[HeartoftheNight]

I probably already asked this question before, but do I have to have a beta to post a new story or add chapters to an old one?

[NancyBrooke]

A beta is always a good idea. Do you need one? Not necessarily. If you can proof your own work for grammar and formatting to the point where you can say for sure there are no typos or errors in it that you know of, then no, you don't need a beta.

That said, I'll reiterate, a beta is always a good idea. I self-beta most of my own work, particularly the drabbles, but occasionally, especially with the longer works, something slips by me since I read the damn things so many times. I've had betas catch some things both I and other betas have missed! Usually they're small, a typo or misspelling, but such things can be disturbing to a reader and it's nice to be able to clean them up.

As for canon, character consistency, and those other, greyer areas, it's up to you: you can get someone to help you double check that Sindarin, that family tree, or that quote, you can wing it, or you can say - Hey, it's AU, anything goes! Just be ready to weather the slings and arrows. But I guess that's true for any fic.

If you decide you do want a beta, there are beta pool threads (posts offering beta help) for both the Tolkien and the TV/Movies archives in this forum, and you can ask a beta for any level or limited level of help.

Helpful? I hope so.

Cheers,

NB

[Rhapsody]

Or you can read or kick ass OSA wikific about it:

Congratulations! It is a beta!

This article answers most of your questions I think.

[HeartoftheNight]

Okay, thanks! I thought that's how it was, just wanted to make certain I didn't get it wrong.