Author Topic: What are beta readers?  (Read 21541 times)

Offline Fox

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #15 on: October 13, 2008, 02:14:08 AM »
real quick look up

1975 was his first book salems lot


The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982)
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
(six fricking year hiatus)
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
(accident)
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)

So I was wrong about the accident stopping production, we had a six year wait after the cliffhanger for whatever reason.




Well there you go- thats spread out over nearly twenty years.
I thought King mentioned the Gunslinger as one of his earliest works, even though he didn't publish it first.  Maybe I'm wrong, I haven't read the series, or anything about King since I finished the Dark Tower.
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Offline El Diablo

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #16 on: October 13, 2008, 02:20:18 AM »
Try living thru those 20 years as your favorite author takes a vacation for six years after a cliffhanger.
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Offline Fox

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #17 on: October 13, 2008, 02:22:04 AM »
Try living thru those 20 years as your favorite author takes a vacation for six years after a cliffhanger.

Admittedly I wasn't there for the entire 20 years, because I'm not even that old yet.  But I was there for the six year break between WIzard's Glass and Wolves of the Calla.

Anyway, my point was JB doesn't, or at leas hasn't, take several year long breaks.
And I would love to be a beta reader for him.
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Offline El Diablo

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #18 on: October 13, 2008, 02:31:12 AM »
Good for you.

Me? I'l wait till I get he whole book and re-read it as a whole a few times.

Altho, I did learn one thing about the JB books. I have to slow down and actually pay attention, because I missed details that actually incorporate to his endgasm.

Rereading fool moon right now.
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Offline jeno

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #19 on: October 13, 2008, 02:40:41 AM »
:::waves hand around:::  Pick me, pick me, pick me!!!





and yes, I am totally that girl who answers everything in class. But I try and make up for it by hiding in the back row.  ;D
« Last Edit: October 13, 2008, 02:43:28 AM by jeno »
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Offline the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #20 on: October 13, 2008, 02:50:34 AM »
Dark tower came in  halfway thru his career and had a long hiatus (I think it was when he went nuts after his incident with the drunk driver) . He then powered out the rest of the story fairly quickly, and closed it with a really stupid ending.

Oi ! Some of us loved that ending.
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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #21 on: October 13, 2008, 06:50:19 AM »
Oi ! Some of us loved that ending.

Really... why?

BTW, I'm serious, not snarky here.  I really don't understand what was to like about it.  Should this question be moved to the Media Favorites channel?
« Last Edit: October 13, 2008, 06:54:33 AM by mythcantor »

Offline Shecky

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #22 on: October 13, 2008, 11:09:02 AM »
Actually, I don't envy them.

I was furious about the length of time it took For Stephen King to actually finish the little cliffhanger ending of "The Waste Lands". It would be far worse to have to wait to get chapters that could change from JB.

It's not so much a question of "chapters that could change" as it is of chapters that dribble in every now and then because the man's freaking busy. I've spent my whole life at least being able to sit down and devour a whole book in one to four sittings - you know, not having my reading interrupted at the end of every chapter - and chopping it up into a chapter every X number of days makes it a very unenviable form of reading.

This pretty much explains why I STILL always buy the book - the experience just ain't the same.
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Offline jeno

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #23 on: October 13, 2008, 02:24:48 PM »
So in terms I can understand- it's like beta-ing a WIP, only one with better writing quality and a guarantee that said WIP will actually be finished ?   :)
You think you know how this story is going to end, but you don't. -Christopher Moore

The kraken stirs. And ten billion sushi dinners cry out for vengeance. -Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Offline Shecky

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #24 on: October 13, 2008, 03:35:30 PM »
Yes. Unless it's Cool WIP.
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Offline JRBobC

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #25 on: October 13, 2008, 04:03:44 PM »
Yes. Unless it's Cool WIP.

*whacks Shecky with rolled up newspaper*
Bad Pun.

Something else that should be said about the betas is they like to spread the pain around.  Or as I like to call them teasing A-holes, bastards (with a British accent), etc. ;D. You get the idea. :D
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Offline Shecky

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #26 on: October 13, 2008, 04:12:46 PM »
Wrong. It was a very good pun, thank you.

Imagine this: You get that book you've been waiting for. You sit down with it... and get told you won't get to see anything past the first chapter until you go over that first chapter with a fine-toothed comb and spell out exactly what you like and why, what you don't like and why, and every little nuance that even seems a little off to you, not to mention typos, funky grammar and consistency issues, as well as too-frequent repetition or insufficiently-clear references. And do it NOW. Once you're done with that, you have to look at what the others saw and suggested and respond to that.

Now that everyone's finally done with that chapter, wait a few days - the next one will come sooner or later. Probably later, given how busy your fave author has been lately. And when that chapter comes, do it all over again.

In all honesty, as cool as it is to be able to help out my favorite author AND get a slow trickle of sneak peeks at what he's got in the works, this ain't no la-la tiptoeing through the spoilers all tra-la-happy-sunshiny. It's a voluntarily-taken obligation and one that has to be taken seriously. But most of all, that special joy of getting that new book in your own hands, when you can blow off work and set up shop at your favorite coffeehouse or diner-type place while you devour the book whole... it just ain't the same. But the benefits of being able to help out and see a little bit ahead more than outweigh that loss.
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Well, if you couldn't do that with your bulls***, Leonard, I suspect the lad's impervious.

Offline JRBobC

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #27 on: October 13, 2008, 04:58:21 PM »
I am not doubting the difficult and much appreciated job of the betas Shecky.  Those things that you outlined are the exact reasons I could never, ever do it.  Whenever I see most errors I just automatically fix them in my head without even realizing it.  (Example Ramirez->Rodriguez(sp?)->Ramirez, I know the name is supposed to be Ramirez and I just fix it in my head)  In fact the only time I ever saw anything that jarred me I'm still not certain it was an error. 

So while I poke at you guys in a tong-firmly-implanted-in-cheek fashion, I still appreciate your dedication to finding all these errors so the books read smoothly.
Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, PATIENCE IS A F***ING VIRTUE.  There, now I might be able to follow it.

Regarding Cover art: "You have no control. If you’re really lucky you get an art director who will let you use Vaseline when he bends you over." -Glen Cook

Offline Shecky

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #28 on: October 13, 2008, 05:07:40 PM »
tong-firmly-implanted-in-cheek

Ow? Wouldn't that hurt?
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Well, if you couldn't do that with your bulls***, Leonard, I suspect the lad's impervious.

Offline JRBobC

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Re: What are beta readers?
« Reply #29 on: October 13, 2008, 05:09:18 PM »
Ow? Wouldn't that hurt?

Yeah.  Considering I had a minimal brain fart and it should have been planted not implanted.
Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, PATIENCE IS A F***ING VIRTUE.  There, now I might be able to follow it.

Regarding Cover art: "You have no control. If you’re really lucky you get an art director who will let you use Vaseline when he bends you over." -Glen Cook