Topic Tuesday #6: How and Where I find the Best Beta Readers for My Stories

I've found them here at AW. What I look for is an active member who consistently provides good input in threads, and who seems to get my genre and vibe.

However, I've been disappointed with the experience. So far they have all faded away after half a dozen exchanges, and only once or twice have I been given any explanation even if they seemed to have liked the story. This is a shame because they have all provided invaluable input, and a couple of the novels different ones have shared with me were spectacular.

I'm still looking for "the one." Maybe I need to send more cookies with with my manuscripts.

I have the same two beta readers for everything, who I met on another writing forum and have been with me since the very first thing I ever showed anyone publicly.

They're both keen readers and writers in my genre (SFF) but most usefully for me they're politically poles apart from each other, one quite a bit more to the right than I am and one way to the left. They read independent of each other and don't compare notes, so I figure anything contentious that those two agree on really needs looking at!

I've always had a hard time finding beta readers who were a good fit for me, and I'm dreading it a little when it comes time to seek feedback on my current WIP.

Like Maryn, I've had better luck with people I know pretty well. My best betas, for the most part, have been people I built a rapport with and whom I knew were comfortable giving feedback beyond just correcting typos. I think because betaing a longer work can be time-intensive, it helps to have that connection.

I would be happy to use the same beta reader multiple times, but that hasn't worked out. People get busy or drift away.

I do prefer to have betas who enjoy and read in my genre.

My worst beta (not from here) was someone who volunteered to beta a ~2000 word story and then never got back to me. It was awkward because we were part of the same social circle, so we were interacting occasionally. I tried to give them an out, but they insisted they had time and wanted to to do it. I finally proceeded without them. They never did say anything about it.

It's been tricky for me to find regular betas partly because I write multiple genres. I write fantasy and erotica, and I'm used to a lot of my writing groups not being erotica-friendly. With erotica, it's also challenging because I'm not always good at critiqueing outside my subgenres, and since I write almost exclusively LGBT stuff, that limits my ability to do beta exchanges sometimes. I find that erotica is very dependent on personal taste, and it can be hard sometimes to tell someone if their work is hot if the subject matter isn't hot to you in general.

Chris P said:

Maybe I need to send a bottle of 18 year old single malt with with my manuscripts.

Click to expand...

They'll take your calls at least.

Joseph Schmol said:

They'll take your calls at least.

Click to expand...

Lol. I'm sure I wouldn't be the first to get drunken crits from a beta.

"Ms Bronte, your character Garfield *hic* I mean Heathcliff is decidedly unfeline in this shaa- shaa- shaapter."

I've found all of my dependable betas here. Like Chris, I looked for people whose posts and style seemed a personality fit for me, and then I got to know them on the forums before broaching anything beta-related. A number of us formed a sort of critique group and we revolve our stories among each other--although not everyone for every story because too-much-input. I also have a few other valuable AW readers who aren't part of that group. So I have a pool of about 10.

I credit the terrific luck I've had with AW peeps to the fact that they are all serious writers--as in, aiming for professional status, if they're not already there. Bonus is, we all share the trait of liking each others' writing. I seem to have had it better than a lot of people in that my bad-beta experiences are few (3, maybe 4), and 2 of the few non-response betas were people I know IRL, neither of them writers. I let them both off the hook with no bad feelings because I already had my AW core group, and because I find that I prefer more technically specific feedback, not "I liked it/I didn't like it," and nothing else. (Although I'll never scoff at a few oohs and ahhhhs and even an ewwww! or two. )

Only one of my betas on my novel actively writes in my genre, but that was by my choice. I harbored the illusion of wanting my first novel to appeal to a wider audience than romance readers so I specifically sought out people who don't read romance. It was a double-edged sword in that I got superb feedback, but also a lot of (x_x) over the romance bits. Things that I'm pretty sure would fly with in-genre readers (although not everything they kindly pointed out would have). I wasn't experienced enough to take the feedback with the proper critical perspective, though, and I ended up Frankensteining my book trying to please everyone. But that was a ME problem, not a beta-failure.

I'm glad to have this core group who have read many of my stories (and I theirs), because I can depend on them for honesty. There's a significant trust factor built in, and I usually need to be told where I've gone off the rails. I get so immersed in my own stories, I have no objectivity at all. *amateur problems*

There has been a problem in my genre (erotic romance) of beta books ending up on free websites so I know several authors are very very careful about who they let Beta read for them. I belong to groups that combine readers and writers of my subgenre on FB and that is where I have found Beta's. But, not all Beta readers are a like. I use a Beta questionaire I picked up somewhere, I think on the Romance Writers Association page and add or delete questions. I also give the document (in word so they can write comments) with comments in place... questions. (Such as. "How do you feel about this character here?" or "Feel free to be brutally honest about the heat level in this sex scene.)

What I have to avoid is Beta's who don't know the market of my subgenre. I get the "I didn't like how controlling the guy was" when I wrote an Alpha, dominant man on purpose. I check to see if the reader likes my subgenre first and I give them a rough version of a blurb to prepare them for what I've written.

I found my beta readers on a meetup website. Pretty great decision I made, because I love my group and I think they are great with critiquing and definitely helped me develop as a writer. We meet with each other every other week, and show up having already read each others' papers. That's part of the reason I like the group so much. No need to sit down and waste time reading all the papers before giving critique. Plus, when you read them at home, you can get a thorough look at everything.

We don't have a specific genre or anything. I (and most people there) tend to show up with the same WIP, but every so often, I'll turn in a short story or a different novel I'm writing or something like that.

I like meeting in person more than online because the people know your story having read it from start to finish and they know you as a writer, so they're more familiar with your style and how you story-tell. Plus, I've never been comfortable putting my work online, so I don't have to deal with the fear of doing that.