Beta call!

[verushka70]

Do you want to help out by being a beta or cheerleader? Yay, we'd love to have you! Please comment below with the following information:

I will cheerlead!
1. Fic, art, vid, podfic?
2. Any characters or genres you're particularly enthusiastic about.
3. Things outside your comfort zone (epic tragedy, kidfic, particular kinks, etc.).
4. How to reach you directly so the DSSS participant can protect his/her anonymity.

I can volunteer to beta!
1. Fic, art, vid, podfic?
2. Areas of expertise (characters, pairings, areas of special knowledge: i.e., Northern Canada, Chicago, RCMP, wolves, kids, particular kinks, etc.).
3. The kinds of betas you can do: (FIC: plot beta, spelling and grammar only, story edit, linne edit; ART: proportion/scale/color beta; VID: clip or throughline beta; PODFIC: pronunciation, pacing beta.)
4. Things outside your comfort zone (epic tragedy, kidfic, character death, particular kinks, etc.).
5. How to reach you directly so the DSSS participant can protect his/her anonymity.

For participants:

We want you to have all the support you need! Please make use of cheerleaders and betas to help keep your creative process on track and make sure your gift is the best it can be. If you find you need a beta with specialized knowledge and none of the volunteers in the comments below are a good fit, please email the mods and we'll post a SEEKRIT beta request on your behalf.

Remember, DON'T ASK YOUR RECIPIENT TO BE YOUR BETA OR CHEERLEADER, or it will ruin the surprise!
: )
If you are a participant whose AO3 username is different from your DW/LJ username, please clarify who you are in your comment so no one mistakenly asks you to cheer/beta your own gift!

Any questions? Email your friendly neighborhood mods at dsss.admin@gmail.com -- we will gladly help you out. :)

All About Fic/Art/Video Betas

[verushka70]

Greetings all! Hopefully you're getting excited about your assignments -- we're looking forward to seeing what everyone makes!

If you have not yet emailed us to confirm your assignment and email address, please do so! We're going to check in with you via email, so we want to make sure we know the right address to use. Email the mods at dsss.admin AT gmail DOT com with the following info:
1) your AO3 handle, 2) your recipient's AO3 handle, 3) what email address the mods should use to contact you.

TYK to all of you we've already heard from!

So let's talk about betas.

This post is a resource for those curious about the whys and hows of the beta-ing process. Hopefully it will help you understand why we strongly urge you to use a beta, and give you tips on how to get the most out of the experience.

If you're not sure how/where to find a beta, check out the beta volunteer posts on DW and Tumblr. (Sadly, our attempt to make a single master-list didn't quite work as planned, so please check both places!)

You can also keep checking back on our most recent call for betas and cheerleaders post, though give it some time (it hasn't been up very long).

( What's the big deal about betas? )

( Why do we have to use betas for due South Seekrit Santa? )

( Getting the Most Out of the Beta Relationship )

Have Fun -- and Don't Stress Out!