Novel Round 1: Call for Beta Readers

[rustycoon]

Okay, I'm far enough along now that it's time to start signing up interested beta readers (hat-tip to gaudior for the term) who would like to read and comment on the 2nd draft of From The Brink, my rebuttal-in-kind to Rand's Atlas ShruggedBefore volunteering to read and comment you should know a few things about my work

Comments

[contradictacat]

1) I'd like to!
2) Either way works- if it's likely that by the time I get around to a chapter, it's already been reworked, then in installments might be better, but I can handle large amounts of text all at once.
3) See: Question 2. I've read AS and the Fountainhead. I will probably skim the Wikipedia page on AS before reading though, to refresh my memory.
4) Depends on how much in-line editing you want done. If you only want comments separate from the text, .pdf is probably best, but I can do .doc and .odt too.
5) Very little, especially for fiction, but I'm interested and know good prose when I read it.
6) We have always been at war with Eurasia.
7) I could be a "Special Reader"- I'm likely to be keeping an eye on the Bechdel test anyway, but I can also be a generalist if you need.

[beautifultyrant]

Hmm...I first must ask, does it actually use the characters from Atlas Shrugged, or just the setting? I think I'm highly interested in reading either way as I am, actually, an avid fan of Atlas Shrugged and have always 'wanted more'.

1. I'm interested, especially if the characters carry over.
2. Either way, prolly installments?
3. Read Atlas Shrugged several times.
4. .doc or .pdf
5. English major from the University of Toronto? Heh
6. Nooone.
7. Whatever! No preference.

[rustycoon]

It uses some of the Gulchers, I assume that none of the named moochers or looters survived the chaos at the end, certainly Rand made her intention to exterminate every last one quite patently clear

[rustycoon]

Your #7 assignment will be to, since you are a self-identifying fan of AS, examine the Gulcher characters to make sure that they are speaking consistently with Objectivist ideals and their own personalities.

It is imperative to this project that my rebuttal against Objectivism actually be presented against AS-style Objectivism. If I'm hitting straw men the project fails.

[beautifultyrant]

That works awesomely for me. I'm on all board!

[juldea]

1) Oh yes, me me me.
2) Whichever. I would probably respond in chapters, however.
3) Ayn Rand is my favorite fantasy author. No, really. I've read Atlas Shrugged several times (as well as all 4 of her other fiction pieces; never read any of the non-fiction), and I would use this project as impetus to read it again. Doing so would not take me more than a couple of weeks.
4) .pdf is best for me.
5) Extensive non-fiction editing work (I've been a proofreader at two different textbook companies, and my current job for Harvard is heavy on proofreading as well.) I copyedited almost all of Life at the Securemarket and submitted non-grammatical editorial comments as well--I believe Dog foun them useful.
6) Who does Number 2 work for?
7) I would be quite happy just reading and giving feedback for the sake of reading and giving feedback. If you're *looking* for someone to look futher, I can help with that, but it's not what I would do by default.

[rustycoon]

Your #7 assignment will be the same as Erica and Ericka: I need self-identifying Objectivists to closely examine the voices and arguments advanced by Rand's characters to make sure I'm being true to their actual positions.

I'm rebutting Rand's Objectivism, after all, and it's important that it be given its fair shake so that readers don't walk away from my work the way non-objectivists walk away from Rand's: Feeling like their side was given nothing but straw man caricatures.

Also, fair warning: I'm pretty scathing in my rebuke.

[juldea]

Ah. I do not identify as an Objectivist. See above: Rand is my favorite *fantasy* author. I'm not going to be able to help you in that assignment. If you want me to try to think as an Objectivist I can probably do so (I feel I understand the position even if I don't agree with it), but that's different from identifying as one.

[edit after reading your comments to others] Ooh, I can't wait to see what you do with D'Anconia. How he's portrayed in the movies will make-or-break them, too.

[rustycoon]

Ah-hah!

Understanding the position will be sufficient for my purposes. But if this would detract from your ability to enjoy the enterprise, feel free to discard the assignment.

[tiurin]

As far as I'm concerned, 170k words is bored-on-a-Sunday-night length. Either .doc or .pdf is fine.

Unfortunately, I have indeed wasted my time reading Atlas Shrugged. I honestly cannot understand what redeeming features people find in it- the prose is clunky, the plot absurdly implausible and the characters even more so...and that's not even getting into the disturbing number of logical and philosophical flaws.

Of course, that all might be because I was well past my teenaged years when I read it.

[stride]

1) So say we all!
2) All at once. I eat books for breakfast.
3) I have not read AS. I have access to Wikipedia and *gasp* the interwebs!
4) .doc or PDF
5) I have never edited prose in my life, however I am a silent critic of books, like most non-expertise voices on the web.
6) I'll bid $2.00!
7) I'll be doing a Bechdel Test whether or not I'm assigned that task. Otherwise, you know my strengths. Give me a quest!!!!

[rustycoon]

You have a particular assignment for #7. I use your likeness, as I mentioned a couple of years back - and if I'm going to pass Bechdel, your doppleganger is one of the requisite voices that does this. :)

This also means I need you analyzing what your doppleganger teaches: swordplay. By the way, you're a total badass. :)