Beta Volunteer Post

[holmesticemods]

"Watson," said he, "if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you."

— The Adventure of the Yellow Face

Because even Sherlock Holmes sometimes needs someone to look over his work.

If you're available to beta or Britpick for someone, please leave a comment with the following information:

Email: (or other preferred contact method)
Types of fanworks you can beta: (fic, art, graphics, vids, etc.)
Fandoms: (Doyle, BBC, Elementary, 22nd Century, etc.)
Pairings: (it's helpful to name what you are willing AND not willing to work with)
Ratings: (if you will or won't beta explicit sex, graphic violence, etc.)

If you have any other limitations or areas of expertise, please feel free to include them! Suggestions include fic length, time constraints, availability, areas of special knowledge, or particular strengths or weaknesses.

If you need a beta, please check the comments to see if someone is right for you. (Show a care with your anonymity, please, and refrain from leaving public comments that suggest what you're making for the exchange.) If you can't find who you need in the comments, please email the mods at holmesticemods@gmail.com, and we'll help you find someone.


Also! Please let me recommend sherlock60's Round 5 Discussion Posts. scfrankles spent over a year compiling historical linkspams on topics inspired by the original canon stories, and then generously shared what she learned with all of us. I highly recommend the collection for anyone needing inspiration or background for Victorian- or Edwardian-era fanworks!

Comments

[smallhobbit]

Email: Initial contact by DM please
Types of fanworks you can beta: fic
Fandoms: Doyle, BBC
Pairings: Not a fan of Holmes/Moriarty, but I can beta it
Ratings: No graphic violence, I can beta graphic sex so long as it's a question of counting limbs etc. Not a fan of kinks, but always open to discussion. It often depends on context.
Although Doyle and BBC are the fandoms I know, I will SPAG other fandoms, and will also Britpick if you already have a beta. No particular time constraints, but I would prefer a heads up as to length and when it will be ready.

Beta searching for fanart

[(Anonymous)]

Heya!
I'm a girl with experience in betaing English fanfics. I am willing to beta-read anything (any type of fanart, any pairings, any adaptation). Fics only below 10000 words since I am quite busy. Our time zones may also not be the same.
Please contact me: Tumblr: nobodywhomattersatall

Volunteer Beta - Holmstice

[(Anonymous)]

Email: yellowponcho88@gmail.com
I’ll do any acd Holmes fics, any pairings, I don’t do non-con or rape between love interests, or kinks. I’m not British, but I can help with grammar and sentence flow etc... I’ll help fact check, just point out what you’re uncertain about.
Any length of fic will do, I’ll make time.
I’ll beta art, I’m good with anatomy, please no pornography though.

[pipmer1]

Email: debnear@comcast.net
Types of fanworks you can beta: fic
Fandoms: Mostly BBC, can do any for general SPAG
Pairings: Any except incest
Ratings: Any

Any length up to 10,000 words. I'm really good at SPAG, and I can also help with flow, continuity, spotting plot holes, tightening things up. I'm not a Brit, but after several years of writing fanfic for British fandoms, I'm pretty good at Brit spelling and terminology.

[darkrivertempest]

Email: (my user name)[Bad username or site: gmail @ com] Or DM, either one works
Types of fanworks you can beta: Fic
Fandoms: BBC, Richie-Verse, House cross-over, Doyle
Pairings: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade, Lestrade/Sherlock (I'll beta most anything if those ships are endgame)
Ratings: Pretty flexible - I won't beta daddy!kink, BDSM, incest or watersports/scat, but otherwise I'm game!

I'm American, but have lived in the UK, and also write for the Harry Potter fandom (so there's a lot of Brit-picking there), and I feel very comfortable with British idioms/slang, etc. I love the Oxford and AP Style comma equally, so the preference is yours. SPAG, continuity, and flow of the story are my strengths. Darker aspects are no problem as far as content.

I have written for the Sherlock fandom... a long time ago, in a galaxy far... very far away, but I'm more than content to beta/read in the fandom these days. If you are interested, drop me a line via DM or email.

[snarry_fan7]

Email: Please DM me first. I'm also on tumblr as solascientia if you wish to message me on there since that chat feature might be easier for quick conversations.
Types of fanworks you can beta: fic
Fandoms: ACD, BBC
Pairings: I'd prefer not to beta any het ships unless it's a fic where you've changed someone to have always been born female or something. Hard no to John/Mary for BBC Sherlock unless it's just mentioned in passing as a previous relationship (no sex or current relationship for that pairing, please); softer no for ACD Watson/Mary (depends on the fic and circumstances; you can ask me with the understanding that I might say no).
Ratings: I'll beta almost anything. I don't squick easily, so nothing really bothers me to read and beta. I'd prefer not to beta non-con particularly if it's with the main pairing, but I can do it if necessary. I'm pretty much good for anything.

Spelling and grammar are my main areas of focus with beta work. I'm not too comfortable discussing plot issues unless you're stuck and need to discuss how you want the story to progress. I pick up on character behaviors pretty easily, so if you're worried about a character being too out of character, I can also check for that. If they're supposed to be OOC, then that's also cool with me.

I have a few works posted on AO3 under SolaScientia. I've been reading in British fandoms for a long, long time (namely Harry Potter), so I'm reasonably comfortable with spelling and phrases. I'm very good with languages, especially grammar, hence why grammar is something very easy for me to beta. I also have experience translating part of The Empty House from English to Classical Latin, so that helps with the ACD side of things as far as grammar and understanding how ACD wrote if you wish to have your fic follow closely with ACD's writing style. I don't have any restrictions on the length of the fic, but giving me a heads up about it would be appreciated. I also work better with a deadline, so even if the fic isn't due for a while, please give me a deadline if you want me to beta something so I can be sure to get the fic back to you without any worries about it being submitted late.