Forgive me if this in the wrong thread.
I've had beta readers before, and they've always been great, but I recently had a fellow student at my university beta read my novel for me. She wants to be an editor some day, and her feedback in our workshop is always insanely helpful, so when she offered to edit my manuscript for me I was very excited. She ended up doing SO MUCH more work that I could have ever asked. She actually ended up copyediting it, while also typing up pages of feedback on character, plot, etc. We're both full time students with busy lives, and I was utterly floored that she put SO MUCH work into my story. I've never felt this much gratitude to another writer before when it came to their feedback on my work. I feel like had I asked for this kind of work from anyone, I would have had to go through a professional editor and paid them a decent sum.
My question is this: Would you, as a beta reader, be uncomfortable if the person whose work you engaged with paid you in some way? I doubt she'll never except plain money from me, but I work at store where I know she loves to shop, and I thought something like a 50 dollar gift card might be a good gesture to show how much I appreciate the work she's done. But I also don't want to make her uncomfortable. I said something about getting her a gift to thank her and she brushed it off saying, "This will be my job someday so it's good practice, and besides, I love your writing!"
However, I still feel like with everything she put in I owe her SOMETHING, whether it's a gift card or a physical gift.
If you would accept a gift, what would you want it to be? A gift card? Money? An actual gift?
Thank you!
I've had beta readers before, and they've always been great, but I recently had a fellow student at my university beta read my novel for me. She wants to be an editor some day, and her feedback in our workshop is always insanely helpful, so when she offered to edit my manuscript for me I was very excited. She ended up doing SO MUCH more work that I could have ever asked. She actually ended up copyediting it, while also typing up pages of feedback on character, plot, etc. We're both full time students with busy lives, and I was utterly floored that she put SO MUCH work into my story. I've never felt this much gratitude to another writer before when it came to their feedback on my work. I feel like had I asked for this kind of work from anyone, I would have had to go through a professional editor and paid them a decent sum.
My question is this: Would you, as a beta reader, be uncomfortable if the person whose work you engaged with paid you in some way? I doubt she'll never except plain money from me, but I work at store where I know she loves to shop, and I thought something like a 50 dollar gift card might be a good gesture to show how much I appreciate the work she's done. But I also don't want to make her uncomfortable. I said something about getting her a gift to thank her and she brushed it off saying, "This will be my job someday so it's good practice, and besides, I love your writing!"
However, I still feel like with everything she put in I owe her SOMETHING, whether it's a gift card or a physical gift.
If you would accept a gift, what would you want it to be? A gift card? Money? An actual gift?
Thank you!
) because that felt okay to me.