As an author you may already understand the wonderful concept of beta readers. Your beta readers generally serve as a variety of critiquers that read your story and provide you with advice for editing purposes. Beta readers should be used in addition to an editor because editors will focus on things like grammar and spelling and story outline and flow, where beta readers can give you different viewpoints of particular parts of your book that could be changed or altered to be more appealing.

In this article I’ll get straight to the business of getting you some beta readers.

Section One:

• Sign Up Here For Beta Reader Directory
• Other Places to Connect With a Beta Reader
• Join the Comments Section Below to Connect With Beta Readers Now (see instructions below)

Section Two:

• The Beta Reader
• Know What You Expect From Your Beta Reader
• How Do You Know Your Work is Safe in the Hands of Your Beta Reader?
• How Many Beta Readers Should You Use?
• Get Beta Readers for Insight and Reviews

Section One:

Sign Up Here for the Beta Reader Directory

I would appreciate if you are interested in providing your services as a beta reader who swaps manuscripts that you contact me.

I will need:

1. your name
2. a brief history of your writing experience
3. your writing genre
4. an appropriate email address with which to contact you

Note: If you sign up in the comments section below, please type your email like this to prevent spamming: youremail[at]provider[dot]com

Connect With a Beta Reader Here

You can pick up beta readers for free, but some are worth paying for. The following is a list of places to find reviewers and beta readers.

• Beta Readers & Critique Groups | World Literary Cafe
• Beta Readers’ Hub
• The Circle: for readers/beta readers/critiques/reviews/free …
• Beta Reader Group Group (4797 Members) – Goodreads

Join the Comments Section Below to Connect With Beta Readers

If you are interested in connecting with beta readers now, please use the comment section below to introduce yourself and to choose someone to beta read for.

1. your name
2. a brief history of your writing experience
3. your writing genre
4. a brief synopsis of your manuscript
5. an appropriate email address with which to contact you

Note: Please type your email like this to prevent spamming: youremail[at]provider[dot]com

 Section Two:

The Beta Reader

A beta reader is someone who reads your work with the aim of helping you to improve it (content, grammar, punctuation, what works and what doesn’t) before your work is published. They look at the whole draft of a novel or a completed story or poem. They might wish to read the entire manuscript at once or to have it delivered chapter by chapter, depending upon preference.

I find that I prefer chapter by chapter beta swapping. This allows for a more in-depth critique with lots of possibility for feedback and serves as a pause which gives ample time for any relevant questions. This regular feedback can actually help your current writing process, if you are still working on finishing the manuscript, and also can serve as inspiration. Whatever you do, steer clear of making any edits until your first draft is complete and fully critiqued. You wouldn’t want to make the mistake of backtracking and losing your momentum with your first draft.

Beta Readers are volunteers most of the time.  Sometimes they offer their services because they are looking to pick up experience as they launch into career paths such as copy editors, editors, associates, publishers, etc. Most times you will find that the beta reader is like yourself, they are an author needing insight on their own manuscript and will trade services with you. You read and critique mine and I’ll do the same in return for you.

Know What You Expect From Your Beta Reader

Whichever type of help you pursue it is important to know what you are hoping to gain. Although the main concept of a beta reader is the same, many people have different ideas about what they actually want in their beta readers. It is best for an author and a beta reader to discuss how the relationship is going to work. You should write down or list your expectations in advance, such as:

• do the first four pages do a good job of capturing your attention and make you want to read more
• How do you feel about the characters
• What did you learn about each character (character development)
• Are my scenes flowing well from one to another
• Is there enough action
• Am I descriptive enough
• Bored or eager to know more
• Is my story arch compelling or does it need work
• How is my dialogue
• What appears to be the theme
• Anything I should add
• Anything I should cut
• Is there anything that needs work
• Am I sticking to the main viewpoint
• Am I overusing adjectives
• Is anything confusing
• What do you like so far about the story and what do you dislike

How to Know Your Work is Safe in the Hands of Your Beta Reader

Many beginning writers express concern that beta readers might steal their work.  The idea of betas stealing ideas shouldn’t be a large fear.  Execution is everything in crafting your story and your manuscript is copyrighted the moment you write it.

If you seriously fear that your manuscript may be stolen then you may not want to send your work to beta readers who have a questionable social profile. You may also choose not to trust a beta reader who is not active in your social network.  Just by reading some of the posts by the people who offer to beta-read your work, you will, no doubt, be able to judge whether they are trustworthy.

Remember, it is also a huge leap of faith for a beta to take on your work. After all, they are committing their time and effort for free to read a work that might not be their cup of tea or is badly written, and thus are also risking conflict with the writer.

The First rule: Be nice to your Beta Readers… they do it out of the love of reading.  It doesn’t hurt to throw a little compensation their way, either… Remember a good editor (or freelance editor) these days can run you between $35 to $90/hour for about 6 – 10 pages. So if you’re looking to have a beta reader look over a 400 page novel, understand the cost could run into the $1000s if you had to pay for their service.

How Many Beta Readers Should You Use

I currently have five beta readers tackling my first draft, how many beta readers have you used on a given project?

Limit the number of beta readers you have to an odd number. Some writers like to have an odd number of beta readers so that there isn’t a “tie”—two readers think something works and two think it doesn’t. Remember, everyone brings their own thoughts and experience to reading—it’s one of the joys books give us. And it’s a good thing if your manuscript is bringing up different ideas for different people. But not if all of them want you to change what is on the page accordingly.

Get Beta Readers for Insight and Reviews

Ask your beta readers, editor, and designer for a review before the launch of your book so they can have an impact on your sales.

Now is a good time to get your beta readers to write those reviews. At least three months prior to publication, make a list of book bloggers and reviewers in your book’s genre, read their guidelines on what and how to submit, and start sending your manuscript out for early reviews. They should post to Amazon, Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Google+ Fan Page. You should also make a copy of their review to share on your website testimonials page. You can use the best review as part of your back cover blurb on your book. Sometimes it is best to use a review of your editor here. Your cover designer should also write you a review as they will have read your book as well.