Thank you for your interest in reading a Proof Copy of my latest book! Please read the following before continuing.

I am accepting applications to join the second round team for The Catastrophe Collector Book 1: Larva (A Practical Guide to Sorcery Spinoff Series), through Sunday, October 1, 2023. Decisions will be made and access links sent via email by or before Sunday, October 1 at midnight.

(If you want to join the team but are reading this after the deadline, the next one will open up 4-8 weeks before the release date of the latest book. You can sign up for my newsletter if you want to get a reminder and the link when it opens. Do not submit an application for an old hunt–I can’t give you access to the latest hunt through that.)

Only a limited number of people will be given access to the Proof Copy, so signing up does not guarantee you will be added to the team. Historically, my readers love the Typo Hunting Team, and competition to join is steep.

If you are accepted, you’ll be getting access to the entire book, including unreleased chapters, before anyone else, and are expected to keep story events and spoilers under wraps.

I’m looking for people with a sharp eye toward little mistakes that otherwise slip through the cracks, and a sense of correct spelling and grammar. If you constantly notice errors in published books, that’s a good sign you’re the right person for the job. If you have a history of helping me out with typo notes, either on a previous Typo Hunting team or through comments on serialized chapters, you’ll have priority. You should sign up only if you have time to read the entire 47k word (160 page) book within 10 days of receiving your copy.

That means the Typo Hunt finishes on Tuesday the 10th at Midnight, at which point the files will lock you out.

“How does this Hunt thing actually work?”

This book has already been through a professional line edit and one round of Typo Hunting. But that doesn’t mean the text is pristine. It’s basically impossible to catch all errors–period–but especially not with just a couple people’s eyeballs, no matter how skilled they are.

If you are selected, you will review the Proof Copy through the beta copies feature on Story Origin. You’ll read through every chapter, and if anything catches your eye, highlight that text and make comments. You’ll be looking for stuff like typos, misused homophones, doubled or missing words, and sentences that don’t make sense. If you notice something that’s plain wrong or doesn’t seem right (factual errors about how things actually work that a layman like myself might have messed up, like how to handle horses), let me know that, too.

I DO NOT expect you to catch every single error that remains after line editing. That’s close to impossible, and the whole reason behind having a whole team. The more eyes on the text, the more likely it is to approach perfection.

As a thank you to everyone who completes the Typo Hunt (or at least makes a reasonable effort), I’ll be sending EITHER a paperback copy of the completed book with a personalized first page addressed to you, OR a $20 e-gift card to the bookstore of your choice. You get to choose. You can also choose “neither” if you just want to help out/read the book early.

Story Origin’s beta copies feature will allow me to see how far you’ve gotten through the book, and compile the whole team’s notes into one place. While I don’t expect you to catch every issue that might still remain after the first round of professional editing, and I understand that life sometimes gets in the way of completing projects despite the best intentions, those who make no effort to provide feedback or simply requested access to the team to read the whole book before anyone else will not receive the thank-you rewards, and will be removed from the team going forward.

If you find yourself unable to get through the book due to whatever reason but still want the option to join future hunts, if you let me know as soon as possible, I’ll make a note of your withdrawal rather than “truancy.”

If helping out with this sounds interesting to you, sign up here: https://storyoriginapp.com/betacopies/324ac768-9654-4682-a649-322beee9e93a

And if this sounds too much like work and you just want to wait and grab a copy of the book when it comes out, that’s totally cool too. 🙂