6 Tips to benefit from your beta readers

It’s probably a bad idea to write a book and publish it without showing it to anyone else first. Beta readers are a way of testing the waters with your manuscript, ironing out the plot, and finding an audience for your story. But there’s an art to utilizing Beta readers to make the most of their assistance.

1. Aim for a bigger group of readers

Many authors just ask their friends to read their book before they publish it. That’s a big mistake. First of all, your friends may not be honest with you. They like you (for some reason), and they don’t want to hurt your feelings. It will be hard for them to tell you that your story sucks.

Second of all, you may not have a diversified group of friends. If all of your buddies think the way you do, then they won’t pick up on the obnoxious ideas in your book. That’s probably because you’re like that in real life, too. Just kidding.

Anyway, to avoid not getting enough input and not getting useful input, you should aim to have a large group of beta readers. You can ask your friends and family members, but you should also ask people you’re not as intimate with.

2. Sift through the feedback and look for commonalities

As you’re reading or listening and writing down what your beta readers think about your book, pay attention to the things that everyone is saying. If everyone thinks that your book is a little too out there to be classified as juvenile fiction, then you may have to rethink the book or the targeted reader group.

Of course your beta readers aren’t all going to use the same wording to give you similar feedback. One might say that your book needs more subplots or an exciting turn of events. The next beta reader might just say your book is boring, and they fell asleep on page 32. It’s your to use their feedback in a constructive way for your story. Of course, you don’t have to implement every feedback you get from Beta readers.

3. Ask beta readers for reviews

Your beta readers should be your biggest fans. If you take their feedback into consideration during your rewrite and editing phases, then they’ll be excited to see how you changed the story. They may not have written it themselves but they’ll feel instrumental in how it came along.

That’s why beta readers are great people to ask for reviews. Of course you should probably not ask the one that said your book sucks without giving any helpful input as to how it sucked. But the rest of the group who enjoyed reading your 1st, 4th, and 29th draft of your book might be happy to write up a good review for you.

At any rate, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

4. Give them a good draft

You should never give your beta readers a crappy 1st draft. That’s plain disrespectful. You should read the book you wrote at least a handful of times before you make anyone else do it. That way you eliminate the worst spelling and grammar mistakes. You don’t want your readers to get distracted because you can’t differentiate between “your” and “you’re”. Instead, you want them to focus on the story you have to tell so that you can make it better.

5. Thank them for their help

Nobody earns any money for being a beta reader. That’s because if you paid them to read your book, they’re either an editor or they are inclined to say only nice things about your work. The point is that you just don’t pay beta readers. They read your manuscripts because they want to help you. And they’re doing it for you. So be sure to thank them for their help.

6. Follow up with them

Beta readers are busy people. They often have a long list of books to read. So they might forget about yours for a while. Or they may read it and forget to tell you what they thought about. It’s okay to follow up with them and ask them. Just don’t do it every day of the week.

So do you have your beta readers lined up yet?