What Is Beta Reading?

Beta reading is part of the polishing process of your manuscript. It is where you offer your book to a specific group of people to read through and help you fix obvious errors that you miss being too close to the manuscript. Typically, beta reading is offered before professional editing to help smooth out the rough edges of your manuscript.

For a novel, beta readers can help you flush out your plot points, your character development, and point out continuity errors. For other types of works, beta readers might challenge some of your facts, logic, and arguments so that you offer a more thorough work to your readers.

Beta Reading Versus Advanced Reader Copies

The main difference between beta reading and advanced reader copies (ARCs) is when you offer your manuscript to be read. Beta readers are part of the editing and development phase of your manuscript, often done before professional editing. ARCs are given out as more of a completed work to help build interest, hype, and momentum.

With ARCs, you want reviews posted across various reader platforms to help give your book momentum and credibility either right before publication or right after. With beta reading, you want all feedback to come to you directly so you can decide what to implement in your manuscript before submitting for editing. Beta readers don’t leave reviews. They are only there to help polish your manuscript.

Should I Use Beta Readers?

In most cases, they can only help. Keep in mind that you are too close to your own work. You have lived and breathed the writing of it. You know what is supposed to be said even if your work doesn’t say it the way you think it does. In many cases, it takes an outside perspective to notice the inconsistencies, the errors, the redundancies, and the contradictions.

So yes, I am most heartily in favor of offering your book to beta readers. The quality of your manuscript can only go up, and this is a good thing when you are representing Jesus Christ with the words you’ve written.

Where Do I Find Beta Readers?

You can probably start with immediate family and close friends. If you intend to publish many books, then you can reach out to your reader base…those who love your already published books. This latter method has worked well for me. I simply send out an email to my subscribers and let the responses roll in.

I often give enticements to help with the beta reading. I put their name in the acknowledgements section of the book. I also give them a signed copy of the final published work.

There are professional beta readers out there that you will have to pay. Depending on the nature of your work and the quality of the beta readers you need, this may be a necessity for you. Another term that might fit, used mostly in the scientific community, is peer-reviewed. If you have a complex, scholarly work, you may need experts in specific fields to review your book. Such individuals often require some sort of compensation.

When Do I Offer My Book for Beta Reading?

As already stated, it is typically done before professional editing. I like to do it after my second draft. By then, I’ve gone through it at least twice (often more) and so will now be too close to it to see the errors clearly. This is the perfect time to send it to beta readers and then get your mind on something else.

Later, once you collect all the beta reading feedback, you can come to your manuscript with a clear mind and new eyes.

What Should I Do When While My Book Is in Beta Reading?

Anything but work on your book. Get away from it entirely. You want to come back to it afterward with a clear mind and fresh eyes. So, start another book. Begin research into another project. Do something else that is not related to this specific manuscript.

How Long Should My Book Be in Beta Reading?

That is ultimately up to you. I ask beta readers to get back to me in 2 to 3 weeks after sending them the book. This gives me time to clear my head. Ultimately, the process can take up to four weeks or more…which sounds like a lot.

I personally don’t like the book being in beta reading for a long time. I’m impatient. But I also want to provide a quality work to my readers that honors Christ and uplifts His name.

What Should I Expect from Beta Readers?

You’ll get all kinds of feedback, some good, some bad. Some will make no sense to you. Some will be irrelevant. Some will be exactly what you are looking for. Some will surprise you. Some might even save you from a slew of negative reviews. You are under no obligation to do anything suggested by your beta readers.

But generally, I have some expectations that I list up front. The following list was taken from an email I sent out looking for beta readers for one of my books:

*Give me honest and thorough feedback on the story, plot, and characters and any suggestions and advice on what you feel should be changed, added, or deleted.

*Be willing to examine the biblical and/or historical record for accuracy as you are able. I don’t expect you to put anywhere close to the amount of research into this as I did, but if you know something I don’t, I want you to point it out.

*Note grammatical errors if you see them. This isn’t edited yet, and I’m not looking for you to edit the manuscript, but I still appreciate notes on grammatical errors, especially on homonyms, my bane.

*Use Microsoft Word for the beta reading process, using Track Changes and comments for your notations, suggestions, and advice.

*Turn the book around in 2 to 3 weeks at the most.

That’s all! Happy writing!