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Hey all! Beta readers? How do I get into it
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C.L.
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Jul 31, 2016 02:58PM
Hey all, I've been a beta reader for a few authors, but now I'm looking into how to get into it full time. Does anyone have any info on this please?
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I make enough money with editing and writing myself, but I would love to be able to get into beta reading more to find some new series. Sometimes my brain needs a break from writing and editing smut lol.
Sure Lyn. I write in that genre so I have some scope. Feel free to message me on here :)
C.L. wrote: "Hey all, I've been a beta reader for a few authors, but now I'm looking into how to get into it full time. Does anyone have any info on this please?"I'd like a beta reader for my historical saga set in Orkney, but I don't have much money. How interested are you?
Catherine, yes I would. Lyn I will email you in a bit.
Are either of you ladies interested in doing an exchange on any of mine? Not required but figured I would ask. :)
Do you mean beta reader, as in reading manuscripts to make corrections and give feedback, or do you like reading advanced copies for review? The advanced review copies (ARCs) are *supposedly* already edited and ready for publication. There are hundreds of writers looking for readers/reviewers in Goodreads "Advanced Copies for Review & Book Giveaways" group. If you post there and tell them what your reading preferences are, you will get swamped pretty much immediately. It helps of you enjoy writing Amazon and GR reviews.If it's of interest to you, I am looking for a reviewer for my historical fiction/world literature, link below. It's already been beta-read and edited, so I'm just looking for reviewers ahead of my release later this month. You can drop me a note for a free copy: audreymei[at]gmail[dot]com
Trixi Pudong and the Greater World
A Chinese family saga with a twist of magic.
Jan wrote: "I am very interested in your book!"Jan, great! Thanks for visiting this thread :-). What format would you like? I can send you epub, mobi, an Amazon gift ebook, or a gift paperback. You can reach me best at audreymei [at] gmail [dot] com, but I'll look back here too.
C.L. wrote: "Catherine, yes I would. Lyn I will email you in a bit.
Are either of you ladies interested in doing an exchange on any of mine? Not required but figured I would ask. :)"
Oh thanks. I'll look forward to that.
How many beta-readers do most authors try to have read their draft ?Im working on my first historical fiction novel.
I have about 25 right now. 15 are current with my writing progress and cant wait for additional chapters, 5-6 are a couple of chapters behind and 4 or so are basically non-existent. I chalk it up to not enjoying historical fiction. They are a diverse group from 16 yrs old to 73 yrs old and from several different countries and all types of professions and economic status.
Is there such a thing as too many beta-readers ?
I think the question isn't how many but how good are these beta readers? Are they writers, or at least highly perceptive readers with an understanding of story structure, characterization, and other essential factors? How much experience and training do they have in beta reading? If you're having them check for issues of grammar and usage, do they actually know the rules of English and style guides? How do they compare to the people most likely to buy your book, or -- this is important -- to review your book? Are they friends or relatives who would be reticent to tell you that what you have is crap? Because sooner or later you will write crap, sadly. We all do.One beta reader can be too many if the beta reader is deficient. One outstanding beta reader can be more than enough.
I would never use another writer as a beta-reader. I think writers have conflicts and bias that can influence their advice. As an attorney when I review another attorney's work product Im going to tell them to write as I would. Its just natural. We have our own style that is honed over years of writing. But that doesnt make my style better, just different. Several of my beta-readers have been beta-readers for other authors. Im not really looking for them check grammar, usage and rules of English. I will pay a professional editor to review it and fix problems. Im using the beta readers for bigger picture issues.
Do they like the story, does it grab them, does it flow well, is it a pager turner or are they bored, overall they are more of a focus group to get an idea how the general public will react to the novel. Most arent friends. Two are family, but not close family. Many of them arent fans of the genre. So Im going after a broad base of opinions.
What Im trying to do is extrapolate analysis.
I know the crap is coming. But sometimes I think you need a lot of beta-readers to put crap into perspective. If 1-2 say its crap and 10 say its wonderful, well its probably not crap. But you wouldnt know that if you just had 2 beta-readers that both said it was crap.
I dont know, its all new to me. Thank you for your insight !
It is possible to have too many beta-readers if *you* aren't secure with what you want to write. When you have many different people reading your book, you'll hear every possible contradicting comment: more back story, less back story, too fast, too slow, more of this character, less of the same character, etc. But if you know who your target reader is, then it's easier to filter out the suggestions from the wrong demographic.I just want to chime in (not accusing anyone in this thread), but I'm a firm believer that we should NOT replace a professional editor with a bunch of beta-readers. I mean a professional editor in the old-fashioned sense, way back when the highest paid employees in the big publishing houses were the editors who turned good authors' ideas into gorgeous books. Unfortunately, very experienced, good editors have also fallen victim to the new gig economy. They have been let go and authors are now responsible for editing our own MS, with varying results because the internet is littered with so-called "editors" who actually have no qualifications.
Yet these pro editors are absolutely invaluable and they are what is missing in today's mucky swamp of hit-or-miss indie published books. I see hundreds of beautiful ideas from talented authors, but I just can't make it through the book because of the same entry-level mistakes that take up the book's first 30 pages.
I don't know what the solution is to this problem aside from pulling the breaks on runaway capitalism and petitioning against the conglomeration of big publishers and *for* merit-based job security in the book industry. Anyway, here we are.
My recommendation for the best kind of reader before publishing: Someone who has already read a lot and can place your work into the context of everything that has been written before. These tend to be more mature readers (over 40) but not necessarily. When I get to the real beta-reader stage, I see it as a "lab" and I ask the same questions that Michael does: is it a page turner or are they bored, how does the general public react, etc.
Thanks for reading this. I know I was ranting a little :-) Have a nice day.
Are you still looking to beta read? I've got a novel set during the Revolutionary War that needs work.
Michael wrote: "How many beta-readers do most authors try to have read their draft ?Im working on my first historical fiction novel.
I have about 25 right now. 15 are current with my writing progress and cant ..."
It really depends on how good you are at a) synthesizing disparate notes from disparate people and teasing out the useful bits, and b) ignoring notes that undermine your voice or narrative purpose. Betas can be wonderful and useful or wretched and clueless, sometimes even harmful. But 25 seems like too many regardless. My two cents.
I'm looking for a couple of beta readers from this group as I'm not having much success in the general GR Beta section. My book, Imagining Violet Married, is historical fiction based on family history. Here's the blurb:
Living with her in-laws, dealing with her first pregnancy, acclimatizing to Canadian customs and weather, Imagining Violet Married is an intimate look at a young English bride's life in Toronto at the turn of the 20th century. While her husband is forging a brilliant career as a concert pianist in a city that is rapidly becoming the musical centre of Canada, Violet's life is full of small domestic challenges. All this makes for a lively correspondence as Violet writes about her life to her close friends and family. This is a sequel to the recently published Imagining Violet.
I'm a GR Author and can be reached here or by message.
