I’m currently working on the tenth draft of Much Ado About Corona — a full-length novel (currently 108,000 words) about real love and a fake pandemic. This dystopian love story, begins in Ontario, Canada, July 2020 and ends in December 2020. The sequel continues into the future (as far as 2030). If this becomes a trilogy it may go farther than that. The goal of the novel is to help awaken mankind to the COVID deception and take action to stop it (the deception, not the novel). It’s my hope that the books have a similar impact on stopping the nutty new normal as To Kill a Mockingbird had on racism.

Upon completing the eleventh draft (in the next few weeks), I’ll be distributing the manuscript to select beta readers. Beta reading is different than editing. Editors edit, readers read. I need beta readers (AKA second readers) to read the story and provide feedback (I’d rather get harsh critiques now, when I can revise, rather than after publication).

In particular, I’m looking for beta readers who have specific skills or knowledge that are explored through characters and settings in the novel. I need beta readers with life experience in the areas listed below to help ensure that the elements in the novel are accurate and believable.

All beta readers will be acknowledged in the book, including any website address they might want to cite (unless, you know, it’s one of those sites…). They will receive a hard copy and digital copy of the book when it is available. If an audiobook is made, they will also get a complimentary copy. I’m also willing to pay a consulting fee, which would vary upon what level, amount and kind of feedback you would be providing.

In the list below, I describe the ideal qualifications I need for each beta reader. If you do not exactly fit these criteria, but offer something close, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Here are the type of beta-readers I will be needing:

• French-Canadian Mother Tongue Speaker: Most preferably an Ontario Francophone. Most ideally, from Greater Sudbury.

• Canadian Police Officer (Active or Retired): Most preferably with the Ontario Provincial Police (otherwise a local Canadian municipality or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

• Canadian Métis or Aboriginal: Most preferably of Ojibwe lineage and able to speak the language; but also open to anyone of Anishinaabe or any native Canadian descent.

• Nursing Home Nurse, Attendant of PSW: Preferably female, who has worked in a government-run, smalltown home.

• Hospital Doctor: Preferably a MD with ER experience in Northern Ontario.

• Catholic Priest: Preferably one who is opposed to some or all of the COVID measures and lives in Canada.

• Senior From WWII Croatia: While someone who lived through WWII from Croatia would be ideal, anyone with second-hand knowledge (e.g. their grandparents or parents told them stories) or otherwise a student of the era would be appreciated.

• Bakery Experience: Preferably someone with experience in management, sales and baking of bread in a small bakery that sells sourdough.

• Costume Maker: Especially someone who has made elaborate costumes that includes masks, whether for mascots or theatre.

• Chinese-Canadian: Preferably someone with experience working in a Chinese restaurant and with martial arts training (boy, doesn’t that sound stereotypical?).

• Hockey Player: Doesn’t need to be professional, but someone familiar with playing (not simply watching) ice hockey in a team, preferably in Canada.

• Security Guard: Preferably someone with experience in hospital security.

• Painter of Vehicles: Someone who has hands-on experience painting vehicles, in particular vans.

• Comic Book Aficionado: Someone who is heavily into comic books, and related science-fiction and fantasy genres (e.g. superheroes, Tolkien, Star Trek, etc.)

• Moonbeamer: Someone who has lived in or around Moonbeam, Ontario, or has visited there.

• Sudbury Resident: Preferably born and raised in Greater Sudbury, Ontario.

• Japanese Canadian: First, second or third generation, with personal or family experience with Canada’s detention and work camps for Japanese-Canadians during World War II.

I’ve had three alpha readers read the eighth draft of the novel, and they all enjoyed it thoroughly and sped through each chapter. So, essentially, you’d simply be expected to read the novel for enjoyment, while making notes (in whichever way you prefer — audio, handwritten, email, in-line comments) about what you didn’t like or you feel is not quite right. I welcome any level of feedback — whether line-by-line or simply your overall impression of each chapter. No proofreading for typographical errors is required at this stage.

The novel is 108,000 words. That’s about 12 hours of listening in your typical audiobook. (Reading in your head might go quicker.) I would need your feedback within at least three weeks from when I send you the manuscript. That means you would need to read it for about a half-hour per day. Or, if you get really hooked, you might whip through it in one sleepless night (not recommended).

Please email me at john@blazingpinecone.com, letting me know which of the above qualifications you meet, the level of feedback you would provide and what kind of compensation you would prefer.