[SilverMoonLady]

That would be a silly question regarding beta stuff, not a silly beta:)
Anyway, here it is:

Is it appropriate, permissible, not evil, etc to request a beta when you've already posted the first chapters?

Is it ok to ask a beta to take a hack at previously posted stuff in addition to new materials?

Is it ok to repost an updated/rewritten chapter?

Do I sound as insecure and clueless as anyone can possibly get??

*desperately trying to get her act together without stepping on toes*
SilverMoonLady

[NancyBrooke]

IMHO:

[Moralanqua]

This is exactly what i did to my poor Beta - shes an absolute goddess!

(Big thank you, cause i dont say it often enough, to Roisin!)

I think readers would rather see a fiction in its best form. Authors of fanfic should really try their best to have their stories proof read.

[Viv]

[dolarabee]

Since I'm not sure if you were asking the question 'generally' or specifically to Open Scrolls, I thought best to give you our take on it anyway.

We'd rather writers have their work proofread and/or beta'd before they post it to the archive. Glaring spelling and grammar errors should be ironed out beforehand. It's courtesy. (Believe me, it kills a lot of people to see the word 'Summery' in the headers. Even the most basic spellchecker would have caught that so it means there were no effort to use one. Think of it this way, if you're not bothered about your English, why would we be about reading it?)

Of course, if you spot a few errors once it's up or feel the need to re-polish your work later on, that's fair enough. It remains your property; you can do what you like to and with it.

If for some reason you posted the whole story or a significant amount of it without any kind of beta/proofreading work done, chances are this story would have been flagged already and we would have contacted you. If it went below our radar (hey, it happens) and you're now getting around to fix it, we would prefer if you took the whole thing down and repost when you're ready. It just makes it a lot easier on the readers. Once you start swapping versions of chapters they've already started reading, it's bound to create some confusion - especially if we're talking about a major overhaul and you're altering the events' chronology, the content and length of the chapters, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I've worked as a beta reader on stories here where some chapters were already posted. Thing was, most of them required very little work. They had already been proofread. It was more a need for a second opinion regarding flow, characterizations, etc.

Now, that's not to say all stories should be perfect prior to posting. That does not happen. Ever. There's always going to be something one thinks could be improved upon. And since we like Open Scrolls to be a place where writers can learn and grow, it makes sense that whatever is posted is not *totally* finished. Helpful reviews may prompt a writer to revisit a story and rework a section of it.

And you may want to post a sample to test the waters, get some reactions for a new style of writing you're experimenting with. As long as the writing itself is sound (spelling, grammar), we don't see any problems with that. I'm babbling, aren't I?

From a beta point of view, being asked to go back twenty chapters, as Viv suggested, to start beta work on an obvious novel-length story can be a lot. It depends on time, depends on how fast you want it back. Some people like having a stack in front of them instead of being fed a chapter a week or a month. There's all sorts out there so your best bet is to ask. Chances are you'll find a beta who likes working exactly like you do.

I hope I made some sense.

do.

[SilverMoonLady]

Thank you all for the info!
Gladly, I definately use my spellchecker, and am, I hope, familiar enough with grammar that what I've already posted isn't overly painful to read... Mostly what I need is someone to check on plot and character consistency and that sort of thing. I'll go post my need for a kindly soul right now!

Thanks again!

SilverMoonLady