Which should come first... the beta read or the editing?

[Julie]

Hi Beta Readers,

I'm a new author and am very interested in having my next short novella beta read before publishing it. The problem I face is...
When is the best time to request a beta reader?

Let me explain,

I'm a terrible self editor. I always have my work professionally edited before I share it with readers, because it is important to me to put my very best foot forward.
However, if I pay to have my work edited and later receive numerous suggestions for updates from a beta reader, I will most likely incur another editing cost.

I'm not even sure I'm comfortable with a beta reader, seeing my work's imperfections, but I really would like feedback on the story line and character development before I commit to editing.

Is it acceptable to ask a beta reader to ignore spelling, grammar and punctuation and focus simply on the story line and character development?

Maybe someone has some suggestions or perhaps an even better solution that can help me with this problem?

I'm hoping to wrap up my final draft in the next week and would love feedback.

Any suggestions from the group would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Julie :)

[Lea-Ellen]

Julie wrote: "Hi Beta Readers,

I'm a new author and am very interested in having my next short novella beta read before publishing it. The problem I face is...
When is the best time to request a beta reader?
..."

Julie,

It's always best to have the beta reader BEFORE the editor. Just let her/him/them know that the manuscript has not been edited yet. Make up a list of questions that you'd like the beta reader(s) to give you feedback on, and have an area where they can just give you their thoughts (perhaps where your questions aren't covering everything).

Do not forget to provide all of your beta readers with free copies of the edited book as soon as it's published and available for sale. This is to thank them for their help.

[Julie]

Lea-Ellen wrote: "Julie wrote: "Hi Beta Readers,

I'm a new author and am very interested in having my next short novella beta read before publishing it. The problem I face is...
When is the best time to request a ..."

Your advice is encouraging and definitely something that would work in my situation. I'm always willing to provide free copies for those who've helped me with my work, but it's a nice reminder.

Thanks Lea-Ellen!

[Deepthi]

Hi Julie,

Beta reading comes first, then comes editing. While beta reading, I have read some simple mistakes to major ones. In fact, when I sorted out for beta readers here, couple of them were patient, and very nice about my mistakes or errors.

YES. You can ask us to ignore spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We work in whatever way you prefer.

Not many are English major, but we can look for story line, plot holes, inconsistencies, and character development. You direct us, and we do accordingly.

Regarding being uncomfortable. Hmmm.... It's part of being an author. I have developed thick skin, and always selected my beta readers, I'm comfortable and form a bond. Thus sticking with them for the rest of the writing.

Hope that helps....

With Wishes,
Deepthi.

[Julie]

Deepthi wrote: "Hi Julie,

Beta reading comes first, then comes editing. While beta reading, I have read some simple mistakes to major ones. In fact, when I sorted out for beta readers here, couple of them were pa..."

Thanks so much for the insight and encouragement, Deepthi!

[Diana]

Definitely beta read after the first draft so you can evaluate suggestions and do re-writes without wasting time editing stuff you might delete!

[Julie]

Diana wrote: "Definitely beta read after the first draft so you can evaluate suggestions and do re-writes without wasting time editing stuff you might delete!"

Makes sense. Thanks Diana!

[Tianna]

I would 100% agree with beta reading first. It's frightening, but soooo incredibly worth it.

[RabidReader]

I'm probably not the right person to comment, but I did stumble on something that might help your cause.

I do all my own editing by tablet ... (I have a reason for self editing, but not relevant here), about a year ago, I came across Cool Reader for my android tablet. It takes a little bit to get it to work perfectly, but it takes any word document or pdf and makes it an audio book.

Play with the settings a little, playback speed and voice (I like the Great Britain). Using this program, I could hear all the grammar, spelling and cadence mistakes. I've suggested this in the past, and I had feedback that the Text-to-speech program caught errors, multiple proofreads and professional editors did not.

I usually leave the playback run on the tablet, as I follow along on my notebook. I only pause or rewind when I'm fixing an error. I was able to edit a 80K book in 4 days with this. This might allay many of your concerns handing the book to a Beta reader before editing, and save you some money.

If you need any help, by all means, send me a message.

[Deepthi]

Julie wrote: "Deepthi wrote: "Hi Julie,

Beta reading comes first, then comes editing. While beta reading, I have read some simple mistakes to major ones. In fact, when I sorted out for beta readers here, couple..."

No Problem. Anything to help a fellow writer.

[Deepthi]

RabidReader wrote: "I'm probably not the right person to comment, but I did stumble on something that might help your cause.

I do all my own editing by tablet ... (I have a reason for self editing, but not relevant..."


I like this suggestion... Nice one. I'll try this.

[Diana]

I know I am "teaching my grandmother to suck eggs" but it's a sad fact that we cannot edit our own work. Most of us have found, myself included (publicly), to our embarrassment that thereby lies disaster.

Certainly we can edit drafts as we go along, but ultimately we need to get a literary Rottweiler edit what we fondly think is the final draft.

NEVER ask your "Mum, Aunty Flo, Sister Sue, Cousin Joy or BFF Petunia" to beta read or edit your work!!!

[Daniel]

I have redrafted my book about 11 times and now am sending out to beta readers for flow of story, readability, any passages they have to read twice because they did not understand them.

After I have received their responses (3) I will draft again and then it will be edited and proofed for an autumn release.

I have never had beta readers and I have to say I did not know such wonderful people existed. A free, final copy seems insufficient to say thank you:)

[Lin]

I have seen a distinction made between alpha and beta readers, where alpha reading is on a raw draft, to deal with major plot holes and pacing issues etc, while beta reading is much closer to the end. Either - or both - should be done before professional editing, which is why I don't point out all typos/errors while beta reading, but the more editing you've been able to do by yourself, the easier the manuscript will flow, making it an easier (and therefore probably quicker) beta read. If I have to train myself to ignore commas, or I have to struggle with badly worded sentences, it slows me down. A more polished manuscript may also reduce the cost of editing.
Realistically, I think most beta readers will move naturally between alpha and beta type reading depending on the quality of the manuscript.
Expecting a friend/relative to beta read can be dodgy ground, depending on their experience and ability to be totally honest and objective. Expecting them to edit/proofread is not usually a good idea, unless they - or you - are already very experienced.

[Roberta]

RabidReader wrote: "I'm probably not the right person to comment, but I did stumble on something that might help your cause.

I do all my own editing by tablet ... (I have a reason for self editing, but not relevant..."

What a brilliant idea! For my own writing, I frequently read it aloud to myself [which also helps me hear and therefore trim some of the purple out of my prose, LOL!], and it serves a similar purpose as your software suggestion does. I, too, do most of my own editing, and give my betas the cleanest MS I can.

[Julie]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I think I'll move forward with a beta reading request first then editing.
Don't worry I always self edit my work too, so hopefully there won't be too much for a beta reader to overlook.

Thanks again,
Julie