Cailin Riley Books

If you’re looking to publish a book, beta readers can be a great way to get early feedback before your final edits.

If you’re not familiar with the concept, beta readers are readers (sometime other authors) that read and provide feedback on a copy of your book before your final round of edits and publishing. Some authors prefer to solicit beta readers when their book is fully drafted, while others provide readers with a portion of the book. I personally prefer giving betas a full copy of the book, since I believe that gives you the best and most accurate feedback.

So, how do you find beta readers and enlist them to help you out?

First, make sure you have a clean copy of your draft for betas to read.

I prefer providing betas with a clean, unmarked PDF copy of my book so that they can make edits using any software they like and send back a seperate copy with edits. This makes sure that you don’t get any drafts mixed up or confused.

Decide how many beta readers you want to “hire” and find an outlet for soliciting.

Depending on the size and genre of your book, it should take beta readers some time to make it through your book. At the same time, you should expect that not everybody who says they want to beta read for you will actually have the time to do it. I would say that you should expect between 60-80% of betas to actually read your content and send feedback. Take that into account when you decide how many betas to take on. I usually aim to get between 10-15, with an extra few people as back-ups in case I get a few people drop out.

Facebook groups aimed toward authors and readers can be great outlets for finding betas, simply because most of the members love to read. You’d be surprised by how many people love to help out other writers.

Be sure that you are being specific with how you want feedback from betas and include a deadline.

If you’re asking someone to take the time to read your book for free, the least you can do for them is provide clear guidelines.

Here is a template you can use to share your process with beta readers; I usually send this to betas once they have agreed to help me out:

Hi NAME,

Thanks again for agreeing to be a beta reader for my book! I have attached a PDF copy. If you have Adobe Acrobat, please feel free to make comments right on the file and send back to me. Otherwise, you can send feedback in a Word doc or whatever method you prefer. This manuscript has been through a round of edits so I am not looking for grammar or line edits. I am looking for general feedback on tone, messaging and ease of reading/learning. If you’re a gardener or forager, feel free to comment if there is anything you view as inaccurate. If you’re a beginner, I’m especially wanting to know if you find anything confusing or if something needs more explanation. I would LOVE to have all beta feedback back to me by DEADLINE, though I am an indie author and very flexible. Most of all, THANK YOU for being a beta reader. Let me know if you have any questions.

Always show your betas some appreciation!

Be aware of editors-for-hire and set expectations up front.

Many editors or proofreaders-for-hire are in Facebook groups for writers and actively seek to find business with writers seeking feedback. There is nothing wrong with that but you should be aware that some of they may expect payment for beta reading services. If you notice that a potential beta reader has a professional editing profile or email address, it’s a good idea to call that out and make sure that they are aware that you are only seeking betas who can review for free. Many are cool with that if they take a personal interest in your book. Some will instead ask that you promote their services in exchange for a review; it’s up to you on how to handle that. I personally do not take part in that because I feel like it sets up a transactional relationship where I might not get honest feedback.

Good luck out there, and always remember to say thank you to beta readers!