Beta Readers

This blog post is going to be a bit of a rant about beta readers. Some of you may wonder what a beta reader is. Well, quite simply, they are people who read unpublished manuscripts, ideally to provide feedback to the author, so the author can make changes before sending it to agents and publishers.

An author can only stare at their own work so many times before they miss things. It's human nature. The human mind naturally fills in missing pieces because in our mind, we know what is supposed to be there. After an author edits their manuscript to the best of their ability, it's time to turn it over to beta readers for feedback.

Beta readers are not typically editors. Editors come later in the process. Beta readers are usually representative of the customer the author is targeting to buy the book. Beta readers read the manuscript and leave comments and feedback. This feedback can be about anything. They may comment on things they don't understand, or about plot holes they notice. They may point out characters they like or don't like, or whether the pacing of the story is too fast or too slow. Most beta readers are unpaid, but it's not uncommon for authors to pay for this service. I now understand why authors would pay for this service. I'll get to that in a bit.

An author may allow beta readers to read the work and comment on anything they want, or they may have a specific outline of things they want beta readers to be watching out for. I tended towards the former. I did specifically mention that I wanted to know if the story was fun to read and entertaining. I wanted to know if the story was engaging and how they felt about the two protagonists.

I sought out about six beta readers. I queried various writing forums and made posts looking for beta readers. I was sure to include the genre, word count and a synopsis of the story. I found six people who said they were willing to beta read for me. I was very excited and quickly uploaded my manuscript in googledocs and gave them all access. 

Keep in mind, I didn't coerce anyone to read my manuscript. I didn't beg anyone. They all volunteered to read it of their own volition. One beta reader let me know up front that she reads slowly, and I told her that was okay with me. The other five gave me no such admissions.

Fast forward six weeks and the only beta reader still reading is the one who said she reads slowly. I am thankful for her. She has been communicative and has left good feedback. All the rest flaked out and stopped reading. 

Given that they were all doing this for free, I tried not to push anyone or check-in too often, but after the first two weeks, when I noticed there were very few comments, I did reach out to all of them to make sure they were okay, and to see if they were still interested in reading. They all responded they were fine and were enjoying the story. A couple said they had gotten busy, but they assured me they would keep reading. Did they? Nope, or if any of them have continued, none left any comments.

I tried checking in after about another week, and got the same type of response, but stopped after that. I could see the writing on the wall. I was ghosted. Here comes the rant. Look, I understand none of them were being paid or were under any formal obligation to read my story, but they all volunteered and it's very frustrating and annoying to take people at their word, only to be let down. If you don't like the story or find it boring, please say that. At least that's feedback that I can use to assess where maybe I need to make changes. As it is, none of them said anything so I have no clue why they all dropped out.

From reading many writer's forums, my experience does not seem to be abnormal with beta readers. It seems pretty common for most to drop out. In some small way I understand. They don't understand just have much the author is counting on their feedback. It's vital! Most of them probably don't understand the commitment they are making and place beta reading on the very bottom of their totem pole of daily activities.

If you are a beta reader, I ask you to please consider carefully before volunteering. If you see something on your horizon that will make you busy, don't volunteer. If you aren't 100% sure you want to beta read, don't volunteer. Once you commit, please follow through. I know I've beta read for two people so far and I make sure I follow through because I know how important the feedback is.

Having said all that, I am in the market for several beta readers, so if you'd be interested in reading Relentless Blades, and are positive you will finish, please let me know.