Having found time to read the rest of the thread now, I just wanted to add that I agree with everyone who said that it takes time to build up to having BRs and to getting a steady working relationship with them. For at least my first year of writing, I didn't have any BRs. Yvonne was my first beta-reader, with Jenni a close second: I was working on a story and had got stuck, and they each offered to take a look. And thanks to their help I got reassurance that the story was worth persevering with and suggestions to get it finished. Others have BRed for me over the years - sometimes because they're interested in a particular story, sometimes because I've been BRing for them and have asked, as Yvonne said, 'um... if you're not too busy...?' And, yes, as LabRat has said, these relationships do mostly develop through friendships. I like X's writing, we get chatting on email or IRC or whatever, we get along well and become friendly, we start talking about plots and so on and brainstorming - and then the question gets asked. Or X likes my writing, or whatever.
Beta-reading is nothing like Archive editing. If someone just wants spelling and grammar checked, that's easy - unless you're talking half a dozen errors per line. BRing for someone does require a degree of compatibility - Rat, Kathy and a few others made those points too.
Beta-reading is one of the most valuable services anyone can provide for an author. And maybe, with any luck, one benefit of this thread might be that someone who has never thought about BRing could consider giving it a try?
Wendy
