I've been trying to find time to compose something like this all day. LOL. GMTA, Wendy, and thanks for saving me the trouble.
I've seen official beta reader lists in several fandoms and often wondered if it's something FoLCdom might want to adopt. It may seem like a small shift from having somewhere where beta readers post to volunteer rather than the usual format of authors posting to ask for a beta. But I think it's a shift of emphasis that could work much better.
As Wendy says, the lists I've seen have betas setting out what they're prepared to take on. That they have time to beta short stories, but not longer ones. That they'll beta anything, apart from deathfic, nfic, next gen fic...whatever. And authors can then see which betas might offer them what they need and send their story to them, accordingly.
Just one thing to add:
Spelling, grammar, punctuation - well, that helps, but only really if the writer you BR for specifies that s/he needs help with that.
Spelling, grammar etc: way down the list! Sure, if my BR finds a typo or a misplaced semi-colon, I want to know. But it's much more about the ideas.
I think the importance of grammar and typos being checked by a beta might vary depending on the author. For an ESL author, for example, it might be of primary importance, above ideas and suggestions. What an author needs in a beta reader is probably as varied as authors are. So it would probably be helpful for beta readers posting here to volunteer if they also set out that they're prepared to take on that task, too. Especially as it's often the nuts and bolts of correcting grammar and typos that take the bulk of a beta's time.
LabRat
