Beta Reader Concerns

[Madison]

Hello all.

I haven’t used beta readers before (outside of family members anyway) but thought it would be good to bet an unbiased opinion on my manuscript. I see beta reader groups here on Goodreads where people offer their services for free. But I worry about someone stealing my work or selling it to be posted online.

What are your thoughts/experiences on this? Has anyone gotten beta readers like this before?

[Anna]

I have had only two in the past, both writers, but I have known them for years and they write in different genres from anything I do.

[Dale]

It's unlikely that anyone will steal your work. However, there are ways to minimize the risk. Provide beta readers with a PDF version of your manuscript (you can export from MS Word and most other word processors to PDF). PDFs can't be edited without software that costs money and which most people don't have. On the title page, include text such as "This is an advance reader copy. Do not distribute." If submitting in advance for a book review, you can also add that editing is not complete, and that reviewers should quote from the final edition once it becomes available.

The other thing is, even if someone does distribute the work to others, that's not necessarily a horrible thing (so long as they aren't charging money for it). As some wise soul once said, for most authors the problem is not theft. It's obscurity. So a little "inappropriate" distribution could actually be fine. At least it gets your name out there!

[Madison]

Good to know. Thanks guys!