I remember that one tweet from my friend Rags. Can’t repeat it verbatim; it said something like, “I wonder if someone would be interested in emergency beta help. Does it exist? Should it?” And I thought, “Hmmm, if it doesn’t, it sure is a great idea!”

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Next thing I know, we are getting together and discussing how to make the idea work. We were so fired up, Emergency Beta Service was born less than two months later: full website designed, the flow of the service worked out, our trademark little doctor with the red pen created. I spent days driving Rags nuts arguing about the colors, the fonts, the sizes, the wording. Oh, and I thought we’d be fine with just three or four betas; Rags laughed. She was right, and we currently have eighteen betas on staff.

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Eighteen smart, intelligent, and dedicated women with big hearts and great respect for every author in our writing community. And not only fanfiction community. Need us to look at the particular part of your blog post? You’re welcome to submit it! Have a question about wording something in your college paper? We are here to help. Yes, we limit requests to 140 characters on Twitter and to 250 words per submitted request on our site. But that’s what helps us to carry with our main idea of quick help and to be quick about it, indeed.

So, here we are exactly one year later. We’ve gained many followers and many great friends among writers and editors, and we’ve grown beyond one particular fandom. We love seeing questions from you, and it tickles us pink when you recommend us to your friends. Keep us busy!

I believe you can trust us. Today, we will try to tell you more about our betas and remind you who they are as individuals and what makes them great members of our diverse EBS team. Follow us on Twitter and see for yourself!

Thank you all for the incredible first year; you’ve been our great companions and friends! Here’s to many more filled with your passion for reading and writing, with new creative ideas, with productivity, and positivity. Let those years be full of trial and error, too. Write and try again. It’s okay to make mistakes once in a while—or a lot. If no one did, we’d all be bored to tears. Let’s stay entertained!

Let’s party, too! In the spirit of this special day, tell us what brought you to EBS and what you love about it. Tell us about a rule of grammar, spelling, or punctuation you have learned during your time in the fandom and since following EBS.

We’re sure you’ve got some funny, if not slightly embarrassing stories! We’d love to hear from you. Leave your comment below.

Thank you!

R&R