u/MemoryIndependent908

I just did a manuscript swap with another writer and needed to vent a bit.

In my notes, I explicitly asked for story level feedback: pacing, reader reactions, what works, what doesn't, plot confusion, etc. I explicitly asked NOT to have line edits or proofreading done.

I open the gdoc today, and 100% of the comments are grammatical corrections with about 90% of them being to my Southern characters' dialogue. Things like changing "we been" to "we've been" and “‘round” to “around” and getting rid of all their natural dialect until they sound like textbook robots.

The worst part is I spent hours reading theirs, leaving detailed notes on pacing, characters, and genuine reader reactions. Opening mine to find nothing but unwanted proofreading was just deflating.

Thankfully we only swapped a partial chunk, so I haven't read their whole book yet. I'm definitely not finishing theirs now. Part of me wants to do a heavy proofread on the rest of their draft just to be petty, but I'll behave.

Has anyone else had a swap fall completely like this? How do you handle putting in real effort only to get the exact opposite of what you asked for?

I’m looking for a few beta readers for Unbroken Vows, a ~86k-word adult romantasy with a strong mystery element and some spice. It’s the first book in a planned seven-book interconnected romance series, but Book 1 is a little unusual for the genre because the FMC and MMC have already been married for five years when the story begins. There’s no traditional meet-cute or courtship arc here. Instead, their established marriage becomes the emotional foundation for a mystery as Eve begins discovering that there are some very large things about her husband, and her own life, that she doesn’t understand.

This first book is less romance-forward than the later books and leans heavily into mystery, fantasy, and suspense. I’m primarily looking for honest reader reactions on pacing, character relationships/chemistry, worldbuilding clarity, and the mystery itself. I especially love in-the-moment reactions and theories. Tell me when you’re intrigued, when you’re confused, when you think you’ve figured something out, when you want to yell at somebody, and definitely tell me if you start skimming.

Here’s a short excerpt from early in the book to give you a feel for the story:

Eve caught herself checking her phone again. One-fifteen. No Avalon.

“You expectin’ somebody?” Dylan asked, noticing her distracted glances.

“That husband of mine said he’d be home by one.” She tried to keep the concern out of her voice. Avalon was rarely late, and when he was, he always called. “He’s usually pretty punctual.”

The boys exchanged one of those quick looks that seemed to pass between siblings without conscious thought. Jesse set down the sack he’d been carrying.

“Miss Eve… you feelin’ alright?”

Eve frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just…” Dylan shifted uncomfortably, suddenly looking younger than his sixteen years. “You mentioned a husband, but… we been helpin’ you ‘round here for going on five years now. You’ve always lived alone.”

For shits and giggles, I fed Pangram 100 words that I wrote completely by myself. No AI generation, no AI editing, no AI polishing. Literally 100% me, untouched by AI.

Pangram: 100% AI.

Well. This is awkward. Apparently I’ve been a language model this whole time.