Hello and welcome to the Beta Reader Index List.
Writers of Star Trek fan fiction looking for someone to edit their material
now have a web site they can visit. Help is literally a mouse click
away!
We can thank the Information Age for lending
to the etymology of this description for who is essentially an editor of
fan fiction. I don't know where or how the terms originated, but
many technology-centered businesses can be said to use two strategies for
testing software products. In the first method, called alpha testing,
occurs before the product is released commercially to the public (in other
words, the testing occurs by a internal component of the company).
The second method, beta testing, usually occurs just prior to a
commercial release and depends on external sources. This is done
mainly to catch unanticipated errors and to field suggestions for improvements
that can be developed in a future product release. The World Wide
Web became a natural venue for software companies to employ this strain
of testing: it was only a matter of downloading the software from a web
page or FTP site, and the beta tester could send their comments back immediately
via e-mail.
I suppose you can see how the term beta reader
came to be used in fan fiction circles. <g>
So, without futher ado, I present to you Beta Readers: Do You Need One, and What to Expect From Author & Beta
The headers are broken down as follows:
Note: Section 2 should be completed IN FULL for EVERY series of interest. For example, if you wish to beta both DS9 and Voyager stories, complete the section once for DS9, and once again for Voyager.
The headers are broken down as follows:
To ease your search, the index list is categorized
by series. Simply click on the series name listed below to jump straight
to that section.
Contents
This site consists of the following sections:
Check out some other writing resources.
What exactly is a Beta Reader?
It wasn't that long ago that someone had asked,
'Why are they called beta readers?' I'd like to take a few moments
and give my explanation to this non-trivial question.
Beta Readers: Do You Need One?
This essay, written by Laura Michelle Hale, was recently posted on Alt.Startrek.Creative. I thought it was very well written and aptly appropriate material to include here on the BRI List web site. A quick e-mail later, and I got the go-ahead from Laura herself to publish it here. Great, huh?
Glossary: How to Read the BRI List
The toughest task in creating any reference source
is always the same: making it readable and easy to understand. To
help you make sense of the layout for the entries in the index, I'll step
through each section in detail.
Section 1: Contact Information
This section outlines the beta reader's offered services.
Section 2: Series Information
This section specifies the beta reader's particular
reading preferences in a given Star Trek series, so the writer can get
just the right feedback they're looking for.
This is a truly vast genre (much larger than I would have thought possible), and to tell you the truth I'm not certain how much of it is or will be used by writers of Star Trek fan fiction writers. However, with a little help from some of the patrons of the BRI List, I've decided to include the following classifications to the index profiles:
For other forms of erotica not listed here, it will be up to the writer to contact the beta readers to see if they will read your material. Just because it isn't listed doesn't mean they won't accept it, but do check first.
Section 3: Miscellaneous Remarks
This section has other vital information provided
by the beta reader to make sure your correspondences go as smoothly as
possible.
Joining the BRI List - Submission Form
Think you might be interested in lending your
services as a beta reader? Then download a copy of the Beta Reader
Index List submission form, fill it out and
e-mail it to dwbeach@sasktel.net.
I'll be more than happy to insert you into the index.
Now, for the List
A huge note of thanks has to go out to the people
who volunteered to join the BRI List, especially the ones who had to put
up with the repeated adjustments to the submission form to make sure the
information shown below is as accurate as possible. Without your
interest and patience none of this would have been possible. Thank
you!
So, to better serve you, please send me your remarks.
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Darrel W. Beach, BSc. Programmer/Developer, Focus Systems Inc. e-mail: dwbeach@sasktel.net |
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