Beta Reading

 

The first draft of your book is finished. . . Now what?


I highly suggest that before you send the book to an editor, you find a beta reader. Most beta readers don’t charge; you can find one through Instagram, Twitter (X), or Facebook. Or you can ask a trusted friend who is an avid reader and knows their stuff. It’s also okay to have more than one beta reader.


What is a beta reader?

A beta reader is a test reader of an unreleased work of writing who gives feedback to the author from the point of view of an average reader. This feedback can be used by the writer to fix remaining issues with plot, pacing, and consistency. Normally, they understand that you’re not asking them to proofread the document. It is recommended that proofreading be done after beta reading and before the manuscript is sent to the editor.


*Proofreading involves finding and correcting errors and inconsistencies in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and formatting in the final draft of a document. Beta reading entails giving authors general feedback about an early draft of a manuscript from an average reader's perspective. **You can hire a beta reader to proofread your book as well as do the beta reading part, but make sure they are familiar with proper grammar and punctuation, dialogue setup, and so on.


One thing I strongly do NOT recommend is using a beta reader AFTER your editor has sent their copy and line edits back. (It’s fine for a beta reader to look it over after developmental editing.) The reason is that the editor will do a final proofread after you’ve looked it over and made the necessary changes and/or added/removed things from your manuscript. If a beta reader looks it over after the editor sends it back BEFORE the final proofread, they may point out errors or things the editor hasn’t caught yet because there was no final proofread. 


This happened to me twice in my editing career, and it was not only time-consuming on my part but highly frustrating. My client had a beta reader look at it after I sent the manuscript back with my edits, but I hadn’t yet done a final proofread because that doesn’t happen until after the author looks over my edits. The beta reader (thinking they were a proofreader??) pointed out many areas in which they thought were not correct (commas, dashes, grammar, etc.), and my client emailed me a long list of “things I missed” along with her unhappiness. I had to go through each item on that list and explain why the beta reader was wrong. Out of maybe 25 items, there were only two that were errors I hadn’t caught yet, but I also hadn’t done a final proofread. So, you see? Time-consuming for everyone and very frustrating. Make sure your beta reader knows their role.


I usually have a beta reader look over my draft when I’m at the halfway point to make sure my story is heading in the direction I want it to. Does it make sense? Is it boring? Is it catchy? Things like that. Then I have one or two beta readers look it over when I finish the first draft.


You can give your beta reader(s) a questionnaire sheet, or you can just ask them to look it over, seeking the following:

Check for pacing and dialogue.

Does the story make sense?

Are there plot holes? Inconsistencies?

Are the characters believable?


For more on beta reading, here are two articles that I found helpful:

What Is a Beta Reader? (And How to Become One)  

What Is a Beta Reader? How to Find and Work With an Author’s Best Friend


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