Where do I find a beta reader?

[writerterri]

I just learned about beta readers. Where would I look for one when I'm ready?
genre-YA

[pepperlandgirl]

Do you participate on any message boards or communities focused on your genre? That might be a good place to start. You could work on building a small community yourself, a network of writers who help each other. You could also post here in the "Share Your Work" forum or ask people on this MB who write in your genre and seem inclined.

I personally just ask random people I know and mostly trust. I have a few beta readers I met just because they read my LJ and made comments, and they offered. They usually look at first drafts for me. I have one or two regular betas who are good friends, but also good writers with keen eyes. I usually ask them to read 2nd or 3rd drafts. I have another reader I ask only sparingly, but he's great for picking out grammer (the best I've ever seen actually). I use him for a final draft. Another reader is super-anal and nitpicky about plot and character issues (wait, on page 3 you said "x" but that's contradicted in the second sentence of page 208).

[spacejock2]

I prefer my beta-readers to be non-writers. All I want from them is an impression, and if possible I like them to mark any slow or confusing bits.

Don't give beta readers your first draft. They exist to read your finished work, the one you'd have printed and bound and stocked on shelves. (Ignore the fact that your editor will find another whacking great bunch of changes before then.)

My beta reader doesn't go into the technical aspects, just unclear bits or inconsistencies. And I don't hand her anything until I'm 100% happy with it.

Cheers
Simon

[Promoman]

Please forgive a stupid question:

Are "beta readers" specifically for "fan fiction?" A good many of the definitions I've found online of beta readers refer specifically to fanfic.

Or do beta readers now refer to anyone who reads any kind of story you're writing and hope to get published?

[scarletpeaches]

I would use that phrase to refer to friends or professionals who read my pre-submission manuscript draft, and are prepared to give their honest, detailed opinion, not necessarily for fanfic (which, incidentally, I have never and would never write).

[maestrowork]

1. your circle of friends... but choose wisely. you want someone who could be honest and not "spare your feelings" by holding back, but you don't want someone who is critical just for the sake of it

2. libraries, book clubs, schools... preferrably someone you know (say the person who runs the club) and who reads a lot and who is willing to help you...

3. paid editor...

4. writing group...

[pepperlandgirl]

Are "beta readers" specifically for "fan fiction?" A good many of the definitions I've found online of beta readers refer specifically to fanfic.


The actual name "beta readers" was born with fandom and fanfic. People started employing friends and fellow writers to "beta" their fics so they wouldn't look like complete fools on the Internet (or the fanzines, pre-Internet). As fanfic writers spread out to original fic, the concept spread with them. Also, the Internet really is a small world, so the concept passes from Writer A to Writer B and Message Board C even if only Writer A is a fanfic writer.

I'm sure the concept of having a friend/colleague/relative/etc reading your final draft has been around much longer than fanfic, but the term was born in fandom.

[veinglory]

try critiquecircle.com until you have some regulars lined up...

[LightShadow]

Family and friends is the best pool to wade through, but be sure that they are willing to prick you with a thorn while they give you their roses.

[scarletpeaches]

LightShadow - I like the way you phrased that. :D

[writerterri]

Very helpful! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/a05/36_1_67.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZUxdm080YYUS)

[PattiTheWicked]

The trick with beta readers is to get people who read enough and are capable enough to:

(a) not expect you to rewrite the entire thing just because they think the main character should be a brain surgeon instead of a florist
(b) give you useful insights as to WHY they thought something was good or bad
(c) find and point out plot holes, unresolved issues, or contradictions that you really thought you had fixed already
(d) not gush about how it's the best thing EVER and they couldn't find a single damn thing wrong with it.

[James D. Macdonald]

If your beta suggests that your main character should be a brain surgeon instead of a florist -- it's unlikely that the character should be a brain surgeon, but it is likely that there's some problem with that character.

Remember: The thing you say to a beta who just ripped your book up one side and down the other is "Thank you very much!" And mean it.

[PattiTheWicked]

If your beta suggests that your main character should be a brain surgeon instead of a florist -- it's unlikely that the character should be a brain surgeon, but it is likely that there's some problem with that character.


This actually happened to me once. I had five or six betas, and most of them came back with really helpful criticisms and comments. Then there was the beta from hell....

who suggested that my main character shouldn't work in a book store, because book store people were BORING, and it would be a lot more exciting if she was a surgeon. Oh, and then, since surgeons can do SURGERY, we could have her perform an operation on a hit & run victim in the street with a paperclip, and then she could face a malpractice suit and fall in love with the patient's son, and oh i KNOW that doesn't fit in with your story but wouldn't it be neater that way?

It was rather a case of the problem being with the reader than the character.

[aruna]

This actually happened to me once. I had five or six betas, and most of them came back with really helpful criticisms and comments. Then there was the beta from hell....

who suggested that my main character shouldn't work in a book store, because book store people were BORING, and it would be a lot more exciting if she was a surgeon. Oh, and then, since surgeons can do SURGERY, we could have her perform an operation on a hit & run victim in the street with a paperclip, and then she could face a malpractice suit and fall in love with the patient's son, and oh i KNOW that doesn't fit in with your story but wouldn't it be neater that way?

It was rather a case of the problem being with the reader than the character.

:roll:
This is not a beta but a wannabe novelist!