Welcome to my perfumed garden

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I've beta'd more than one story just for myself because there *are* some wonderful stories out there that've been made unreadable (to me) for want of a spell-check.

I'll do that if the story is a 'keeper', one that I'll save on my HD for re-reading in the future -- fix the spelling and punctuation. In fact, that's how I got my start as a beta; I did it for myself. Then one day I read a story by a first-time author -- Jess Riley -- and I enjoyed it so much that I wrote her a very encouraging FB. In it, I mentioned that I had saved a copy in which I had corrected some punctuation errors, and did she want a copy. (I was afraid an author would be offended that I had changed their treasured work; I didn't yet write myself.) She was eager to have it. Then, a week or so later, she said she'd written another story, and would I be willing to beta? The rest is history.

I've been told (By someone who really would know) that Jeffrey Archer's un-edited work is just horrible.

That just shows why most of us need betas. Having good ideas does not necessarily mean the nuts and bolts of the execution (spelling and grammar) will be adequate.

Going back to your 'which spelling to use' question -- Jess is adamant about not changing her Aussie spelling. Castalie used Brit spelling for a while, then decided to use American instead. Arianna prefers her Canadian spelling, but lately has decided to go with American. So, really, (a) it's not set in stone and (b) it's entirely up to you.
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