How I use beta readers
Compared to developmental editors, copyeditors, and proofreaders, beta readers have a much more amorphous role in the book-writing process. Ultimately, they’re a group of readers that align well with the ideal reader you hope to have for your book. So, if your beta readers have problems with your book, then your book will struggle to satisfy your intended audience.
Beyond that, however, beta readers can be used in a variety of ways and at various times during the writing process. This means that authors need to recognize their choices and guide expectations to get what they need.
Where to find beta readers?
Some authors use for-hire beta readers they find online or recruit beta readers via social. I used family members and friends. Regardless of the route you go, there are a few requirements you need from your beta readers:
- They must have some familiarity with whatever genre you’re writing in. My trilogy is dystopian sci-fi, so I only asked folks who liked reading in that genre.
- They must be able to provide honest feedback. It doesn’t have to be mean, but they have to be able to point out stuff that’s not working for them. If they’re overly concerned with hurting your feelings, then it’s probably not going to be useful for either person.
On that second point, your instructions to beta readers are vital.
What kind of feedback to ask for?
Even though my beta readers absolutely found typos and missing words and other mistakes, I told them that I was most interested in:
- Anything that was confusing, in terms of what was happening or why
- Inconsistencies, either in the story or in character behaviors
- Moments that seemed underdeveloped or overdone
I said I was happy to have them point out exchanges and scenes they enjoyed, but sharing the stuff that didn’t work for them or jarred them out of the story was more helpful. The feedback from each one of my beta readers led to changes, both big and small. I think that was partly due to when I used each one.
At what point to use beta readers?
Beta readers can be used at any time during the writing process once you believe you have a solid draft. What really helped me was staggering my beta readers. Rather than having a bunch of them likely pointing out the same problems, I shared my manuscript with one or two beta readers at a time. Then I fixed the issues they identified and shared the revision with the next beta reader, and so on.
Author Nicole Janeway recommends starting by sharing just the first chapter, because it lowers the initial commitment and gives you a chance to see if the person is a good fit. She also says that the first chapter is critical, so putting more emphasis there is wise. On that point, I couldn’t agree more. I wish I’d done that. I would have revised the first chapter and then asked them to read it over again when they got the full manuscript.
I have a few beta readers in reserve that I want to share the book with after I’ve finished incorporating the feedback from my developmental editor. They’ll get the cleanest experience with the book, so I’ll be expecting the feedback to be much different. (Fingers crossed.)
How long should beta readers have to give feedback?
Everyone’s time constraints are different. Because I knew pretty early on that I wanted to at least draft the entire trilogy before publishing the first book, I knew I had time, because when I wasn’t editing book 1, I was drafting book 2.
Staggering my beta readers and editing between rounds took around 9 months for book 1. In most cases, I gave my beta readers a couple of months to read my manuscript. They’re all busy people. I had a similar process for book 2, which has been seen by all my beta readers at this point, too.
You may need much tighter turnarounds if you have firm deadlines.
How many beta readers should you use?
Obviously, approaches vary. Janeway recommends as few as 8 to as many as 20. Meanwhile, in Before the Bestseller, Alex Strathdee recommends throwing door open to beta readers—like 200!—and listing them as “contributors” in the acknowledgments. He says many beta readers end up being part of the book’s launch team to help promote it.
This is a great idea for nonfiction books (wished I’d done that), but seems less appropriate for fiction. That’s because a novel can change much more dramatically during the editing process, and because ARC readers seem to fill some of that promotion role for fiction.
For my part, I’ll have at least 8 by the end, but probably not many more.
Do beta readers replace a developmental editor?
In my experience, there’s no comparison between beta readers and a developmental editor. They’re for different purposes.
Beta readers are, well, readers. So, the feedback is from that perspective.
Meanwhile, a developmental editor methodically breaks down your plot and characters, and also compares it to genre standards. The volume of feedback is much higher and much more technical. My developmental editor gave me 35 pages of feedback, plus in-line comments, plus recommended I read four books on novel-writing and shared several articles on craft. Beta readers can’t and won’t do that. That said, beta readers will tell you how you’re connecting with average readers.
Related posts:
My sci-fi novel is now in the hands of a developmental editor
Recommended reading on novel writing from my developmental editor
7 questions you should be able to answer before working with a developmental editor
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