By Invitation
Alpha Readers
Alpha readers are a small and trusted group who encounter the work in its earliest form—sometimes little more than a rough draft—and offer the kind of grounded response that helps the story find its shape.
What alpha reading is
First eyes on the work
An alpha reader meets the manuscript before it has been polished—before the structure is locked, before the voice has fully settled. This is not proofreading or copyediting. It is the work of reading with attention and responding honestly.
The questions Catherine brings to alpha readers are compass questions: is this story heading somewhere worth going? Do you believe in these two people? Is there a moment where you felt the pull of the novel loosen? That kind of feedback shapes revisions in ways no later-stage reader can.
Places are few and are generally offered to people Catherine already knows as readers—which is why we ask how you came to find your way here.
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