The most effective way to process and implement beta reader feedback!
There’s nothing like a little constructive or objective feedback to help improve your story or the quality of your writing, and that’s what a professional beta reader can do with quality beta reader feedback. However, after writing your first draft, self-editing, and enduring late nights and long days, with multiple revisions, remaining objective can be hard, and getting friends, family, or even other authors to help you can be even harder.
Unfortunately, as great as friends and family are, they’re not professional beta readers and their feedback is both beneficial and impartial. Often not. Luckily, an experienced beta reader can step in and provide you with a reader’s perspective on your manuscript along with valuable feedback in key areas such as plot, pacing, character development, and much more.
If you’re new to beta reading, be sure to check out What Are Beta Readers? The Complete Guide to Alpha and Beta Readers for Authors! Where we discuss everything you need to know about alpha and beta readers. If you’re planning on self-publishing a book to popular self-publishing sites such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or IngramSpark Publishing, don’t miss our article, The Best Self-Publishing Platforms to Self-Publish Your Books!
What Does A Beta Reader Do?
A beta reader will read and critique your manuscript and provide you with suggestions and feedback on different ways to improve your writing, plot, voice, world-building, dialogue, tie up any loose ends, or improve how characters are perceived by a reader.
They’re going to read your book just like a reader would, with no previous history or preconceived notions. A blank canvas ready to enter your world for the first time. However, it’s essential to understand that a beta reader isn’t an editor. They’re not going to make editing suggestions, proofread your manuscript, and their feedback may not be as polished as the feedback you would receive from a manuscript evaluation.
If you’re looking for professional editing feedback, a manuscript evaluation or appraisal may be more suited to your needs. In our article, What Is A Manuscript Evaluation? We cover everything you need to know about manuscript evaluations.
Key Qualities of A Professional Beta Reader
It’s always ideal to find a professional beta reader who specializes in your genre. However, experienced beta readers will be able to adapt to multiple genres, so if you can’t find a beta reader that specializes in romance, thriller, history, or even non-fiction genres, don’t be too concerned. However, using a beta reader who doesn’t enjoy your genre should be avoided. If your beta reader doesn’t like reading romance books, their feedback may not be as relevant to your project if you’re writing a romance book.
No rule forbids authors from using other authors as beta readers. Some authors actually prefer their beta readers to be fellow writers, as they often have practical experience-based feedback they can supply. For example, a reader may point out they couldn’t connect with a specific character, but a writer may be able to tell you why they couldn’t connect with the character and even point out ways you can build a stronger connection.
A mix of readers and fellow writers will provide you with a wide range of feedback and give you both perspectives on your manuscript.
Consider this when you approach friends and family for feedback on your manuscript. Even with direct instructions on returning critical or constructive feedback, it’s often hard for our friends and family members to tear our work apart in a way that’s required to identify any flaws or issues.
Do You Pay For Beta Reading Services?
While some authors have established networks of other authors, friends, and readers who provide them with beta reading services for free, it takes a lot of time to create, and if you haven’t gotten this far yet as a new author, it’s understandable. That’s why some self-publishing companies, including us at Author Services Australia, offer professional beta reading services.
If you’re looking for direct feedback on your book or manuscript, and perhaps can’t afford professional developmental editing, beta reading could help to partially fill that gap and allow you to get some actionable feedback as you hit the self-editing stage.
How Many Beta Readers Should You Use?
When you get feedback from a beta reader, you’re getting their personal feedback. While multiple beta readers can identify the same issues, you’re more likely to get different feedback from different beta readers, not all of whom will identify the same problems.
Most experts agree that too much beta reader feedback only muddies the water when it comes time to glean actionable feedback. However, only one beta reader has the potential to miss important factors that may influence the story. Between 2 and 3 beta readers seems to be the sweet spot, which allows you to get various opinions without becoming overwhelmed.
If you are using multiple beta readers, ensure that they receive the same questions and feedback forms. This way, they’ll all be working on the same questions and answers, and give you more focused feedback.
Implementing Beta Reader Feedback – The Complete Guide | Conclusion
Working with professional beta readers isn’t just a fantastic way to gain actionable and helpful feedback on your manuscript to assist you in the self-editing stage, but also a good way to connect with potentially your very first fans. While paid beta reading is excellent for new authors, all self-published authors should strive to build a network of beta readers they can trust and rely on.
If you have any questions about the self-publishing process, including implementing beta reading into your self-editing, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
At Author Services Australia, we support Australian and New Zealand self-published authors and writers with a full range of affordable self-publishing services, including ghostwriting, copyediting, developmental editing, proofreading, ebook and paperback formatting, book cover design, children’s book illustrations, graphic design services, Amazon KDP Keyword and Category Research, manuscript uploading assistance, animated book cover reveal videos, beta reading, and social media and marketing.
