Writing this in several spurts as I'm running late on my very carefully planned schedule for the night (get out of work, go to the post office to get some Can $ - WOOHOO, go home, give my key to the neighbours, finish my packing - WOOHOO, make mac and cheese, eat, have a hot bubble bath, watch TV, read a little, spend time on irc, sleep...) Anyway, in between looking over the pasta and checking my email, here's my opinion.
Beta-readers... I can't ever be grateful enough towards them. I'm very lucky indeed to have always worked with the same betas. Nevertheless, what you said struck a chord, Pam. Like you, I never assume that just because my betas usually read all my stories, they will read the next one.
I think that's mostly because as a regular BR for those particular people (those who do write anyway - /me glares at El and Annette), I've had to decline BRing for them several times, much as I hated to.
And so I know how busy and stressed one can become, especially when things pile up and you never see the end of it.
So whenever I do have time to write a little and send things to my BRs, I ask them first. If they say they're too busy, then so be it.
And if they take the story and then later on tell me they really don't have time after all, well, that's okay, too. We've all had times in our life where we just couldn't handle everything.
After all, BRs aren't paid. They don't owe us anything. It's already a HUGE favour they're doing us of looking over our stories and offering us the suggestions/feedback/edits/cheerleading we thrive for. So A HUNDRED CHEERS FOR BRs!!!!!!!
You guys are the best.
Laura, your post made me think of something, actually. I realise that here again I've been very lucky to get BRs that like the same kind of thing as I do. I think it's essential to find a beta you're compatible with. Someone who shares your tastes in writing and reading, and who has the same perception of the characters as you do. I'm not saying it's easy to find, but if you do find one of those, then they're extremely precious.
Anyway, that's just my .02 on beta-reading. Hope that made sense. Now going to eat that pasta.
Kaethel
