Picking Beta Readers: A Guide

There are generally two camps when it comes to beta reading: those who dread it and those who love it. I fall into the latter camp. Beta reading is one of my favorite phases of writing a book because it lets me get a taste of my dream— having people read my book!

Despite how fun it is to have people pore over your writing and tell you what they love, fangirl over the couples, and basically enjoy the world you've created, that's not the whole point of beta reading. It's not even most of the point. Beta reading is primarily to receive critique for your next draft and to point out the strengths/weaknesses of a story. This is why picking beta readers well is a process all writers should perfect.

I'm on my second round of betas and also did one round of alpha readers at the beginning, so I've managed to hone my process. Here is a step-by-step process plus tips on how to pick betas that won't just have fun and encourage you, but truly make your next draft better!

1. Finish a Draft

Generally speaking, you have to have a finished draft before going to beta readers. Not everyone works the same way, but I personally think that it's best to wait till after the second draft for beta readers. If you've just finished your first draft, consider alpha readers. It's a less formal process of picking a few writer friends and having them read your first draft to offer some direction, but it's not as meticulous as beta readers.

2. Gather the Information

In order to get the best beta readers, you need to be able to offer them a bit of a "what's what" about your book. Pull together the following information:

• Word Count

• Genre

• Content Warnings

• Beta Reading Time Frame

• Synopsis

• Age Range

and make some sort of infographic for your potential readers. My platform is mostly on Instagram, so I made a post for Instagram with all that information. Tailor yours to whatever platform you mostly use! (**Don't have a platform? It might be time to start. Consider getting a social media account that is driven towards marketing your writing!)

3. Create an Application

Now hear me out. I know it sounds a little too formal, but applications are really the best route to figuring out who to pick for your beta readers. It allows you to ask questions of people, see what experience they have and determine if they'd be a good fit for your book. I personally use Google Forms, because I find it organizes the information best and gives me the most options. I can make multiple choice questions, paragraph questions, required questions and so on. Here are a few sample questions I reccomend asking. Of course, these aren't the only questions so feel free to add your own!

• Email (you'll need it to send accceptances and share the document)

• Name

• Age

• Favorite books

• Writing experience
  

4. Pick Your Readers

This is the interesting part. Once you've gotten a few applications, it's time to pick your readers. I reccomend having an odd number of readers, so you always have a tiebreaker when discussing opinions on different things. Three, five or seven, those are the numbers I'd reccomend aiming for. Read through the applications and decide which seem like the best fit. Here's one of my favorite tips. Don't just pick friends. You probably have people you've talked to about your book who are excited and love it already! That's great, and having one or two of those is fine. But pick some people you don't know very well, who will be going in blind. This is where the best and most honest critique will likely come from. Once you've made your choices, get back to those people and let those you didn't pick know as well. It's better to hear back "no" than to not hear back at all!

Now that you've gone through the process, you're ready to start the stage of beta reading! Take a break from your book, hand it off to the capable hands of your readers and get excited for what's coming next. It's an amazing accomplishment to reach that point and you're all going to do great!