Today’s Round of Words in 80 Days check-in is going to be a little bit different from my usual ones. First of all, there will be no breaking down of goals (although, really, I only have two main goals this round, so that basically means I won’t be talking about one of them). Because today is a day of celebration and a day to focus on the accomplishment of one main goal. Are you ready for this? Brace yourselves. It’s gonna be big…
FIRST ROUND EDITING ON SOULLESS IS COMPLETE!!!
I have before me a document that is primed and ready to go through a few more revisions, and then it’s off to the formatting and those last final steps to have it published and ready to sell. I am stoked! But I need some fresh new eyes on it before I can pick through it a second time, to get some thoughts and ideas on it as a whole, as well as some nitpicking on grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, word use, etc, etc, etc. In other words, I need me some beta readers! Please let me know, either here in the comments or via email (ellis.engler@gmail.com) if you’re interested. Here’s what I’d need from you:
-The ability to get through as much as the manuscript in about a month. I’d like to publish in July, meaning I’ll need to have my final edits and formatting done by the end of June. If you think you can have the whole thing read and critiqued (or, heck, even just a big portion of it) by JUNE 27th (if not earlier), please let me know! The manuscript is about 93 WordDoc pages, approximately 57000 words.
-A keen eye for grammar and punctuation errors, as well as clunky phrasing, awkward dialogue and phrasing, and just any rough spots in the text. I want honest readers who will point out the parts of the book they think should be changed/improved upon before it hits print.
-The ability to mark suggested changes without changing the document itself. I have the manuscript on Google docs, where others with the same program might be able to make comments in the margins or highlight trouble spots. If you have a program that allows you to do the same with your own document, we can do that too. Actually, even just a write up detailing suggestions would also work, though being able to comment on a document might be a little easier.
-The potential to contribute a blurb about the book for the cover. This, naturally, isn’t a requirement, but if you’d like to offer something to help me promote the book and have your comments appear on the cover, I’d greatly appreciate it.
For the most part, that covers it. Please let me know if there are any questions. And a big giant whopping thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to spare some time helping me improve my book. I’ll more than likely try to throw in a free copy for you once it’s published, and plenty of gratitude and recognition in the book itself.
And, if you’re in the mood to read something, but don’t want to make it through a whole rough draft of a novel, head on over to here and check out some of my fellow RoWers. Happy writing, everyone!
YAY FINISHED DRAFTS!
L.S. Engler 
Can you work in Microsoft Word?
Hmm. I don’t know if I can “work” in Microsoft Word in the sense of connecting with other people through it. My laptop is a Chromebook and only runs on Chrome iOS, which means no Microsoft Office, but i have downloaded a QuickOffice app that allows me to work with .docx files pretty easily.
The reason I’m asking is when I’m doing an editing job, I use track changes in Word because that’s what I have and that’s what all my authors have. I’ve never worked with Google Docs. Would everyone be using the same document? That could get confusing. LOL
Oh, yeah! I forgot about Track Changes. That’s how long it’s been since I used Word, wow. I would share different versions of the GDoc for each reader, I think, because, you’re right, though you can color code and everything, several readers on the same doc would get a little messy.
It looks like the Microsoft Word Online doesn’t enable track changes, either. Bummer.
I have a very hard, intense proofreading job right now, but I should be done by the end of May. I have two proofreading jobs in June, but I know at least one of them is fairly easy (I’ve never proofread for the other one, so I don’t know how that one will be). I should be able, IF I can figure out Google docs (I’m pretty techy, so I probably can), to beta read for you.
Yeah, if you know Word, you can probably easily word GDocs. They’re fairly similar, and not too complex at all.
Just shoot me an email if you feel up to it! It sounds like you’ve got plenty going on, though, so no worries if not, either.
If you’re still looking for beta readers, I have some time in my schedule between now and the end of June and would be happy to help. Not sure what genre your story is, but I could probably lend a critical eye and offer some helpful feedback. If you’re still interested, you can contact me using the form on my website. I’m most comfortable using track changes in Word, though I’m open to using another tool.
Congrats on having a finished draft! Yay!
Haha, thanks! It’s Fantasy/Horror genre, very apocalypse zombie quest style. I’ll send you a filled out form either later when I get out of work, or tomorrow morning. Thanks for volunteering to help!
I’m in the same boat as the others (used to using Word) but am more than willing to give it a go LS and would love to read your manuscript. You can get hold of me at jodymoller(at)gmail.com.
Oh and SUPER YAY for finishing your draft 🙂
Great, thank you! I’ll send you a copy later today. I’m sure, if anything, I can just access Word through my local library’s computers.
Sigh. I read this too late. On Wednesday, I committed to another beta, and with all the projects I’m already engaged with (and those pesky homeschooling reports due on 6/15, still unstated), I don’t want to bit off more than I can chew and let you down.
But –
WAHOO! YIPPEE! HOORAY! AWESOME!
(Yes, I’m velebrating with you!)
WHOO HOOOOOOO!!!!
Hehe, and don’t worry about it, Shan. I definitely know what it’s like to take on too many things, so you just enjoy the beta you’re doing and wait until Soulless comes out. 🙂
[…] ask. Also I’m still looking for a few more beta-readers to have a look at Soulless; check out yesterday’s post for a bit more detail. It’s about 57,000 words, fantasy/horror/zombie genre, and I’d […]
congrats on finishing edits!! That’s great.
Thanks! I’m still poking at it, which means I really need to send it off and get it reviewed by my betas. It’ll be so hard to just leave it alone for a bit after working on it so much for so long.
Congrats on that. It always feels wonderful to have a project done. Hope you find some good beta readers.
Thanks, Andrew! It’s not over yet, but the end is definitely in sight.
Hi! I am a new ROWer and if you don’t mind a total stranger reading, critiquing and correcting (grammar wise) your work, I would love to help. I’ve used GoogleDocs often and would love to have first hand experience being a beta reader.
Hey! I’d love to have you read it if you’d like; we always talk about fresh eyes on a manuscript, and can’t get fresher than a total stranger, right? Shoot me an email (ellis(dot)engler(at)gmail(dot)com) and I’ll send you a GDoc. Thanks for offering to help (and sorry for the delayed response; I’ve been away at a convention).
[…] focusing on a single goal and a single thing rather than a few of them. You may have noticed on my last update that I finished my goal of getting the first draft of Soulless edited and sent out to beta readers. […]
Not bad, impressive, me I just had to redo a huge chunk of what I had lost, well most of current work, of last month. Life is filled unexpected things.
I hope your hard work would produce fruit 😀
Ugh. I hate when that happens! Usually, when I lose a chunk of something, I have to give it some distance. Go work on something else to let the anger and annoyance dissipate, and then go back to it, and I usually like what I come up with later a lot better, anyway, so everything works out in the end.
by the way, what method do you have in making copies of your work, my scrivener files are a bit outdate, well the Camp WriMo one.
I am making copies on two USB thumb drives. If one fails one would still be intact. I should reestablish that habit of mine.
later taters