UPDATE 05 AUG 2020: Thanks to everyone who's agreed to participate! I'm no longer accepting applications. If you were interested but were waiting, there'll be another novel coming in a year (or two-ish).
I recently completed a third draft of the sequel to my first SciFi novel, "Breaking Orbit (volume I of the Titan Run Trilogy)." I plan to release this sequel ("volume II,") in the Fall of 2020. Before I do that, I want to make sure the book is ready for publication. This means I need some additional brains to process what I've written. As an independent author, I'm doing it all by myself (writing, editing, formatting, cover art, publishing, etc.) which is cool, because I like doing all those things. The only thing I can't do myself is the part where I need someone else to look at the book before it's published. Until someone perfects and clears all the ethical problems with human cloning, or someone perfects the creation of an AI clone. Frankly I'd prefer the latter because electricity and disk space are cheaper than feeding another me.
That's where you come in. Not by feeding me, but by being a part of the Beta Read program for volume II. The upshot you get to read the story for free before the rest of the world! What's the catch, you ask? Well, in short: I need you to provide me with feedback on the book.
Most of us know what a 'beta' is these days. It usually means software that's just about ready to be released but still needs one more round of testing to make sure all the bugs get caught. Beta reading is basically the same idea, only you get to read a book instead of poking at a computer program. What I'm asking you to look for are any logical / textual inconsistencies (do I call someone by the wrong name, e.g.?), plot holes, or what feel like missing pieces of the story. I'm so close to the story that I might either just miss these things or have them in my head. Because of this, when I read the text I might automatically insert missing content/context that isn't apparent to someone reading the book for the first time. And publishing a book like that would be embarrassing.
Ultimately, the depth of the feedback is up to you. If you want to provide a list of every typo I still haven't caught, then go right ahead (cue the scene in "Hamilton" where the itemized list of grievances is handed over). But I'm not asking for a copy edit per se. What I need is for you to help me make this the best book it can be before it hits Amazon's shelves.
Still with me? Great!
Here's how this works:
- Comment on this post with the email address where you'd like me to send the link to access the book.
- Once I have 5 people expressing interest, I email you a time-limited link to the book so you can read it in your web browser.
- After reading the book you come back to this post and comment again with your feedback.
- I look through your feedback and make any changes that the book needs.
- Those changes include thanking you in the acknowledgments section of the book.
If you're still with me, go ahead and add your email (or any questions you might have) in the comments* below. Again, I'll send out the email with the link once I have five (5) people participating, and thanks for your interest!
*NOTE: If you're having trouble using the comments field below,
you can DM me on Twitter (@Lefthandrob)
or message me via my Facebook page (Robert C. Murray Author).
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