~Average Price Charged for a Beta

[Steven]

I see a lot of authors connecting with paid beta readers (via PM) in this section and that's great! Does anyone care to comment on what they HAVE paid for this service, so newbies (like me) can have a rough idea of pricing.

[J]

Just my experience, but it depends on what you want.

Free - I've had some good feedback from folks who agreed to read my stuff for free. I find these are folks who either just like doing it or are trying to get some experience under their belt to move up to a paid beta. Really depends what you are looking for here and you will get a mix of styles.

$25-$50 - again, this is often just a read through with comments (which is what I want, personally) - no advice on plot changes or editing etc. Again, some have been great, others so-so.

$1 per 1000 words - I see this as pretty standard for most beta-readers. Often folks at this level will offer details on character development, plot, voice, plot-holes etc. More along the lines of light developmental advice and some proof reading. Some may offer much, much more. I've had some luck in this range as well, but highly recommend doing a 1 chapter test (and pay for it) to see if it is a good fit.

$3 per 1000 words - I've had this done and my guy was AWESOME. Did not do in-text comments but really got into the story. Not just picking out line level issues or minor plot holes, but taking a big picture look at things (which actually worked since many of my minor plot holes are actually clues to a bigger plot, and intentional). I think you can have pretty high expectations of a beta at this level. They are not your editor, but I paid for very pricey manuscript eval from a 'professional editor' that was no where near as helpful as my $3 per 1000 words beta reader.

Also, be sure you are actually looking for a beta reader and not a critique partner or (more likely) an alpha reader. I found out way late in the game I was actually looking for an alpha reader (and appreciate the patience of my readers). For me, if I'm still open to rather large changes to my story, and I need a reader to skip over the typos, I'm really looking for an alpha reader. Not to say you shouldn't have your alpha manuscript clean enough to be understandable - don't make then wade through a sea of grammar and spelling errors. If I'm looking for tweaks to better get my point across (does the MC seem to nice, does this joke not land, etc.) that, to me, is something a beta can help with.

feel free to PM me if you would like any more details or are looking for recommendations. I've worked with a number of people on this site and others.

I'm a first time author and spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was/was not doing right.

My biggest recommendation would be for you to offer to beta read, even if it's just a few chapters, of someone else's work. It really helped me to figure out what it was I was looking for.

Hope this helps!

[Luca]

Good question and one that I'm curious about as a beta reader myself. Personally, I charge per 1000 words, between £0.75 and £1.00 ($0.96–1.28 at current exchange rates) for my standard service*, depending on the length of the work (cheaper the longer it is).

I would, however, encourage all authors looking for a beta reader not to get *too* stuck on pricing and always consider it in relation to what precisely the reader is offering you. How long/detailed is their feedback report? What do they comment on? Do they annotate the manuscript? Read it more than once? (Etc.) Does it match what you're looking for? Can you negotiate (terms or price) if not? And, of course, are they a match for you personally?

*Two read-throughs, 2-3K report (assuming novel-length manuscript), annotated manuscript.

[Lilly]

I have started my activity as a beta reader using this group, I have little experience, but working on growing it. At some point, I do intend to charge for it, as this activity is time consuming (and even money, since sometimes I print the document received to mark my comments).

So I agree with everything mentioned by Luca and J Moore, especially sampling the beta reader. I would suggest more than one chapter, maybe 2 or 3, so that the communication can be better evaluated.

Good Luck with your work ;)

[Lioness7]

I personally charge $1.00 per 1,000 words. With this I tend to do in document notations, mark grammar and consistency errors if they stand out, provide a general review to sum up my findings, and provide answers to a detailed list of questions.

I definitely agree that it takes a long time to work on any project. Even a short story can take me hours to do all the typing. I personally do it because I love a good book and want to help an author out. I also know that when I do a good job, it is likely that an author will come back to me with other projects.

[Steven]

Thanks for the very thorough reply, J. That breakdown was just what I was looking for.