This made my heart soar. It is hard for me - someone riddled with self doubt - to believe that anyone is in awe of me. Thank you for saying it -- it means more to me than you could ever know. I am so glad to be able to be helpful.Originally Posted by LisaKW
Manuscripts 2 and 3 are out, and I already have one back from one of the betas.
Now, come on, someone will step up for the non-native English speaker, right? (No one has.) C'mon, you grammar Nazis!
Be sure your iZombie is set to "shuffle."
By the way, it's all right to say, if you don't understand what an author is trying to say, "I don't understand what you're trying to say here. Is maybe about X?"
Be sure your iZombie is set to "shuffle."
Some of us are expecting to get a lot of those. Thwwwwwwap!
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I chuckled, but I'm going to reply as though you were being serious since this is the beta subforum (and some betas have asked about what they "should/shouldn't" or "can/cannot" do).
My experience is that the "I'm not sure what you're trying to say here" phrase is commonly used by editors (both in fiction and academic writing). In other words: I use it quite a bit. Sometimes the topic about which the author is writing is something about which I'm knowledgeable, in which case I feel comfortable offering alternate wording. If I don't feel myself knowledgeable about the subject matter or context...depending on the author, my relationship with him/her, and/or my estimation of the author's writing skills, I may follow up (e.g., "If you're talking about x, it would be clearer to me if you phrased it so that it said 'blah blah and blah' or something like that").
If it's my boss, I just say, "WTF are you trying to say here, dude?"
None of this is set in stone--there are no hard and fast rules, and I'll say it again: betas (and editors) discover their strengths only through the process of serving as betas (or editing).
Be sure your iZombie is set to "shuffle."
I once had an author tell me that since I didn't have any reviews of military scifi on my GoodReads that maybe I wasn't really able to understand his military scifi novel. Made me go and re-read (and then review) all of Heinlein that I have just to prevent future comments like this. Eventually the author admitted that I had pointed out a few things his editor had pointed out as well but which he had chosen to ignore.
I would've dismissed him at this point.
If I were in a good mood, I might've suggested he find the folks who'd submitted appropriate reviews on GoodReads and ask them to serve as betas/editors, good-effin-luck.
Be sure your iZombie is set to "shuffle."
since I was the "third" person to point out those things to him (his editor and another reviewer who actually forced his way through the entire book), the author eventually gave his editor free hand with regards to those points. He promised me a free copy of his second edition, most likely hoping that I will change my rating (which might happen because the story itself is epic enough, and I love me a good military scifi novel with lots of world building, etc.)
Dang, I assumed you had someone lined up for this. I'd be willing to give it a shot, if you think my skills are worthy. As long as it's okay to say "huh?" if needed, it could be fun. The author shouldn't have to wait forever here. Although it may take some extra time to work on it, considering.
I hope that second edition is a print copy with a signed apology in it. Jeez.
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