Purpose:??
The purpose of beta-reader feedback is to get general impressions from the kinds of people who are likely to read your book and potentially become your fans.??These will largely be people who may be avid readers, but who do not have a professional knowledge of writing craft.
Why Use Beta-Readers:
- Professional reviewers and editors may focus too specifically on the technical aspects of writing craft and overly criticize a novel that might resonate with popular audiences.??I personally enjoyed novels much more before I learned about the elements of writing craft and started analyzing stories from that perspective rather than just enjoying them.
- You get early feedback on how appealing your novel is to typical readers.??You?may possibly?want to revise some aspects of your story based on the comments you receive.
- You can begin to cultivate relationships with people who might eventually become super-fans.
- You create a pool of people who are likely to write a review for you after your book is formally published.
Considerations for Using Beta-Readers
- Be cognizant of the fact that the feedback is not from professional editors and may vary widely in the range from positive to negative.??However, if several readers make similar observations, then you may need to consider responding or revising as appropriate.
- Readers who do not have a good understanding of the writing craft may not “like” some aspects of your novel but may not really know exactly why.??They may, for example, feel like the story gets bogged down at the beginning but not realize it was because you waited too long to get to the first major plot point.??Or, you may be “telling” too much, rather than “showing.”
- Not all beta-readers will actually read your manuscript and provide comments back.
- Even if your beta-readers all love your book, it doesn’t mean that your manuscript does not need to be edited.
- You will never be able to please all the people all the time as a writer.??Beta-readers only provide generalized insights.??You should never feel compelled to incorporate the changes suggested by your beta-readers.
Where to Find Beta-Readers
- The ideal way to find beta-readers is from your existing author email distribution list.??If you have written other novels or write a regular blog, then your subscribers are already pre-vetted to a certain degree.??They are on your mailing list because they like your writing.??They are more likely to provide you with good feedback.
- If you don’t have a mailing list, then you can post a request on a Facebook group composed of readers in your genre and also on your own Facebook pages.??This tactic could also work well on other social media platforms.??Be sure to provide a short description of what a beta-reader is, since many people will not know.
- Services like BookFunnel, BookSprout, or StoryOrigin can be very useful in finding beta-readers in your genre, and also for distributing your files and capturing email addresses.
- It is best not to use family and close friends as beta-readers, since they may be hesitant to provide negative feedback.
Process
- Start about six weeks before you want to put your manuscript into formal editing.
- Convert your book to PDF and eBook formats.??These do not have to be perfect.??Readers will understand if there are errors.
- Identify readers as identified above.??Select between ten and twenty readers.
- You may want to offer an incentive, like a free, signed copy of the paperback to anyone who provides comments back by your deadline.
- Post your files to a file share service like Dropbox or GoogleDrive, since the files may be too large to email.
- Send an email to each person who requests a copy of the book.??The email should include the following:
- Thanks for agreeing to read your draft manuscript.
- An explanation that the book is in draft form and has not been through formal editing.
- A sincere request for honest feedback.??They should not worry about hurting your feelings.??You want the book to be as good as it can be.
- A short list of five or six questions you want your readers to think about as they are reading.??You want these questions to tell you about writing craft issues, like plot, structure, and character development, in laymen’s terms.??Some example questions would be:
§??Did you feel like you got bogged down in any places? If so, where and why?
§??Which character did you identify most with?
§??What did you like best about the hero or heroine???What bothered you about him or her?
§??What was your favorite location in the story???Why?
§??Were you able to visualize the scenes in your head as you were reading???Could you hear the characters vices in your mind?
§??How did the story make you feel???What was your first thought when you got to the end?
§??What overall, general impressions or other feedback would they like to provide?
- Links to the files and instructions about how to open them in various applications (Kindle, Kobo, Adobe Acrobat, etc.).??Services like BookFunnel, BookSprout, and StoryOrigin can be very helpful with this process.
- A deadline for when you need to receive all comments.??I recommend giving your readers a month to finish the book and provide comments.
7. Send an email after two weeks to each beta-reader to see how they are progressing.
?Send an email two days before your deadline to any readers who have not yet provided feedback.
8. Finalize any changes to your manuscript based on beta-reader feedback?before?entering into the formal editing process.??Once editing begins, you should make no additional changes outside of the editorial process.
9. ?When your book is published, be sure to follow through with any incentives you may have promised.
10. Notify your beta-readers of your soft launch date and special pricing on the published version of the eBook.
11. During your soft launch, ask your beta-readers if they would do you a favor and buy a copy of the eBook for $0.99 in order to help boost your ratings.
12. Send your beta readers an email with the answers they provided to your questions and ask if they would be willing to post a review on Amazon using insights from their own comments.??This lowers the barrier to providing a review and makes it more likely that they will do it.??Be sure to provide a direct link to the review section for your book on Amazon.
About the Author:??Bryan E. Canter is a publishing consultant with My Word Publishing.??He also manages audiobook production projects through ACX for his clients.??As an author, he has independently published his own historical fiction novels and worked through ACX to develop them into audiobooks.??If you have a manuscript you would like to publish or a book you would like to hear come alive in audio, contact Bryan for a free consultation:??https://www.mywordpublishing.com/our-team/bryan-canter/
