Beta-reading

"Proof Where Needed" is also happy to offer an economical beta-reading service.

Beta-reading is a crucial component of any successful publishing project.  An author immerses him/herself in the text for months at a time and finds it difficult to step back and assess the quality and overall direction of the manuscript.

Friends and family may be of some use in providing some feedback - but the chances are that they will tell you that you have done a fantastic job.  This is for one of two reasons:

1) They really don't want to hurt your feelings and don't want to have to tell you that your manuscript is, in reality, a load of old rubbish, OR:

2) They genuinely think it is high quality stuff - BUT they are not well versed enough in the basic skills of writing to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, AND/OR they are so impressed that you have managed to string together a few thousand words that this clouds their judgement completely!

What is the solution?  One solution is to pay a pretty hefty sum to one of the literary consultants to perform a detailed review.  When we say hefty, we mean hundreds of dollars (or hundreds of pounds if you hail from the UK).  This is all well and good - you are bound to get a lot of very useful advice that will make your manuscript much, much better.  But is this really within your budget?  If you are a humble self-publisher like the majority, who doesn't have anything like that amount of money, it is not a serious option.

This is where "Proof Where Needed" can help.  For a very reasonable sum, we will act as an independent beta-reader (a test driver for your manuscript, if you will).  We will provide you with a summary report which contains our feedback on a number of key components of the manuscript, including voice, characterization, plot development, tenses, grammar, pacing, level of detail.  We will also provide some feedback on whether we enjoyed reading the manuscript and why (or why not) - although, as we are not agents, we are not able to comment on potential for publication.

If you are interested in this service, please see our "Rates" page.