I'm Looking for Beta Readers

Are you looking to step into a writing community?

L’Estampe Moderne: Readers, 1898. Louis Welden Hawkins (French, 1849–1910). Color lithograph; sheet: 40 x 30.4 cm (15 3/4 x 11 15/16 in.); image: 30.6 x 25.5 cm (12 1/16 x 10 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John Bonebrake, 2014.695.nn

It’s a bit like peeking through a cracked door, judging whether it’s safe to open it or not. But ready or not, I’m seeking beta readers.

I consider myself a quite generous reader. I fundamentally believe the world improves when people are creative, so I tend to accentuate the positive, as the boy singers used to croon. But I’m not necessarily looking for soft touches here.

What you’ll be reading

I have an 83,000-word campus novel set at a struggling evangelical college. Think Russo’s Straight Man meets Potok’s The Chosen, but it’s about evangelicals in 2014?? (I’m really bad at the “comps” game).

I’ve been working on this novel (off and on) for the last several years. I received some excellent feedback a couple of years ago and revisited the book with those (mainly positive) responses in hand. In June, I finished cutting about 13,000 words and I feel quite ready for another round of feedback now. I proud of the thing, but have never really trusted that my tastes are widely shared.

I know I’m blessed with some really brilliant people who read this blog, so I thought I’d try and tap into that resource. In return I’d be happy to reciprocate and read something of yours if you’d like. Honestly, it would be nice to form a little writing circle with people of similar sensibilities.

I’ll also offer to bring you onto my interview series if you already have something to promote. Incidentally, I have an exciting new lineup scheduled for this fall: poets, short story collections, novels — I’m really looking forward to the next few months.

If this seems like something you’d like to do, contact me here. DM’s or email is fine.