Beta Reader Group discussion

Greetings debut enthusiasts!

While my scholastic background holds a degree from an accredited university with a major in accounting and information systems and a minor in literature, my practical experience outside the curriculum incorporates over a dozen betaed novel-size manuscripts since 2021. I'm also an avid indie author. My interests in literature incorporate all genres of fiction within nonhistorical/nonerotica context.

For a more complete listing of my literary ganders please check out my profile. In the last four years alone, I've tackled everything from steam punk to epic and speculative dark fantasy and sci-fi, and everything in between. I garner satisfaction from helping young debut authors with novel ideas, who just need a bit of an extra push in the right direction. I don't mind helping out with minor edits, but I do prefer to read manuscripts that are fairly polished and tell a complete story.

I am looking for my next review gig for after I finish this last round of beta-ing. Please DM me if you have a fairly finished manuscript and tell me all about your novel and wonderful ideas.

***PLEASE NOTE THAT MY ITINERARY IS NOW FULL AND I CAN'T ACCEPT ANY MORE BETA PROJECTS, AT THE MOMENT. IF YOU HAVE WORK THAT'S NOT IN A RUSH TO BE READ YOU CAN STILL DM ME WITH A SHORT SYNOPSIS***

I sent you a DM with information about my manuscript. Thank you for your consideration!

Hello FantasyMaven, I have a historical adult fantasy that's currently on the query trenches and I just want to get more feedback since I'm still not getting any requests. Here's the query:

Chieftain Lapulapu’s two wives both desire the other’s death. Possibly his as well.

He marries his second wife, Alunsina, the princess of aghoys, earning him bountiful harvests through their power over nature. He accomplished what nobody else in their archipelago could to earn their favor. He vanquished his island of aswangs, humans they cursed into beasts for crimes against nature, now mutated beyond control. But rumors spread that Lapulapu harbors those few tamed aswangs who could shapeshift back into humans. Of course, the chieftain denies them.

That’s why he could almost cut his own tongue after discovering his first wife Mayari has been hiding, right on his bed, as an aswang. Her allies secretly lured most of those beasts who couldn’t shapeshift back to humans off the island, hence Alunsina’s favor. Lapulapu’s whole victory is a lie. But his marriage to Mayari is out of love, not politics. Otherwise, he’d have executed her already.

With the aghoys now entangled around him, Lapulapu is forced by Mayari to convince Alunsina to sacrifice their powers and gift aswangs their full humanity back. But Alunsina’s kind will never yield. They will bury not only Mayari, but also Lapulapu, for conspiring with her. Thrust between two warring factions, he bribes her, sustains her disguise, anything to conserve Alunsina’s blessings. But Mayari’s allies tease their presence by burning what Alunsina holds dear the most—nature itself—driving Lapulapu to seek an aghoy sympathetic to Mayari, if one even exists.

At the height of their conflict, a conquistador named Magellan drops anchor in a mission to colonize the islands. With his fateful arrival, Lapulapu must decide—whether he’s for humans, aghoys, aswangs, or the whole archipelago.

Here's my first three chapters so you could check if this is up your alley: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C...

Let me know if you are interested, thanks! You could also contact me on jamespvictor96@gmail.com since I have a hard time getting notifications here.

I have a beta read just starting for Out of the Ashes: Book #1 of the After the fall Series. While I have a ton of "existing" readers who are in the beta, I'm a little short on people who haven't read any of the other 20 stories based in Elan. And yeah, you don't (or shouldn't) have to know anything about those other books to read this new one.

Here is a bit about it:

WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER THE WORLD ENDS?

Following the destruction of the capital city of Percepliquis, this question plagued every Imperial citizen, but the choices made by three simple people will change the future forever. One decided she didn’t deserve to die. Another resolved to be the ruler he was meant to be. And the third went in search of a nefarious, wizard called Esrahaddon.

Visit the world of Elan in the last days of the dying Novronian Empire. Witness the destruction and turmoil of a fading dream but stay because there is one last hope that is trying to crawl . . . out of the ashes.

In this debut novel, a devotee of the New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling author Michael J. Sullivan proves why Michael was wise to trust a complete unknown with his cherished multi-series saga. Through this first book in the After the Fall series, you’ll learn the truth about the day Percepliquis fell and witness the birth of a new literary star.

If you are interested, you can sign up for the beta here:
https://michaeljsullivan.survey.fm/ou...

My name is Mary and I have a manuscript for a novel called "Mullo". I am looking for beta readers to read and critique it, and I saw your advertisement in a Goodreads "Beta Reader Group". I would describe "Mullo" as historical fiction, horror, romance (LGBT). It goes back and forth between a story that takes place in the past and one that takes place in the present. Here is a blurb I wrote for it:

"THEN
In 19th century Romania, death is always just around the corner. Zorya, a Roma healer woman, knows this well. But when a stranger unexpectedly calls on her expertise, she, her husband, and her children, find themselves in a place they were once forbidden from entering. But even as their life becomes more stable and prosperous, it may only take one tragedy for things to fall apart."

"NOW
Nick Alicea isn’t having a bad day. He’s having a bad life. Stuck in a dead-end job, drowning in debt, and haunted by a tragedy from his past, he's struggling. So, when a chance encounter leads to a friendship with Mirza Durvari, a quiet doctor with a mysterious illness, Nick’s life starts to seem a little less bleak. But even as their relationship becomes more intimate, Nick is forced to ask himself: Who is Mirza Durvari?"

The entire manuscript is 125,000 words. Let me know if you are interested in beta reading.

Looking forward to hearing from you..

~Mary

Hi Fantasy Maven,

I have a multi-genre short story collection you may enjoy. It's a quick read (about 70 pages). I'm looking for feedback by the end of September. If you want to sample the writing, you can do it here.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17...

If you want to sign up to beta read, please do it here:

https://forms.gle/fWsjcCsibauFv8dS6

Thanks,
Andy