• Read this stickie before posting.

    • In order to reduce the number of new members requesting a Beta reader before they're really ready for one, we've instituted a 50 post requirement before you can start a thread seeking a Beta reader.
    • You can still volunteer to Beta for someone else; just please don't request someone to Beta for you until you're more familiar with the community and our members.

How to Beta?

Status
Not open for further replies.

StephLondon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Messages
102
Reaction score
17
Location
Sunny Florida
Hi!

I was just wondering how you all interact with your beta partners. Do you send chapter by chapter? Do you wait until it's perfect to send the entire thing off?

I'm in the middle of my rewrite and am wondering when is the time when I should start looking for a partner.

Thanks!!
 

VeryBigBeard

Preparing for winter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
2,449
Reaction score
1,505
Depends a bit what you're looking for, as well as on your personal preference and your beta-reader's personal preference.

Generally speaking, a beta reader is the last line before sending the MS to an agent or editor--the term comes from software testing where the beta-test is a fairly open blank-slate test with a large and ideally varied user base. Plonk the software down in front of them, record what happens. Likewise, you want a beta-reader finding the mistakes you couldn't see, not just the mistakes you haven't got around to fixing yet. It's a waste of time if the beta is correcting grammar or formatting when you should have those down yourself through self-editing.

That said, there are alpha readers and critique partners who operate, depending on the partnership, some ways short of the final product. They can be invaluable, providing direction for the writer, initial feedback to influence plot decisions in revision, and so on. But these are fundamentally different people. You need to be able to trust an alpha-reader, the alpha-reader needs to 100% know you and the specific work in question, and often they can help provide momentum and encouragement where a beta-reader provides a look into how the readership for your book will react.

Exactly where you fit into this spectrum is entirely up to you and any potential reader. The rest is more about terminology. If you say you're looking for a beta-reader, I expect you have a finished and polished MS, for instance.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:

StephLondon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Messages
102
Reaction score
17
Location
Sunny Florida
Depends a bit what you're looking for, as well as on your personal preference and your beta-reader's personal preference.

Generally speaking, a beta reader is the last line before sending the MS to an agent or editor--the term comes from software testing where the beta-test is a fairly open blank-slate test with a large and ideally varied user base. Plonk the software down in front of them, record what happens. Likewise, you want a beta-reader finding the mistakes you couldn't see, not just the mistakes you haven't got around to fixing yet. It's a waste of time if the beta is correcting grammar or formatting when you should have those down yourself through self-editing.

That said, there are alpha readers and critique partners who operate, depending on the partnership, some ways short of the final product. They can be invaluable, providing direction for the writer, initial feedback to influence plot decisions in revision, and so on. But these are fundamentally different people. You need to be able to trust an alpha-reader, the alpha-reader needs to 100% know you and the specific work in question, and often they can help provide momentum and encouragement where a beta-reader provides a look into how the readership for your book will react.

Exactly where you fit into this spectrum is entirely up to you and any potential reader. The rest is more about terminology. If you say you're looking for a beta-reader, I expect you have a finished and polished MS, for instance.

Hope this helps.

Very helpful, thank you! I've been hearing a lot of talk in my own writer circles of people exchanging chapter critiques with even first drafts, and I used to wait until I was done with all drafts to send it to betas. Wasn't sure if I was doing it wrong. This is also my first *big* project in terms of plot and world building, so I wasn't sure if I need feedback for those things before the final draft is done.

Thank you again!
 

VeryBigBeard

Preparing for winter
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
2,449
Reaction score
1,505
There's really no right or wrong way to do it.

I've been in critique groups and writing classes that are more chapter-by-chapter based. I found them most helpful for someone who was new to writing--it gave everyone a reason to write every week along with that thrill of having people react immediately to the story as it unfolds.

The risk is it's very easy to get caught up in the chapter or even page level decisions and discussions and never get the book as a whole done. Personally, I find beta readers really help with the big picture: is the story developing quickly enough? does the plot resolve? do the characters grow? does the text lead the reader from scene to scene?
 

Theodore Koukouvitis

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 29, 2017
Messages
54
Reaction score
6
I wait for it to feel 'just right' and then send it over. That way, the betas can point out what I can't see: blindingly obvious problems, as well as subtle issues I've missed as I focused on writing. If you send it earlier, you might be wasting their time, and if you send it later, you might be wasting yours (by needlessly self-editing.)

You always need an extra set of eyes!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.