I'm going to come back to read the thread properly in a bit - something Laura said made me want to respond immediately.
It seems that the people who have tons of readers and people nagging them/clammoring for more are the people who have the most beta readers.
Laura, I was there for that conversation you mention in your post. First off, I have to say that what you say here is ridiculous. I don't know who in particular you're talking about here, but I'll give myself as an example, whether or not I fall into the category you mention.
Currently, I have one regular BR: Yvonne - and I am immensely, inordinately grateful for what she does for me. Others BR for me occasionally, when they have time.
What do you consider to be lots of BRs? Two? Three? If your styles are compatible, one can be plenty.
I understand that at present you have two.
As for the IRC conversation, what that was about was explaining that people who are already BRing for several different authors don't neceessarily have time to take on new authors - though I sometimes will
if I have free time and I'm not busy with GEing and/or moving continents as well at the same time.
Needless to say, I stopped BRing for those writers.
I've also just had writers send me, out of the blue, something they've written. No advance request; not even a 'I wondered if you'd be interested in BRing this for me' - just 'I wrote this - what do you think?'.
So this is what works for me - when I'm BRing, and when I'm working with BRs myself.
Thanks for the thread, Pam!
Wendy
