I'm gonna tell it to ya straight; if your grammar sucks initially, I might not even bother. The one thing that irks me about this site the most is the horrific use of grammar. I'm pretty nitpicky, and while I don't claim to be supreme-expert queen on all things grammatical, I'd be inclined to say that I'm pretty good at it. The way one masters grammar is extremely important to me, and sometimes even one simple mistake will affect my opinion of your work. Don't get me wrong. Absolutely no one is perfect. I make plenty of mistakes. But each one eats me up a little on the inside. Including starting sentences with coordinating conjunctions. But I have a writer's license. :)

You're gonna have to be able to take criticism. I know how hard it is. But you are going to have to suck it up. I've noticed that the most popular stories on this site are typically written by authors with at least a general, if not exquisite mastery of grammar and spelling. Betas are an important contribution to this.

BASIC HINTS:
"Your" and "You're" are completely different things. The former is the possessive, the latter is a contraction combining "you" and "are".

"Its" and "It's" are also completely different things. The former is also possessive, talking about something (typically inanimate objects but sometimes genderless beings) in the third person and what belongs to it, be it a characteristic or other thing entirely. The latter is also a contraction combining "it" and "is".

Watch out for contractions, man.

While spelling and general grammar, usage, and mechanics are glaring factors on my radar, other important factors like characterization and clear, believable settings are also extremely important. I also have a pretty killer vocabulary.

Sometimes, I skim through steamier scenes, because I'm just like that. But while beta-ing, I will promise to read every word. As I said before, I'm not perfect, and am inclined to miss things, but I can promise you that none of them will be major.

I would make an effort to read everything, but sometimes the concept of some pairings or cliché situations makes me a little nauseous. I love slash especially, though, and my main fandom at the moment just happens to be what the rest of us fangirls like to call the first slash fandom ever. It's the only one I really ship from Star Trek: The Original Series, but it's my favorite. I would love to read more of those. The only other series I'm familiar with in the Trekverse is The Next Generation, and I will beta for the first motion picture and XI (Star Trek: 2009).

I've been through lots of fandoms, but as time goes on, I get bored with them. Right now, I love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (OTP: FordArthur), and my favorite video game is Ratchet and Clank. I lost interest in anime, but I used to be really into your standard Naruto and Bleach. My favorite yaoi is Junjo Romantica, but I'm not very familiar with it. Really, I'm mostly good with bad science fiction from the late 20th century.

crackfic OOC PWP M-Preg OCs Poetry Anything past an OT3.

Book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Tv StarTrek: The Original Series

General Romance Humor Drama

Adventure Mystery Horror Parody

Angst Supernatural Suspense Sci-Fi

Fantasy Tragedy Hurt/Comfort Friendship