Welcome to the tangential wandering of my mind. It has led us all here, and I hope you enjoy the journey.

In my post about developmental editing, I touched briefly on the subject of beta readers, but there was much more to be said—hence why we are all here.

What is a beta reader?

A beta reader is someone who reads and offers feedback on a manuscript. Although beta readers do not serve as a replacement for professional editing, their observations can pinpoint potential issues in your manuscript. They are an essential part of the editing process, and every writer should utilize them. Please note that while the following information pertains mostly to authors looking to self-publish, beta readers play an essential role for any author seeking publication.

How to utilize beta readers

Before you go out and find a bunch of people to read your manuscript and give their opinions, you should know how to receive useful information from beta readers and what you can do to make that happen.

The best way to get quality contributions from your beta readers is to provide them with a list of questions, the type of which will vary based on what stage of the revision process you’re in (which I will get into later in this article). Without guidance, beta readers may provide unspecific, bland commentary. Merely being told someone liked or disliked your book does not provide the necessary information to better your manuscript, and the whole point of beta readers—and every stage of editing, for that matter—is to improve the quality of your work.

So how do you know what to ask? Well, if there are scenes or elements you’re concerned about, ask about those. For example, let’s say you struggle with character development. Now, you don’t want to tell beta readers it’s something you’re worried about because that may cause them to see issues that aren’t there. Ask something like: Were there characters that needed more development or focus? Pick 5-10 scenes or elements to ask specific questions about, but also make sure you leave room for opinions outside the scope of your questions. It is up to you how to receive responses from beta readers. Some authors like to create a google form for their questions while others like to send a Word document, and some will just type them into an email to their beta readers. If you’re unsure what questions to ask or how to ask them, searching the internet for “questions to ask beta readers” will provide you with an abundance of ideas.

When you begin your search for beta readers, your needs should be made clear, and you want to make sure potential beta readers are prepared to give the direction you’re seeking. Genre, page count, timeline, and type of assessment you’re requesting should be clearly outlined before any agreement is made. Readers who represent your target audience will offer the most relevant feedback, so make sure you ask what genre(s) they read most frequently. Timeline expectations must be explicitly stated, and you should plan for a buffer. For example, if you want to have all responses in six weeks, give your beta readers a month. If you have people you haven’t heard from within a week of the given deadline, reach out to them and ask if they have any questions or if they need more time.

When should you bring in beta readers?

Beta readers should be utilized multiple times throughout the revision process. The first would be after the initial draft is completed and you’ve gone through multiple rounds of self-editing to get it as good as you possibly can on your own. The questions you ask the first set of beta readers should be focused primarily on big-picture issues. The second round of beta readers comes after you’ve completed developmental edits, either on your own or with a professional, and you will want to ask for opinions on more specific things like scenes you struggled with during your developmental edits. Your final round with beta readers comes after the manuscript has been line and copy edited and before proofreading. This set of beta readers will be able to provide you with a general idea of how your story will be received because the manuscript will be almost complete when they see it. You may wish to get opinions on your characters (are they likable, do their eyes change color mid-book?) or plot points (is the conflict relatable, were you able to guess what was coming next?). The final round of beta readers can also serve as a pre-proofreading check and identify typos, misused words, and missing or extra words. The cleaner your manuscript is when you send it to the proofreader, the more polished your final draft will be when you publish. **Use caution when implementing suggestions on punctuation and word usage from beta readers. If you’re unsure about something, leave a note in the manuscript for your proofreader.

Beta readers are not the same as alpha readers. While beta readers come into the process after a manuscript is written and partially edited, alpha readers will offer feedback on a manuscript throughout the actual writing process. Unlike beta readers, whether to use alpha readers is a matter of personal preference. Some authors may like that kind of collaborative writing process; others may loathe it. Since I do not know enough about the subject to offer more than I’ve already provided, I included a link at the bottom of the page so you can learn more about alpha readers.

Where can one find beta readers?

Perhaps it’s better to start with where not to find beta readers. Friends and family do not make good beta readers. Objectivity is necessary to provide honest critique, and people who care about us have an inherent bias. Friends and family will either be overly critical or too commendatory. Beyond that, the necessary distance writers must maintain to properly evaluate opinions of their writing is absent when there’s an emotional attachment to the people providing input.

So now that we’ve eliminated friends and family, what’s left? Well, online writing communities are an excellent place to start. Start with your preferred social media platform and locate the communities that are right for you, and you will probably find other writers willing to swap manuscripts. There are numerous beta reader groups on Facebook (when I searched beta readers under groups on Facebook, I received countless results) and online resources such as Absolute Write Water Cooler and Critique Circle.

You will want at least 3 beta reader assessments before you take your manuscript to the next level, which means you will likely need to get 5 to 7 people to sign up for each round of beta reading because not everyone who says yes will follow through.

Expectations for beta readers

Most beta readers lack the expertise to give reliable explanations of important structural aspects of writing; how to show rather than tell, sentence structure and flow, and proper grammar and punctuation. Those elements are best left to professional editors. The expectation must be set that you are seeking commentary on what works and what doesn’t from the perspective of a reader. You are not looking for them to act as your editor or proofreader.

From some beta readers, you may receive pages of deep insight into your writing style, characters, and plot. From others, you may only receive short answers to the questions you asked. The quality and content of assessment provided by beta readers will vary, so set your expectations accordingly.

Prepare yourself

This is one of the most important things I can teach you about being a writer, so pay attention.

You need to prepare yourself to receive critique. First, locate your ego and any personal feelings you have about your writing. Found ’em? Good. Now tie all those feelings up into a tiny bundle and shove that bundle down, as deep as it will go.

Writing is personal, yes. But the opinions people have about your writing are not. Your readers do not know you (at least, they shouldn’t know you—see section above about where to find beta readers). Repeat the following mantra: feedback about my writing is not about me. Not even if someone says you’re the biggest idiot who ever lived for missing a plot hole they could drive a semitruck through. You absolutely must separate you from your writing, even if every beta reader hates every word you wrote.

I’ve already said this, but it bears repeating. The goal of beta readers—and the editing process as a whole—is to improve the writing.

Ego and personal feelings get in the way of quality writing. That isn’t to say you must fix every issue readers identify with your writing, but you absolutely should examine every observation and comment, and focus on improving the manuscript. Take ten steps back and think about why someone may have disliked your protagonist. Are they annoying? Flat? Boring? Too good or too evil? Maintain your distance when you think about why another person thinks you should delete your favorite paragraph. Does it serve the story? Does it not come across the way I read it? If multiple readers point to a particular scene or element and express concerns, you likely need to take action—even if you examine it and think it works well. However, if you examine an issue brought forth by only one beta reader and find changing it doesn’t improve the story or makes it worse, discard that comment. Not all feedback will warrant action.

As you sort through comments and questions, don’t allow your personal feelings to determine action or inaction; if your only reason for leaving something alone is because you like it the way you have it, you are doing your writing a disservice.

The quality of your finished product is ultimately up to you, so you must ask yourself why you wanted to write in the first place. Do you merely wish to check a box that says you’ve written and published something?

Or do you want to share a piece of yourself with the world? Do you hope other people will relate, enjoy, ask questions, or go on a journey with you? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, tell your ego it needs to sit down and shut up so you can make it happen.

Final notes

Make sure you thank every person who agrees to beta read for you, both before the process begins and after you receive their responses. People who take the time to read your manuscript and offer their opinion are vital to your growth as a writer.

Don’t forget your mantra—feedback about my writing is not about me. It will serve you well beyond the editing process and into publication.

To all the lovely people who read this, thank you for taking the time.

Hugs, glitter, and grins,

Jaime

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