What An Alpha Reader Does
To put it simply, an Alpha Reader is a pre-beta reader, with a few key differences. Alpha Readers focus on the concept of a story as a whole, and how general audiences would respond to it, while Beta Readers focus more on characterizations, dialogue, writing style etc. Alpha Readers are instrumental in helping writers extract the specific parts of their novel that are hurting the story, or get an idea of how readers will respond to their novel. If this sounds like something you’d wanna do, then Alpha Reading is right for you!
Some TYWI Specialities
- Less work than Beta Reading or Editing
- Getting to read new and exciting manuscripts from young authors around the world
- Getting volunteer hours for school/work/community service
- Connecting with authors as you read their manuscripts
- The experience of it all!
Some Requirements
- Must be at least 13 years old
- Must be able to dedicate 2 hours a week to TYWI
Please be respectful and helpful. If you are not willing to be constructive, this is not the job for you.
Some TYWI Specialities
- Volunteer Alpha Readers will submit a form detailing what genres they prefer, what they want to read, and other preferences.
- New Alpha Readers will go through a two week boot camp process to prepare them to read at our standards. For each week of bootcamp, you will be given a piece of work and taught the proper evaluating and critiquing techniques, and how to catch developmental issues. Alpha Reader applicants who are already certified Beta Readers will only have to do one week of bootcamp
- Beta Readers will get rewards for their volunteer work, such as volunteer points that will go to future events, programs, and merchandise.
- You will work in groups of three and may have occasional discussion sessions about the authors book.
- We won't assign you more than one assignment at a time so that you are not overwhelmed.
- We will offer you volunteer hours.
How to apply
Click on the button below to be re-directed to a form
In that form, you will be asked to submit some information (your name, age, email, etc.), critique one short excerpt of a piece, and answer a few questions about why you want to be an Alpha Reader. Please be careful about spelling and grammatical errors. This should be done in one sitting.
In that form, you will be asked to submit some information (your name, age, email, etc.), critique one short excerpt of a piece, and answer a few questions about why you want to be an Alpha Reader. Please be careful about spelling and grammatical errors. This should be done in one sitting.
Pre-Reading Leadership Team:
Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (External Director)
Harsha Venkataraman (Internal Director)
Laibah Khan (Internal Staff)
Miriam Fdez (External Staff)
If you have additional questions about requesting alpha readers, please consult the following:
Inquiries and questions about Alpha Reading applications or boot camp: email our Pre-Reading Internal Team, Harsha Venkataraman (harsha@tywi.org) or Laibah Khan (laibah@tywi.org)
Inquiries or questions about Alpha reading (certified volunteers): email our Pre-reading External Team, Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (jaidah@tywi.org) or Miriam Fernandez (miriam@tywi.org)
General Inquiries: Email any of the Pre-Reading Directors mentioned above.
Client Inquiries: Email our Pre-reading External Team, Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (jaidah@tywi.org)
Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (External Director)
Harsha Venkataraman (Internal Director)
Laibah Khan (Internal Staff)
Miriam Fdez (External Staff)
If you have additional questions about requesting alpha readers, please consult the following:
Inquiries and questions about Alpha Reading applications or boot camp: email our Pre-Reading Internal Team, Harsha Venkataraman (harsha@tywi.org) or Laibah Khan (laibah@tywi.org)
Inquiries or questions about Alpha reading (certified volunteers): email our Pre-reading External Team, Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (jaidah@tywi.org) or Miriam Fernandez (miriam@tywi.org)
General Inquiries: Email any of the Pre-Reading Directors mentioned above.
Client Inquiries: Email our Pre-reading External Team, Jaidah-Leigh Wyatt (jaidah@tywi.org)
