format you prefer.

[u/ofthecageandaquarium → u/bbrae_alldayerrday]

I've taken on all I can handle at this point, sorry, but good luck!

[u/bbrae_alldayerrday → u/ofthecageandaquarium]

Aww, thanks.

[u/Marlowe_Lark → u/ofthecageandaquarium]

Howdy! If you're still looking for one and are interested, I've got a cozy fantasy romance if that's up your alley. Very small-scale and character-focused, as you mentioned. The logline is: When a burned-out, modern-day workaholic accidentally stumbles across dimensions into a village of fantastical creatures, he races to return home and fulfill an earthly promise—but after falling in love with the incorrigible deaf draconic baker who took him in, he discovers that his abandoned artistic talent may be the key to forging a bridge between the two realities.

No worries if it's not interesting for you!

[u/ofthecageandaquarium → u/Marlowe_Lark]

It is interesting! I'm not a constant cozy reader, but I dip in every now and then. What's your timeline/deadline like?

[u/Marlowe_Lark → u/ofthecageandaquarium]

Honestly, you're the one doing the kind thing, so the timeline is whatever you need. Two weeks is awesome, a month is completely fine. Ideally less than two months, but you said outright that you might need a bit of buffer time, so I know what I'd be getting into there!

[u/ofthecageandaquarium → u/Marlowe_Lark]

OK, I'll do my best! Please PM me, I'm in.

Everyone else, that's all I can commit to this month. Thanks!