Wish there was a way to preview what your reviews for your book might look like? That’s where betas come in!
Beta Readers Defined
NOTE: Some writers call readers “betas” no matter what version of the book they are receiving. You are welcome to do the same! I just want to clarify that I see alphas and betas as two different entities who are part of two different undertakings that happen at two different places along the book development process.
Betas are just people who have agreed to read a nearly-finalized version of your book and give you feedback on it. That’s it! Unlike alpha readers, these people aren’t looking to help you repair your early / rough draft of the piece. They want a mostly polished piece to review so they can then share their reactions with you and (if you wish) the general public.
It’s most helpful to have people reading your work who are fans of that genre or at least read it regularly as part of a more eclectic personal library.
For example, if you are writing a book about using plants to regrow teeth after the age of 50, you wouldn’t want betas in their teens and twenties. That’s not your target market.
The Beta Reading Process
- Prepare your manuscript.
Beta reading is often done just before or just after copy editing. This means that the manuscript has already been through self-revisions, developmental editing, and line editing. As far as content is concerned, the book is ready to go, but you’re putting the finishing touches on it with the copy editing, book design, and proofreading that will come later on.
If you haven’t cleaned up your manuscript to this point, it’s helpful to let your betas know so that they aren’t disappointed (if they have been betas for other authors in the past). They will likely be expecting a piece that’s essentially ready to be published, not something that still needs a lot of work.
If you have questions that you want your betas to answer, you can create a form including those questions and put a link to the form in the back of the book. You could also ask those questions directly in the back of the book, and then people can email you their responses to those questions.
Tainting Your Beta Responses
I, personally, try to steer clear of asking many specifics of my betas. I want their organic, unprompted reaction to the piece. What can happen when we ask multiple questions (some people literally ask their betas dozens of questions on their feedback form!) is that the reading and feedback process tends to feel more like a homework project than a fun opportunity to read a book for free.
Another problem with specific questions, especially if there are many of them, is that you tend to “lead” or “taint” the responses (think of it like leading or directing a witness in a trial) instead of getting an organic reply from your reader. For example, if you were feeling nervous about how evil the main character may have seemed in the opening chapter, asking that question directly can taint your betas’ responses. This is because, if they didn’t have a problem with how the MC was portrayed, they likely wouldn’t have anything to say about it (no news is good news, in this case). But if you prompt them to think about this aspect of the story more deeply than they normally would, you’re not really getting their natural reaction (which was to accept what you wrote and move on with the story), you’re getting their response to a direct question that pushed them to think about something they were completely unconcerned about before. When you leave it up to the betas to reply how they wish, you can start to see patterns in what people noticed, liked, or didn’t like. That’s the gold I’m always looking for! What did people pick up on without any direct questioning or prompting from me? This gives me a more clear idea of how someone picking the book up off the shelf at a bookstore would respond since I wouldn’t have the chance to ask them a laundry list of questions before they started reading.
Another way you can taint your feedback is by giving people a list of questions to consider before they start reading. Again, this sets up a homework assignment as opposed to a casual read (and your paying customers who buy your published book will be doing so recreationally, in most cases). It also means you are coloring the mindset of your reader before they open the book. You won’t be able to do this with strangers from all over the world who are buying your book. They will leave reviews that are their genuine responses to the work, marking what stood out to them during the normal flow of reading and enjoying literature. So, if you’re looking for authentic responses to your work, it might be helpful to allow betas to offer you that with something like a single-question form where they can write whatever they want instead of trying to guide their reading process with multiple questions about things you’re concerned about as an author.
I’ve learned that, if none of my (alphas or) betas bring up something that I was concerned about, I can relax. It’s something I’m fixated on, but it obviously means nothing to the reader (if they even noticed it!).
- Gather your betas
You can recruit your betas from all kinds of places, including your writing groups and social media profiles. Just remember to try to get people who love reading your kind of books (or your books in specific). It’s easy to set up a sign up form using Google Docs, Regfox, or whatever form creator your current website comes equipped with. To prevent spam and keep out scammers, be sure to only announce that you’re looking for betas (and give the sign up form link) to people you have some familiarity with. People who have been part of your writing critique group for a year would be a safer option than people from the Facebook group you joined ten minutes ago.
The form I use asks for their name and email address. It also includes a limited disclosure agreement. Even though the only way to prevent people from stealing your work is to never share it with anyone for any reason, the agreement is a bit of due diligence on my part. Of course, you can handle that aspect of recruiting betas as you see fit!
- Distribute the manuscript
When you’ve gathered all the betas you want (five is a solid number, but you can go as high as you’re comfortable with), send copies of the manuscript out to them. Be sure to add a link at the end of the document that will take them to your feedback form (or give them instructions on another way you would like to receive their feedback). Beta reader copy distribution is most often done digitally because it’s so much faster and easier to send 100 emails than it is to send 100 physical copies of a book. You can upload the manuscript to a platform like Google Docs or Dropbox and give their email addresses access to download the piece.
- Collect responses
As reactions start coming in from your betas, you can begin to get an idea of how your book is being received by people. This can help you determine where to advertise the book and how to do so. Direct quotes from their responses can also be used to promote the piece both before and after the book is published.
Other Methods for Distribution
No-Download
If the idea of people having a draft of your work to call their own bothers you, a no-download method may ease your mind some (though it will make your beta reading process much more frustrating for the readers and more work for you as the author!). With this method, you post the piece somewhere like a private social media page or profile, or a password-protected section of your website and give people the ability to see the piece without downloading it. This is a highly tedious method to use for you as the author, but it’s not impossible to pull off. For example, you could share on the private page images (screenshots) of each page instead of document files (.docx, .pdf, .rtf, etc.) or set up a file that can be viewed but not downloaded. Unfortunately, you reader gets restricted in how they can consume the piece. If they normally read on their Kindle, where they can easily manipulate how to text looks so that they can make reading more comfortable for their eyes, they won’t be able to do so if they can’t download the file. If someone normally prints out their beta reads and takes it with them throughout the day to mark it up because they don’t use electronic devices to read, you’re forcing them to consume the book in a way that’s not their “natural habitat” or common method. This can mean you’re going to have readers experience more frustration with reading the book than they normally would, and that can influence how they respond to the piece itself.
I understand that some writers may choose this method out of a sense of paranoia or because they have severe control issues. But I hope you’ll remember that there is no way to guarantee that someone isn’t going to pirate your work other than to never show it to anyone (including never publishing and allowing people to buy it). The possibility of theft is just the nature of the publishing beast (the same as when owning a restaurant, grocery store, or similar establishment). If you can’t come to grips with the idea that theft can and will happen, the publishing process can be more anxiety-provoking and stressful than it needs to be for you.
Snail Mail
After setting up your sign up form to gather postal addresses as well as email addresses, you can send people physical copies of your work. Keep in mind that this takes a lot of time and money when compared to strictly digital distribution. You’ll need to pay for the paper and ink to print the manuscript out, pay for envelopes big enough to hold the manuscript and protect it throughout the shipping process, and pay the postage for sending the manuscript, as well as an extra envelope and postage for the manuscript to be sent back to you with people’s notes on it. And then time would need to be spent reviewing the notes on each of the copies. This often results in hundreds of dollars in extra costs and multiple months of extra time spent.
Recruitment
Beta readers can come from just about anywhere. Here’s a template and example for recruiting betas for a project:
TEMPLATE
Hey, everyone! I’m looking for beta readers for my XX,XXX-word (about YYY pages) [niche] [genre] manuscript. I’m hoping to send out copies this week and get feedback by [deadline date]. Manuscripts will be sent via [method].
If you’re interested, please sign up at [sign up link].
EXAMPLE
Hey, everyone! I’m looking for beta readers for my 98,000-word (about 392 pages) dark comedy novel. I’m hoping to send out copies this week and get feedback by October 1st, 2024. Books will be sent via email.
If you’re interested, please sign up at TeneshaLCurtis.com/readers .
You can publicize your announcement:
- on Meetup group pages
- on your social media profiles (TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).
- in an email to your newsletter subscribers
- in a post on your author blog
Take advantage of this “sneak peek” of how people will respond to your work by using that information to more effectively promote the book. For instance, if you are writing a thriller but are getting a lot of responses highlighting a particular piece of futuristic technology noted in the manuscript, you might consider pushing the piece to sci-fi audiences as well as thriller lovers. If betas are saying the book reminds them of a novel by a famous author, you could work that comparison into your promotional efforts as well.
Just after, or even during, the beta reading process, you can start your copy editing step.