Beta Readers and Why You Need Them

So often, I meet and talk to young writers, or writers who are just starting out, and tell them a little about writing. I love talking to new people, especially new writers, to help them understand the craft better. I've had multiple of my books beta read, and I've been a beta for others.

One thing I have noticed with my experiences is that not a lot of new writers, and even some older writers, are familiar with the beta reading process. So today, I thought I'd expose the bad and the good about beta reading. Let's get started.

What is a Beta Reader?

Beta readers are people who read your book for free sometime between finishing the second draft and before a professional editor looks at your work. You can have multiple beta readers, and you can also have your betas look over several drafts of your work as you change and rewrite. Beta readers give you feedback on your story, and point out things you may have missed when self-editing like typos, plot holes, inconsistencies in characters, or any other problems your story my have.

How do I Find a Beta Reader

You can find your betas in a lot of different places. If you're apart of an online writing community like Instagram or Facebook, you can ask some of them to review your work. You can also asks friends or family. A lot of writers refrain from asking family or friends to beta read because they're scared that they will either be dishonest with them about their feelings for the story, or they will be honest and tell the writer what they don't like.

Personally, I think those reasons are stupid. If someone in your family agrees to read your books, they probably love you very much, and they're doing you a favor. Your family and friends are the people who are going to watch you grow as a writer. They're the ones who are going to be there and their feedback should be valuable to you. It's important that you trust your beta readers to provide you with quality feedback. Who can you trust more, and who wants you to succeed more, than your own family and friends?

Whoever you ask, make sure you give them specific criteria on the kind of feedback you want. A lot of writers will give their betas a list of questions to be filled out after or while they read the story. Questions like—Do you think the characters are interesting? Do you think the plot has enough conflict and excitement?

It helps if your beta readers like the genre you're writing in. It helps even more if they are writers themselves. Look for people who have more experience than you. Find people who have been successful on Instagram or Facebook. I don't mean go after Stephen King, but go after someone you respect and look up to as a writer to give you feedback.

Doing this may very well scare you, but you will learn more by going to someone who has a skill set that exceeds yours than you will by scouting out someone who has a less or an equal amount of skill as you.

When Picking a Beta Reader, Remember These Three Things:

1. Pick someone you trust and who you know will give you honest feedback and constructive criticism.

2. Make sure to give your beta readers specific questions you want them to answer about your story.

3. It helps if your beta is a writer and has a higher skill-set than you, but it's not necessary. Have your beta readers be a mix between family and friends, and writers. There are so many amazing writers on Instagram that you can talk to and become friends with. That's where I met my betas and they've been beyond helpful to my books and my writing abilities.

Sending Your Work out

Once you have your betas picked out, you can send them your story either through email or give them a printed copy. I recommend sending them a copy through Google docs. You can do this as long as you both have a Gmail account, which a lot of people do. Using Google docs allows your readers to make comments on your story and helps you tremendously because when they finish, the feedback is already on your computer. Sending them your story and questions this way, is the easiest and best route to go.

What do I do with the Feedback?

Receiving and organizing the feedback you get from your betas can be very tricky and stressful. It's important that you take all of the feedback with a grain of salt. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to reading, but be realistic. If ten people say your main character is boring and cliche, she's boring and cliche and you should rewrite her character.

Be logical. See the feedback from the beta's point of view. If you agree with it, change it. If not, move on with your life and your book.

Sometimes you can get a lot of negative feedback from your beta readers, especially if you're just starting out. It can be very overwhelming, but all of that feedback is valuable.

People are so scared of rejection that they beg for affirmation, and when they get the affirmation, no matter the amount, they hold on to it too tightly. It‘s great to have someone like your work, but don't expect them to worship your geniusness when you're in the beta reading process.

The whole reason you have beta readers is because you as the author cannot see every flaw in your work. Beta readers are God's gift because they tell you what you're doing wrong before you show your book to the big guys—AKA the editors, agents, and publishers.

It's better to know that your characters stink now then to show an agent an uninteresting and unoriginal cast. So when your betas give you negative feedback or constructive criticism, don't cry and shout that your career is over. Heck, it hasn't even started!

It's a beta reader‘s job to point out what's wrong with your story. Of course they will also point out what they like, but they are looking for the things that need to be improved upon, not what's already extraordinary.

Thank you for reading this blog post. If you liked it, I have many more posts on writing and books for you to check out. I post a new one every Tuesday as well!

What are your tips for finding great beta readers? Let me know by leaving a comment!

It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi

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