Three Tips for Being a Brilliant Beta Reader!

Have you ever wondered how authors deliver such amazing stories to their readers? It’s a process, long and involved, and in many instances, an author can actually turn to his or her readers for help.

If you’ve ever heard the term beta reader and wondered what it was, let’s reveal the mystery today. Beta Readers are a type of advanced reader for an author (not to be confused by Advanced Readers, which is a different sort of thing). Most of the time, Beta Readers get access to an author’s draft of their manuscript before it has been published. 

Sometimes you’ll see Advanced Reader signups for authors, and those are fun too. But that’s not necessarily beta reading. Advanced Readers must sign up to participate, but in my experience, Beta Readers are recruited by the author personally. Usually they are already very familiar with the author’s previous works, and they are engaged enough as fans that the author trusts their opinions. 

But why would an author give away copies of their manuscript to their readers? Don’t they want their readers to buy copies? 

Of course. Sales are always good. But sometimes an author can benefit more from getting initial audience feedback than they can from a handful of sales. 

Have you been a beta reader before? Check out the latest Pages of My Life with A. C. Williams Share on X

Writing is a lonely job. Even when an author has a community of writers, it’s still a solitary art. And, let’s just be honest here, other writers aren’t always the best at giving feedback, so the opportunity to glean constructive criticism from a select team of readers before the manuscript even goes to print is priceless. 

So how do you get to be a Beta Reader? 

Well, it helps if you know a bunch of authors. Beta readers are the most useful before a book is submitted to a publisher or, in the case of an indie author, before he or she begins the publishing process. If you know an author personally and have read and enjoyed his or her books, don’t be shy in letting them know. Readers who are willing to make time to review and respond with constructive feedback on a manuscript are a precious resource to authors.

That being said, simply having an opinion about how a story should or shouldn’t be written isn’t what qualifies you to be a beta reader. If an author just needs opinions about their manuscript, they could ask anyone on social media.

Beta readers provide a special kind of feedback. If you’re interested in being a beta reader, here are three qualities of beta-reader feedback to consider before you volunteer. 

Choose a genre/author you already enjoy

The best beta readers are already invested in the author they’re reading for. Maybe you’ve already read their books. Maybe you’ve been following them for a long time and want to support them. Regardless, you are already familiar with the type of stories they tell. That doesn’t mean the only feedback you give them is, “It’s perfect! Don’t change anything!” I guarantee that’s not the feedback a professional author ever wants to hear. Authors recruit beta readers because they represent the audience as a whole. So if you as a beta reader love the book, there’s a good chance everyone else in the audience will as well. If you don’t love it, the same is true.

If you don’t know the author or aren’t already familiar with their work, it’s a good idea to only beta read for genres you enjoy. Believe me, writing a contemporary romance isn’t the same as writing a science fiction adventure. These are two different genres, and they are constructed in completely different ways with different tropes and world elements. If you only enjoy historical romance, don’t volunteer to critically read a sci-fi novel. If you only read classic literature, don’t volunteer to assess a romantasy novel. Sure, read them. Give them a try. But don’t expect that you can offer helpful critique if you don’t understand how the tropes in those genres function.

Ask the author for clear expectations

When you agree to beta read for an author, make sure you know what feedback the author wants. Some authors will send a quiz with questions to answer, but not all of them do that. Don’t hesitate to ask the author for specifics about the kind of feedback they want to receive from you. 

Generally speaking, “I didn’t like it” or “I loved it” aren’t going to be helpful for an author to judge the effectiveness of a manuscript. 

Give specific feedback 

Lastly, as you read the manuscript, take notes. This is why it’s important to understand what information the author wants up front so that as you read, you can identify parts of the story that work and parts that don’t. Are certain characters boring? Did you get confused in a specific place? Did you lose interest at any point in the story? 

Make note of those things and see if you can figure out why. Then share that information with the author. Be nice about it, but be authentic and honest. That’s your job.

If you keep those three things in mind, you’ll be a hugely beneficial part of an author’s process in bringing their story to market. 

Have you ever been a beta reader before? What part of the process did you enjoy most?

Meet A. C. Williams

Author A.C. Williams is a coffee-drinking, sushi-eating, story-telling nerd who loves cats, country living, and all things Japanese. She’d rather be barefoot, and if she isn’t, her socks won’t match. With fifteen published books in both fiction and non-fiction, she is a Realm Award winner and a Selah Award finalist, as well as the 2022 Arise Daily Writer of the Year. She is also a popular monthly contributor to two blogs ranked in Writer’s Digest’s Top 101 sites for authors.