If you are an avid reader or a writer, you’ve probably heard of beta reading as a method for authors to get feedback on their work. You may have been approached by a writer friend of yours to read an early version of their book, and are curious about what beta reading entails, and some methods for being a highly effective beta reader.

1. Understand the Role

Beta Reading means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some authors (especially new ones) see it as an all-around free editing service that covers line-level grammar all the way to avid fans, but this is not the case. The primary role of a beta is a test reader, who gives feedback on the experience of reading and the effectiveness of certain elements of the book. You may find errors, and if the author requested it (and you are interested in providing line-level feedback)

What your beta style is will come with time/experience, but here’s some general guiding principles that I have found very useful in my time offering feedback to authors.

What a Beta Reader is NOT: CinemaSins, a Co-Author, a Goodreads Reviewer*, an Editor

The CinemaSins style of responding to media that relies on misunderstanding of literary devices, feigned ignorance, and refusal to suspend disbelief doesn’t help any authors improve their work.

Unfortunately, as much as reading and giving suggestions on a work still in development can be very intimate and foster a sense in you that you have some ownership over a story, at the end of the day the author will make choices based on what they think is best for the story they want to tell. Even if you suggest some great changes, they are under no obligation to take those suggestions. Even if their refusal comes from a bad place (getting defensive, not wanting to take on a major rewrite, plain laziness), you can’t expect every suggestion to be taken.

When I say Goodreads Reviewer, I mean in the sense of a reader being an adversary of the author, who makes judgments on a work based on what they would have written. While reader response is important feedback, your first goal should be judging whether the authorial choices effectively tell the story the author wants to tell, not the one you think they should be telling.

Some authors do want a more editorial focus of feedback (some even list interest in help with grammar in their solicitations for betas) but in general, unless the author has expressed specific interest in editorial help, critiques on specific wording, rewriting sentences, and grammar/punctuation comments are not the focus of a beta read. Be sparing with those comments, keeping them to moments where the errors make the content hard to understand.

What a Beta Reader IS: a Thoughtful Critic, a Story Supporter, a Helpful Volunteer

Be respectful when commenting in-line. Consider how your comments will read before you leave them, and approach things with a level of respect and thoughtfulness that you would appreciate as the one receiving feedback. Skimming or reading carelessly can lead to thoughtless comments that come off as bad faith or purposefully obtuse, causing the author to lose faith in your feedback.

A beta reader is on the side of the author, trying to make the story in front of them the best it can be. If you think certain choices are questionable, bring it up in a way that’s respectful, and be curious about its purpose in the narrative.

Beta work is usually volunteer, but if you agree to take on a beta project, be realistic with what you’re able to accomplish. Communicate with the author if you have to take a break from reading or cannot continue. Life happens, so don’t feel bad if you have to call it quits but do the author the respect of letting them know when you do. Like any relationship, ghosting is never cool.

2. Finding Projects that Match Your Interests

What books do you like to read? Genre, Age Range, Pace, Length, Content. Is there any content you are never interested in reading? Are you an expert in any topics that may help writers improve their work? Are you interested in sensitivity reading for certain topics?

Another important consideration is what stylistic preferences you have. This can help you to understand when your response is based on taste, rather than craft, and help you to pick beta reading projects where you can be the most effective reader for. Do you like a story that’s highly stylized? What about one that uses a lot of artistic language? How much ambiguity do you prefer when reading? Look through the books you read for fun, and consider what you love, and what you don’t.

How to Find Books in Need of a Beta: Reddit, Writing Groups, Critique Swaps

R/BetaReaders is a subreddit specifically for finding betas and novels to beta. You can shop around based on your interests, and read summaries of works to find one that’s right for you. They also have some great resources on FAQ of beta reading.

If you are a part of a writing group, whether online or in-person, there may be channels or meetings specifically focused on beta reading or beta swaps. Seek out projects there, keeping your preferences in mind. Not every beta project will perfectly align with your interests, but understanding your preferences will help a lot when you take on a project outside of those interests.

3. Pre-Read Interview

Once you’ve found a project you’re interested in beta reading, connect with the author and get some more information about the project. When I do this, there are a few questions I like to ask:

•  What kind of feedback do you want? Some authors have general ideas about what they’re looking for, some have a specific set of questions, and some don’t know at all. This question gives you a general idea of what the author is most interested in from your read.
•  When do you need feedback by? Feel free to communicate your availability on this front too. Some authors want a full read with line edits in a week, which is just not reasonable for a thoughtful beta read. I like to have at least a month, sometimes two for longer/more complex 
• What stage is this project in? What’s next for this project? This can help you tailor your feedback even more. If it’s an early-stage novel, I keep my line-level comments to a minimum and focus heavily on larger story elements. If the author is looking to query their novel to literary agents once they have feedback, I may be a bit more minute in my comments, assume more choices are relatively final, and keep major change suggestions to a minimum.
• Are there any content warnings I should know about? I like to have a good sense of the content going into a work, so I’m prepared for any challenging content. Feel free to communicate your needs here as well, such as any content you are uncomfortable reading, or content you want more information on before deciding to take on a novel.
•  Can I see your first chapter before I make my final decision to take on this project? There are some aspects of a book that you can only get a sense of by reading. Asking for a sample of a few pages or chapters can help you make the final call on agreeing to beta.

If you decide that a project isn’t for you, let the author know respectfully. “Thanks for considering me, but I don’t think I would be an ideal beta reader for this project,” is a great way to close things out respectfully.

4. While Reading

Take notes for your eyes only. This allows you a space for unfiltered thoughts, notes on ongoing plot lines that may help you later, and areas of concern that you may want to address after you finish the story and have the full picture.

If commenting in-line, be thoughtful about it. Before you question something, consider what the answer may be on your own, and look through the surrounding text to see if you missed it. Then, you can highlight those moments you missed and mention that it was buried/hard to parse on a first read, rather than asking for it as if it’s not there. I frequently use CTRL+F to look for certain moments before I leave general questions.

Be wary of your ‘should,’ when leaving in-line comments. A beta reader’s job is not to impose their own artistic style or “what they would have done in the character’s shoes” on a manuscript. When you leave comments on what the author/a character should do, consider instead why the author or character made the choice they did. If it feels inconsistent or out of character, comment upon that instead.

5. Post-Read Letter

Now that you’ve finished reading, gather your thoughts. What did you think overall? Review the notes you took while reading. What issues continually came up? Do you have a better understanding of certain elements, now that you’ve finished your read?

I like to let my thoughts rest for some time (at least a week if possible) and then begin work on my feedback letter. This is the format I’ve been using to great success:

• Introduction: I begin by addressing the author, thanking them for sharing their work, and giving some general thoughts about the story, mostly highlighting my favorite elements. I also include a note about my feedback philosophy: “I will be writing about your work as I saw it and making suggestions, but at the end of the day this book is yours. My suggestions are meant as a buffet (for you to pick and choose from), not a prescription.”
• Requested Feedback: If the author provided specific questions about their novel, I address those first. Sometimes I will direct the author to a later portion of my letter where I go into greater depth.
• Plot: As I read, I write short summaries of each chapter to create a personal reference. In my feedback letter I clean up those summaries and sort the chapters into acts. I bold events in the plot that have to do with the main conflict, because it can reveal portions of the story when the plot takes a back seat for too long and help authors identify who is really driving the plot. This is also where I might discuss genre.
• Characters: I create a list of the major characters, describe the impression I had of each of them, and discuss character arcs/major relationships so authors can assess if their goals for each character were successful.
• Worldbuilding: I discuss certain aspects of worldbuilding and the elements I enjoyed vs what I think needs more work. I mostly beta read SFF, where this is often an essential element, but even if you’re reading work with a contemporary setting, it can be useful to give feedback on the story world. My focus is often on whether I have a strong sense of time and place, and whether the world feels full/complete.
• Theme: If the book has a singular theme (that isn’t just the protagonist’s character arc) I discuss it separately and try to find direct quotes from the book to highlight as examples of how the theme shows up in the text.
• Your Writing: If I have comments on the style of writing itself, I prefer to discuss that as its own topic. In general, I try to avoid specific style comments, but I do like to describe what style I see in a novel, and whether I believe it’s artful, accessible, wordy, utilitarian, etc. If there are recurring issues with writing, such as common grammar issues or areas of weakness, I keep my comments of that limited to one or two examples to not bog down the manuscript making corrections that may overwhelm an author (even if it’s specifically requested). I also like to assess the action/fight scenes, as I have a resource that I often cite when I think a novel’s action could be improved.
• Final Thoughts: This is where I sum up my thoughts, giving an overall picture of the strengths of the book and the areas that would benefit most from improvement. I thank the author again for their trust and mention that if they have any questions, I am open to some discussion (and I usually share my feedback in the form of a Google doc so they can comment directly on my feedback if they wish). I reiterate the goal of my feedback as a buffet of suggestions for them to do what they wish, and close out with a final thanks.

Be honest about your feelings, but respectful in how you present them. Don’t just give feedback on what needs work—Offer things that you liked about the book as well, especially as examples in comparison to parts that need work. If you find that you have too many things that you want to give negative critique on, pick your battles, preferring the feedback that you think is most important to pass along.

 Further Reading:

R/BetaReaders FAQ https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaReaders/wiki/index/faq/for_betas/#wiki_faq_for_betas

Are you interested in a beta that will apply these techniques to your novel? Check out my beta reading services and contact me for more info.