The Beta Reader
You’re writing your book, and you’re ready for feedback! But who do you send it to? At what point in the writing process do you get feedback? There are many questions surrounding proper review for your WIP (work in progress) book and that’s where beta readers come in.
Perhaps you’ve heard the term on social media but have wondered what it means. There can also be a lot of confusion between using a beta reader and an ARC (advance reader copy) reader. So let’s dive in! Keep in mind, we’re going to be focusing mostly on a beta reader in this article.
What Is a Beta Reader?
In basic terms, a beta reader is someone who reads your written work in order to provide direct feedback. A beta reader should give you, the author, an honest review and input regarding your plot, characters, writing style, etc, etc. These are the people you go to and say, “What do you think about XYZ?”
Beta readers can read and critique your work as it’s in progress or once you’ve finished it and given it a good, semi-final polish. Their feedback should help you know what to change and if it needs a final polish.
In contrast, an ARC reader should receive an absolute final, polished, ready-to-publish version of your book. Instead of sharing their feedback and review with you, they will share their review publicly to potential and future readers.
How Do I Find Beta Readers?
As you probably guessed, there are two main ways to find beta readers:
Ask people you know
Ask strangers
If asking people you know, consider the following green and red flags before making the ask:
Red Flags
The people closest to you are often the most critical. If you ask a friend or family member that you know will give you honest feedback, prepare yourself for harsh feedback. It happens.
Friends and family will be eager to ‘support’ you and offer to read your work. While we always appreciate these special friends in our lives, it can often be an empty effort. What sometimes ends up happening is:
They will tell you they “just loved” the book and have a shallow, superficial review in order to not hurt your feelings.
They will never ‘get around’ to reading your work.
Green Flags
I truly hope you have a supportive friend or two cheering you along in your writing journey! The friends who will be honest and supportive. These friends will be open about your goods and bads, and because you know them well, you can really pick their brains regarding their reviews and why they thought what they thought.
When requesting beta reads from those you know well, you will probably have a good idea of who will truly dedicate time to do the work. This means you can be more selective and keep your beta team small.
If you’re reaching out to strangers or acquaintances, there are also pros and cons to consider.
Red Flags
Obviously, you don’t know a stranger. Which means they could ghost you, be too involved, too critical, or too quiet. Asking strangers to beta read for you should come with a thorough investigative or application process (more on that below). Or, you know, wing it and hope it goes well! It’s your time to do what you will.
I am a naturally trusting person, but you never know what a stranger might do with your manuscript. Be sure to have your work copyrighted before sharing, or ask your new beta readers to sign an agreement that they will not share your work with others or copy it.
Green Flags
Strangers may be more prone to be honest with you about their feedback. There is nothing at stake in your relationship with one another, therefore they can be more open with their criticism.
Most strangers or acquaintances won’t offer or sign up to beta read a book unless they have the time and are truly interested in doing the read.
It’s a great way to find new readers, help your book spread via word of mouth, and get a fresh take on your work.
Keep reading for tips and tricks to make sure your beta readers know what they’re in for when they sign up to be your beta reader!
Making the Right Ask
Whether asking friends or strangers, you can take initial steps to ensure you’re hitting those green flags instead of the red.
One popular method for recruiting quality beta readers is through applications. This is a great way to get potential readers to put some skin in the game and prove their commitment early on. Check out the Beta Blueprint (the next blog post) for application tips and resources so that you can focus on what you do best: writing your novel!
The most important thing you can do to ensure quality beta readers is to be clear with your ask. Share details about your book like the genre, who it is written for, and the length of the book. Most importantly, set a deadline and communicate when you want beta readers to get back to you with feedback. Also, be transparent from the start with what you expect from your beta readers. You want them to (1) read your book and (2) provide feedback. You must do your due diligence in creating a questionnaire or list of questions that allow beta readers to give you quality feedback and make their job easy. In turn, this makes your job easier when it comes to implementing any rewrites or character changes that may result in receiving their feedback after the fact.
Did you find this post helpful? You haven’t seen anything yet! Check out the next post: The Beta Blueprint for realistically practical tips, tricks, templates, and resources to use with your beta readers.