Here are the two questions:
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Where to find beta readers and critique partners for free?
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Would anyone have the time to read, if they have the time?
Thoughts and feelings?
Also, Project Succession is on the chapter two, by the way. 
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@Akje
@alenatenjo
@TheTigerWriter
@Xelyn_Craft
@JojoDahlia
@NatilladeCoco
@copyedit
@CoffeebyNight
@MatthewJH
@SecretDurham
Help wanted and needed to save for later.
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Welp, if youāre not interested in doing a read for read with other writers, the best place might be to simply post it on Wattpad or a similar site and let ordinary readers tell you what they think of it. You could put a note in the book description that youāre looking for honest critique, or put that at the bottom of each chapter or something.
If you are interested in read for reads, thereās a thread here for that, and possibly other threads where they do that too. ĀÆ\_(ļ¢)_/ĀÆ
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Ugh! There arenāt many options in terms of writing sites.
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Thereās Inkitt, Ream, Tapas, Booksie, Penana, Royal Road, Zoetrope, Readict Novel and Amino that I know about. Probably others as well. Maybe google for āwriting sitesā or similar keywords to see what comes up. (*ļ¼¾-ā) ä¹
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Oooh, try these:
Not all of them are actual writing sites so much as book review sites, etc. but many of them are.
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I never even heard of Penana, Zoetrope, Redict Novel, and Amino.
I do have something with Ream, but Ream is a tricky one for me. I hear that you have to build up some readers and followers beforehand, maybe that is wrong.
I wouldnāt need to worry about that yet.
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If you plan on publishing your work for profit at any point, I wouldnāt publish it on a free online writing site like wattpad or any of those others. It can lead to copyright and other legal issues later. I suggest putting your book on a private word processor like google docs or notion, something that you can share the link privately but people canāt stumble across it publicly. Then only sharing the link with beta readers that agree to read and critique your work.
Finding beta readers is a process. It took me all year to hunt down 3 people that would actually follow through with reading and giving feedback on ny second draft. I had to advertise by word of mouth and social media that I was looking for free feedback. I got one person here on wackywriters, one person that was a personal friend, and one person on a writing group discord that I found through a friend that saw it advertised on tiktok. I can give you the invite link to the discord server if youād like. Basically though, you just have to really reach out to a lot of people through a lot of different means and hope for the best. Like I said, it took me a whole year to catch only 3 beta readers that actually kept their word.
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Thank you for letting me.
A full year just to find a loyal beta reader? Are you fucking kidding? Oh, well I am not there yet, but I would hate to be in that position. I find paying for a beta reader to be a rather stupid ass idea, Iām just a tad bothered that people would do thatā¦thatās the internet for you.
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Unless itās changed since I used it (I no longer do to their absurd pro-AI stance), Ream is basically Patreon for writers. To that end, yes, you need to have a following - people arenāt usually going to see you on there and give you money if theyāve never heard of you. Discoverability is also not great, so you need a double whammy of someone, somehow, finding the link, and then giving you money - easier to do when you already have an audience 
Critique groups are great for this! You just need to be able to dedicate the time to do your critiques for others, too. I think we already spoke about Scribophile once before, but as alternatives, you could try looking for manuscript swaps in Discord servers, people here, etc.
Beta readers are a little tricky. Most people do now charge for this (sadly the way of the world), but there will still be people willing to do it for free. Iām not sure where to find them, I only know where to get ARC readers. Perhaps it is time for you to start building a community around your writing, so as you can call on them when you need - such as for your ARC team
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I might go back to Scribophile, only once the second draft is done.
What is an ARC team? How do you find one? What does it take to get them?
Do they cost money or is it totally free?
Thank you for tagging us! I do want to clarify though, we are not a read for read group, we are a Beta Reading group. the projects werenāt always even. But we completed reading a multitude of stories as a group, by reading a few chapters each week. Giving suggestions and edits based on the whole book and not just a single chapter for chapter situation. Not everyone has to provide a book. and all were welcome as long as they were willing to read others works as well.
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You would pay for a copy editor? Itās paying for someoneās time and opinion. It gets easy as a Beta Reader to get backed up and have a ton they have to finish. But a good quality Beta Reader is worth paying for. The feedback provided from an unbiased opinion can be so helpful. Now trashy BR shouldnāt get paid. 
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The issue is that I donāt have the money to pay people.
I have money, but I might not have the money they would want me to pay them.
Iām not making a lot so I worry that I wonāt even have anything worth keeping them.
Also, they might say one thing first then turn around gaslighting me with something else.
It feels risky and Iām worried.
This is all more understandable. I only made my comment, because initially it sounded like you were saying they didnāt deserve to be paid, which I donāt agree with. But yes definalty a hard dance to find the line there. Always welcome to send things to my email Vintaginity@gmail.com Iām not the fastest, and I have a 9 month old that takes up a lot of my time, but I can read here and there. Beta reading is what I tend to do more since Iām not an editor.
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Thanks so much.
Do you accept chapter by chapter or you need to see the whole thing?
I am only on chapter 4 at the moment.
I have someone, sorry.
aristocrata omgggggggggggggg