Beta Reading Readiness

You’ve finished your novel and think you’re ready for a beta read. Are you sure? Like all steps along the planning-writing-editing path of novel creation, beta reading has a specific purpose. And the manuscript has to be ready to achieve that purpose.

Additionally, the Beta Reader needs to be ready and understand what their role is, i.e. what they should be looking for. Feedback that is out of the beta reader lane, though well-intended, can set the author back dramatically.

What is a Beta Read?

In short, a beta read is a trial run of the book, putting it out in front of a trusted but fair audience for final feedback before public distribution. And by public distribution, I mean out to agents and publishers, though they may necessitate their own editors’ review, but that is another animal.

The beta reader is to provide feedback from a reader’s perspective. Not as an editor. Not as a critiquer. And not as another author. Though those are the people we tend to ask to be beta readers, they must set aside their professional viewpoints in favor of looking at the book as a general reader would.

And note: a beta read is not the same as an advanced reader copy, or ARC. An ARC comes along even later in the process and is more for marketing—and getting that ever-catchy front-cover quote—than for the author and the story.

Beta vs Alpha

Different authors have different ideas of what a beta read is and when to do it. I have my opinion—hence, this blog post—that makes sense to me, but depending on who you ask, there will be a variety of definitions. The biggest difference tends to be in distinguishing Alpha Readers from Beta Readers.

Not all authors embrace nor even understand what Alpha Readers are, but they are critical to the process. Much like having others review the initial outline of a story, Alpha Readers review the initial drafts of the novel and provides a book-level substantive edit. They make sure things are in the right order, look for POV and tense consistencies, and review character portrayals, dialogue relatability, setting descriptions, pacing, tension building—everything that makes the story not only readable but engaging.

Beta Readers are involved later in the process. The Beta Reader reads the book as a reader, and provides very high-level feedback back to the author about the story, about characters, or about questions they had while reading.

Author Readiness

Sending a novel to readers, whether alpha or beta, only occurs once the author has done all they can themselves. After the first, rough draft is completed—a milestone to be celebrated—multiple editing passes happen next. Through those, the author ensures the story flows, that characters behave consistently, that details are consistent, and that the prose is as polished as possible.

These editing passes include rounds of self-editing, developmental editing, substantive editing—where Alpha Readers come in—and line editing. (See my blog post Editing—From Rock to Diamond for more information on editing.)

The book should be as near to publishing-ready as the author can make it. After the beta read, if any issues are identified, the author then takes this feedback to determine what changes are needed and how significant they should be.

Reader Readiness

As important as it is for the author to be ready with their work, the beta reader also needs to be ready. As mentioned earlier, if a beta reader is also an author, editor, or critiquer, they need to set those viewpoints aside and don their “general reader” hat. This is not the time for substantive edits or line edits—unless it is something so egregious that it must be fixed—and absolutely not the time to address style.

The beta read is simply a trial run of the book. Beta Readers “test” the book to see if there are any issues, like something left unexplained or a character left hanging or some other question posed but not answered. These little things can make or break a novel and Beta Readers are critical for finding them.

Conclusion

Beta Reading is an important step in the process of creating a book—but it is just one step of many. To get the most out of a Beta Read, make sure both the manuscript and the beta reader are ready to go. The feedback from a Beta Read—and its implementation—can help make a book launch a success.