Beta Reader Basics
7 Ways to Choose and Use Beta Readers
The purpose of having beta readers on a finished manuscript is exactly the same as it is for having beta testers on a new mobile app or taste tasters on a new kind of Coca-Cola. You give members of your target audience a product that is whole and viable so that they can use it and test it and give you feedback on what is working and what might need shoring up. Responding to that feedback is the first step in sharing your work with the world.
The Rule of Three
I think an ideal number of beta readers is three. You don’t want too many people weighing in because then it just becomes writing by committee.
The only instance where I might change the recommendation of three beta readers is if a client is writing something very specific about a person, place or thing that the writer may not completely understand. This would include academic subjects, historical subjects, stories set in a particular place where the writer has not lived, or stories that deeply involve a career the writer does not know about.
In James Patterson’s Masterclass, for example, he talks about having relationships with cops and FBI operatives who can help make sure that he has captured the spirit of the tasks those people do in his novels. (Note that he says spirit; he knows he is writing fiction and that the facts are necessarily made up, but his impulse is to make sure the facts suggest the truth.)
I had a client writing a YA fantasy historical novel set in a Yeshiva and he had a Jewish scholar read his pages to make sure that he was getting the terminology and the religious elements correct.
There is a recent trend in publishing to get what is known as a “sensitivity reader” for any story which prominently features diverse characters whose lived experience is outside the experience of the author. Not all professionals agree that this is a necessary or a wise step. You can read about the debate in a Writer’s Digest column here.
In all three of these cases, I would consider the “technical” reader to be a fourth reader — someone you select for this specific task and not necessarily to give you an overall impression of how the story is working.
No matter what, resist the urge to get a whole bunch of people to read your work-in-progress. This is usually the result of your eagerness to show your work to all your friends and key people in your network so that they can pat you on the back and praise you. Remember that your manuscript is going to get better as it moves through the phasing of publishing. Wait to knock their socks off when it is closer to what it is going to ultimately be.
Who to Choose
You want people you trust to be both honest and compassionate, people who can read the manuscript in a timely fashion, and people who know how to say something meaningful about a story.
You don’t need empty praise. Having someone say, “I loved it” or “It’s so cool that you wrote a story!” or “I liked the part about the bears,” is unhelpful.
You don’t need people’s opinions. Having someone say, “You should change thing from aliens to dinosaurs,” or “I would like this better if it was a romance,” does no one any good.
You don’t need a proofreader. Having someone say, “Your verb-tense agreement on page 10 is out of kilter,” does little to help you write the best story you can. That is the work for a copyeditor or proofreader, and this is not the time for that work.
Be wary of asking people who love you to read the work at this phase, or people in your family who may have strong reactions that have little to do with the story itself — unless there is good reason to do so (i.e. the story was inspired by a family member or you are writing a memoir.) Asking family members to be beta readers tends to lead to arguments because there is so much wrapped up in your expectation of their reaction.
Also be wary of asking members of your existing writing group unless full manuscript reads are part of the set-up. These people have seen your story develop over time and will already have biases and ideas about it that may or may not be present on the pages. The perfect beta reader is coming in cold, but with compassion and curiosity.
I think the best beta readers are people who don’t know you that well — your hairdresser, a co-worker who has never been to your house, someone you met at a writing conference, someone you met in an online course or workshop, someone in an online affinity group.
Look for people who love to read, who read in your genre, and who have an interest in your topic.
What About Famous Friends?
If you have them and they are willing, then sure!
A Special Note for Middle Grade and YA Writers
You will want readers in your target age range, but an adult approaching kids and teenagers directly is potentially creepy. The best thing to do is approach their parents, their teachers, and their librarians to see if those adults know any kids who might be interested in beta reading. Many young people love to be asked for their opinions and if they are readers, they are likely really smart and discerning about what they like and why.
Try to find at least one person in your target age range to be a beta reader.
Then go back to those parents, teachers, and librarians to see if they would be willing to read your work, too; they likely know very well how kids that age think and how they might respond to a given story. Besides, a lot of adults read YA themselves.
What to Ask
Good feedback helps you test your own theories about the book, so ask questions that are based on what you are most concerned about. This is a chance for you to be honest about your work; writers often know what’s wrong, but it’s scary to face it because it means that a.) you’re not done and b.) you may have to learn how to fix what’s wrong and c.) you now have proof that you are not the rare genius who can get it right the first time. Now is the time to face the truth and build your muscle for improving your work.
If you are worried that your protagonist (in fiction) is unlikeable, ask your beta readers to write down a two-line reaction to your protagonist.
If you are worried that your argument (in nonfiction) isn’t logical, ask your beta readers to write down a two-line summary of your point.
If you are worried the book is too long, ask your beta readers to mark any places where they skimmed or got bored.
If you are worried that your book isn’t good enough, ask your beta readers to be honest about where they put the book down and stopped reading.
Good feedback helps you see things in the work that you couldn’t possibly see. All of us have the burden of knowledge — we can only know what we know. Beta readers can help us overcome that burden. Be sure to ask your readers for their honest assessment of the work — what is working and not working — and then step back and honestly weigh how you feel about what they say. Try to be open to everything, and don’t simply defend what you have done — but also remember that you are the god of your own story. You are trying to match the vision of the story you see in your mind, and only you can see that.
Give Them a Deadline
Give your beta readers a reasonable deadline for completing the feedback. Tell them in advance that you need their reports by a certain date — and if that doesn’t work with their lives, find another reader. I often recommend giving beta readers 4–6 weeks, depending on the length of the manuscript.
What to Do with the Feedback
If the feedback rings true to you, do what you have to do to address it, even if that means making a radical change. Be brave about doing the hard work; this is the stage when a book often goes from good to great.
If the feedback doesn’t ring true to you, let it go. You are not obligated to respond to every bit of feedback.
If the feedback seems mean spirited, don’t take it personally. Recognize that anyone who is mean to someone who is doing their best to create something from nothing likely has their own twisted narratives around the creative process — and that has nothing to do with you. Shake it off and keep doing what you are doing.
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