Timescale

[Roughseasinthemed]

I read a lot of comments from authors who want beta readers to turn a book round in days, because they want to publish next month.

Please, don't rush your books or impose unfair deadlines. I'm currently doing a final proof for someone who will format end Oct, to publish in Nov, in time for Christmas. It's already been edited.

But, completing a MS involves letting it rest for a while, self-editing a number of times, and professional editing/proofreading. None of this gets done in a few weeks.

So, either plan your beta requests well in advance, or don't set a fixed timescale for publication. Preferably both.

[Kevis]

This is great advice. Thanks OP.

Whether or not an author is paying his or her beta reader, they need to keep in mind that people do have lives and that you have to give your beta reader enough time to complete the job. Beta reading is time-consuming, and can be hard work, depending on the number of errors in the text.

When someone like me goes through your book, I'm often reading the book more than once. In fact, if I'm reading a shorter excerpt from the book, I usually re-read the piece several times.

In addition, I use Word's tracking and comment feature to include internal comments in your manuscript. It takes time to do this. Time that I could easily, and to be honest, prefer to spend writing my own books. I never go dark on the authors I'm helping. If I tell you it will take me a few days or weeks to finish my read of your book, I'm going to follow through. If I need an extra couple of days to finish, I'll tell you.

But right now, I get the sense that authors either don't want honest feedback or they're unwilling to wait the required time to get their feedback.

If you ever wonder why it's a ghost town around here compared to the way it used to be, it's because of the poor treatment of beta readers. Treating beta readers like they're dirt is one of the reasons most people don't offer their help, even if, like me, they want to.

Case in point, I have two authors left on my list from this group that I agreed to help. I seriously doubt I'll be offering to help anyone else after I'm done.

[Lin]

I totally agree. Some beta readers do offer a very fast turnaround. If they can do that, that's great, but how thorough a report can they give on that fast reading?

Chances are that you've spent months writing. You should then expect to let the book rest, edit it with respect to feedback from readers, then send it off for editing and proofreading. All this takes time.

I usually find that the works I beta read can be hard going, and I have to take my time to understand and sometimes pick apart sentences for meaning. This means I can only concentrate for shorter periods than I would normally spend reading.

If you've sent a book out, then it's perfectly acceptable to send out a "just wondered how you were getting on" message if it's getting close to a deadline, but be careful not to nag, and avoid passive aggression ("I guess it's because you hate my book").

Once you receive the report, say thank you, even if it will be a while before you get a chance to read it. "Thank you for your time. Is it okay if I ask you any questions I might have after I've had a chance to consider your feedback?" is better than waiting a week before letting them know it's received.

Take care of your beta readers and they'll take care of you.

[Kevis]

Lin wrote: "I usually find that the works I beta read can be hard going, and I have to take my time to understand and sometimes pick apart sentences for meaning. This means I can only concentrate for shorter periods than I would normally spend reading..."

I love everything you said, Lin, especially about how much concentration it takes to read for mistakes rather than for fun. Beta reading really takes it out of you. It's because I really like this group and helping authors (who really want to be helped) that I bother to stick around.

Also, thanks for posting those great suggestions about how to treat your beta reader. If a few more authors did this, it would improve the mood around here.

[Roughseasinthemed]

Thanks for your comments. Good beta reading takes time, whether free or professional.

As Kevis said, I also read far more than once. I don't use tracking. It's an opinion not an edit but we all do it differently.

And Lin, I reviewed one book, by request, and got 'why do you hate my book?' I didn't. It was just poor. Same story …

[Jennifer]

Thank you for this.
I was wondering what a good timeframe is regarding deadlines. What's a reasonable time to have a flash read done vs novel etc.?

[Kevis]

Kevis wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Thank you for this.
I was wondering what a good timeframe is regarding deadlines. What's a reasonable time to have a flash read done vs novel etc.?""

To be honest, I'd read a flash read no less than a dozen times before writing up my critique. An author deserves fair and honest feedback, so I want to have as many passes as possible to get it right. The shorter a piece, the more times I'll reread it before giving my input. If it's longer, I'll generally write my critique as I go along and revise when I re-read it.

[Roughseasinthemed]

Jennifer wrote: "Thank you for this.
I was wondering what a good timeframe is regarding deadlines. What's a reasonable time to have a flash read done vs novel etc.?"
Hi Jennifer
Sorry I missed this, was offline.
I'll do a short story in a week, a couple of reads and a brief report if it's free. Paid-for takes longer as the report is longer.
For flash fiction, I'd say a few days to a week max, but again a free beta read only gets a one/two page report. Probably a similar length to the flash!
But, it depends what else I have on, so you might need to build in some waiting time just in case, depending on your chosen beta readers commitments.
At the beta reading stage, I don't think an author should be looking at deadlines, unless it's for a competition or publication. If so PLEASE be upfront about that.