Not Just Proofreaders: A New Author's Guide to Beta Readers
Your First Audience: The Crucial Role of the Beta Reader
What is a beta reader?
Anyone new to the "biz" might feel overwhelmed when they see the numerous requests for beta readers in any author group. It seems some people have a mistaken idea that a beta reader is like an editor, who will painstakingly critique each chapter, even each paragraph.
But a beta reader is much simpler - and arguably more crucial at this stage.
Not an Editor in Disguise: What Beta Readers Actually Do
A beta reader is just... a reader. A reader for that first "final" draft - or after your first developmental edit, according to some. Their primary purpose is to experience your story as a fresh pair of eyes and tell you their perspective. Did they connect with the characters? Was the plot engaging? Were they satisfied at the end?
A beta reader is, for all intents and purposes, your thermometer for how "readable" your story is, whether your story struck where you wanted it to. They help you identify the big-picture issues before you begin the professional editing process.
A beta reader needs no other experience than interest in your story. Ideally, they should enjoy your genre, but even a general love of reading can be valuable (especially for mash-up genre stories like mine).
The AI Imposter? Recognizing Different Types of Feedback
I've had several "beta readers" give me a lengthy analysis of 10-18 pages of the first chapter of my book. They advise me on technical details about the atmospheric setting, the complex protagonist, the pacing and structure, but any emotional response is superficial.
Since I've run my own AI analysis of the chapter, I recognize the feedback (sometimes even the words used), and some of it can be useful - if taken through the lens that AI has no true emotion and cannot quite imitate that true human response. While it can analyze pacing, it can't quite predict how that pacing will feel to a reader. This kind of detailed, structural feedback on a single chapter feels more like a developmental edit, or in some cases a line edit, than a beta reading.
For example, a big piece of my current story is the mystery of a seemingly sentient raven. My AI analysis - and those lengthy beta reader reports - all really want me to define the raven's presence in the first chapter. Plus, AI cannot look at the book as a whole to see how the mystery unfolds, and how the reader perceives it. Is it intriguing, too easily predicted, or confusing?
But even if these analyses were truly written by hand, they fall short of the true purpose of a beta reader. The manuscript, at the point of a beta reading, might be to the final point of the author's ability without feedback. The author needs to know if the big ideas they tried to quilt together create the design they wanted. This has to take place before refining the wording.
Where to Find Your First Readers: Exploring Different Platforms
So, how to find beta readers? I'm no expert, but my best success was to request on all my socials for "feedback," rather than "beta readers," which seemed to attract readers more interested in the actual story. I also joined betareader.io, and I have been a member of several writer/author groups on Facebook & threads for some time. I plan to write another post on my experience with betareader.io in the future.
Between all of these (I have a very small following), I had 9 responses. Three have already returned an analysis that smacks of AI - focusing heavily on structure and offering somewhat generic praise without much emotional insight. Two were swaps that gave me great (not lengthy) feedback on how what they read resonated.
One of those, on betareader.io, is now halfway through my book. I have one, also on betareader.io, who gives me some strange, nitpicky feedback that doesn't always make sense. He is known to my author community on threads for similar feedback - a potential red flag to watch for. Three have not returned feedback yet, but it's only been a few days. I'll return to update on those.
Tips on Getting Started with Beta Readers
I would suggest creating a secure pdf with a copyright watermark of your first chapter to send to potential readers first, to see if they give you the feedback you are looking for, before trusting them with your whole manuscript. Feel free to politely reject any reader whose feedback isn't helpful for your specific needs at this stage. It's always helpful to tell them why you decided to not follow with the rest of the book, if you do so.
I've also found that detailing the kind of feedback you are looking for really helps the beta readers out and relaxes them about their "job." Instead of the pressure of "critiquing," they understand they just need to be engaged readers sharing their honest reactions. Even specific questions about areas you are worried about, like, "Do you suspect at this point that Susanna is neurodivergent, or does she just seem cold and cruel?" I did not do that in my initial round of requests and wonder if I might have gotten better responses if I had.
Some ideas for beta reader feedback questions:
- Did you enjoy the story?
- Did you resonate with any of the characters?
- Do you want to read more, or would you put it down at this point?
- What did you enjoy the most?
- Did anything distract you from the story? Too much detail, pacing problems, unbelievable characters?
Comments
Post a Comment