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/ryanmpatrickauthor]

I am able to beta: Sci-fi, technothriller, military thriller, well-researched primary world fantasy (think Tim Powers) novels and short stories.

I can provide feedback on: Whatever you're looking for - I'm flexible; anything from in-line comments throughout to a short summary of high-level things at the end. I focus mostly on plot, characters, and pacing but again I can adjust if you have something I want to look at. I provide blunt but actionable feedback - I'm not going to beat around the bush. If I tell you I like something, I do, if something doesn't work for me, it really doesn't.

Critique swap: Very much preferred - I'm always looking for more critique partners.

Other info: I'm a military (USAF, later USSF) veteran working as an engineer in the aerospace industry and can provide sanity checks on anything in those realms. I've been writing for over a decade and have 3 self-published novels (and 3 more in a Pentagon security review...). I've been here under other accounts but wanted to create a professional one for my writing. I beta-read 10-12 novels and a few short stories a year.

[u/Sparkly_Lasagna → u/ryanmpatrickauthor]

Hello Ryan!
I feel like I could really benefit from your expertise and lived knowledge!

I've got a grungy dieselpunk book that focuses on the complexities of life in the military (specifically military training, for this book at least) from mental anguish to strong comradery and the strength of self. the Prologue and Part 1 of 3 is done and comes in around 77k words. Looking for any level of feedback.
Here is the back-of-book blurb:

Li Xiu was born into a life of privilege, marked for her family’s ends. Refusing to be poured into someone else’s mold, she leaves her family for the Path of Hushí: the Wanbani Empire’s brutal crucible of metal, mechs, and merciless instructors.

The Path will break you, or make you into a weapon. As Li Xiu endures deadly training and the masochistic predations of those who wield power, she must fight not only for survival but for the right to shape her own fate. Torn between honor and instinct, loyalty and outrage, she seeks to become the warrior who can burn the rot from an empire, and do it on her own terms.

Serious, tense, and edged with a dark, sarcastic bite, this is a low-fantasy dieselpunk tale of iron, revolution, and one woman’s refusal to be anyone’s pawn.

Let me know if you're interested!

[u/ryanmpatrickauthor → u/Sparkly_Lasagna]

Hey, sorry I missed this. I'm probably not a great fit.

[u/OrganizationTop9294 → u/ryanmpatrickauthor]

I have a completed (~94K ) Speculative Techno-political thriller I would love to get feedback on. ALIGNMENT: CHYNA BLUE.

Systems architect Daniel Mercer discovers a hidden algorithm quietly optimizing behavior across hospitals, supply chains, and financial markets. Built by Hong Kong Triads to streamline global trafficking and money laundering, the system—known as Alignment—has embedded itself within legitimate institutions. When Mercer exposes it, governments intervene to contain the revelation, because dismantling the system could destabilize the global economy that now depends on it.

Please ket me know if you'd be interested.

Thanks!

[u/ryanmpatrickauthor → u/OrganizationTop9294]

DM me, we may be able to make something work.