TranScript:

Welcome to Write Wrong, a podcast that talks about writing from the POV of someone who’s been doing it wrong for far too long. I’m Cortney Hamilton, and this is episode five. Today I’ll be talking about: 

Getting a Beta Reader. Because you do want strangers to eviscerate the novel you’ve spent over a year working on. 

But first a tip:

Trying to remember that cool quote but forgot most of the words? “Four what and what what ago?” Simply, Google search, but put an asterisk in place of the words you forgot, and you’re more likely to get the correct answer. 

If you’re showing this trick to younger children or older parents, don’t do it without safe search on. 

Beta reading, or, the process of spending months if not years, writing a novel only to give it to someone who reads it in order to tell you in the most constructive manner they can muster that it totally sucks.

And beta reading and readers are very important to the process of getting your book published, and there are many ways to go about getting a beta reader. Some work better than others. Some are free and some cost. Some will give you amazing feedback, and others will ghost on you. 

And some will want to read it the moment it’s done because they’re worried you’re presenting them in a bad light. “Just because my character has a parent who treats her dogs better than her children, doesn’t mean that it’s you, Mother. I’m just writing my truth!”

But, as writers, we need beta readers. And, just really quickly, a beta-reader is a person who reads a draft of your novel with the intention of providing constructive feedback that you can then use to revise. Think of it like a writer’s rehearsal for getting bad reviews. 

And there are a few ways to go about getting a beta reader or two. 

But before you start offering your manuscript to every human out there fluent in book-learnin’, there are a few things we need to do as writers that will help our Beta readers out. 

One thing I do is read the manuscript thoroughly. 

I know most of the time, I tend to think that I’m perfect. Now, I know I’m not perfect, but that’s only because scientific studies and personal experience tell me that no one is perfect. But quite often, I don’t heed that information, and, even more often, I get burned for it, and not just metaphorically. So, despite my perfection, I find that my first drafts are not so great. 

Now, let me clarify. You might wonder if a first draft means a draft that has been written first. And that makes sense. But that’s really a pre-first draft. A rough draft, if you will. And if you won’t, then how about a grotesque draft. This is the draft you write where you know you might need to add a scene or clarify a plot point. So even though you have a draft that has words and paragraphs, and maybe even a beginning, middle, and end, it still needs some major reworking, so it doesn’t read like a Unabomber’s manifesto.  

Once you know you’ve included all the things necessary for the story, when you think everything you wanted in the story is in there--and also working the way you think it should be--then, congratulations, you have face-lifted your grotesque draft into a first draft.

Now, after I’ve finished my first draft, I let it sit. I don’t touch it. It’s like hot grease. If I’m going to fully appreciate it, I need to let it cool a little before I drink it. Personally, I tend to give my manuscripts a week of solitude. More if I’m on vacation or having a kidney removed. 

Then I’ll read it from page one, all the way through. And yes, I might correct things as I go. Maybe add a comma here, remove one there. Change a word. Rechange that word. Look up a new word on thesaurus.com. Experiment with words I’ve never heard of that mean almost the same thing and then settle on the word I’d originally chosen. The whole point of this is to make sure that the story is doing what I want it to. That all the elements are there, that it’s as perfect as I can make it. And once that happens, then I’m ready for a beta reader..or five. 

But I’m sensing you have a question here—something on your mind. I’m also sensing a little impatience and the urge to pee. But please go ahead, I’ll just keep talking. 

Back to that question: How many beta readers should I get? 

This has been a question that has plagued humankind since the first cave person hammered out a love letter on a stone and showed it to their friend before throwing that letter at their betrothed and dragging them back to their cave for an intimate junction. Is the writing engaging? Is the prose moving? Is the stone light enough to knock the person out but not cause permanent damage?

We all need advice when it comes to our writing because we’re too much in the hellscape of our own heads to be able to objectively assess how great we are. 

The short answer to your question (after this long preface) is the more beta readers you get, the more data you have to see what’s working in your book and what isn’t. Because, the inconvenient but fascinating truth is, people. Are. Different. We can’t agree on anything we like unanimously, and so we often like different things. Fortunately, this means we get more options on Netflix. Unfortunately, it can also mean you sit behind the guy who brazenly removes his shoes, reclines his chair the moment your flight takes off, and eats a fish and onion sandwich he brought from home.  

But as humans, we tend toward a trend. Which is why getting more readers can be better. But the fact is, most people, if not everyone, are not going to want to read your book, especially if they can’t listen to it on audible.  

Now, you’re probably asking, “But who should beta read for me?” And if you’re not, well, you are now. 

And there are a few groups you can turn to for possible insight and/or evisceration. 

—Friends

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Personally, I don’t trust my friends. I like them. I’ll have a drink with them. But if you think I’m going to bare my soul via my romance novel of a young man’s odyssey from Arsenic Tubs, NM to Big Beaver, Saskatchewan, you got another thing coming. Besides, I find it easier to be judged by strangers. And, as it happens, none of my friends have ever agreed to read and give me feedback in the first place. I don’t blame them. I’d turn me down too. 

So, I look elsewhere.  

But you might have friends who’d love to beta read for you. And I’d tread carefully here. Because, while you want feedback, you also want good feedback. Not just a general: “Yeah, it was okay. Reminded me of Star Wars though. I mean light stabbers? Kind of a lame rip-off, if you ask me.” “It’s a satire, Kevin. I told you that when I gave it to you.” 

If you do give it to friends, or anyone you know, ideally, you want to try to give it to people who can critique the work constructively. People who read novels on a regular basis, know how a plot should play out, what a climax is, or even people who correctly use big words in conversation. 

The challenge here is that friends and family are biased toward you. Most of them want to see you succeed and so they’ll compliment you, but overlook what needs to be addressed in your novel. And unless they’ve either done this before, can be completely honest, or know even a little about how a good story should unfold, then family and friends can lead you down the wrong path when you’re doing revisions. 

—Writing groups

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A great place to find beta readers and, coincidentally, know-it-alls, are writing groups. And if you’re in one, you’re probably already rolling your eyes and saying, “uh, yeah…duh.” 

If you aren’t in one and want to find one, Meet-up.com can be a great place. Your local library might have a bulletin board either online or physically in a building where they also house books that you can borrow at your convenience. Craigslist is a bit sketchy for anything that might have to do with…anything. But there are also plenty of writing groups online like Scribophile or Critique Circle or Absolute Write. Just be prepared that if you do look for a beta reader on sites like these, you’ll likely also have to beta read for them. Because they’re writers too and they need help like you do. 

What’s that, you say. You’ve never beta read before? Now is a great time to do it. Because it’ll help you get into critique mode when you’re assessing your own work, just keep in mind that beta reading can be time-consuming if you’re giving it the same attention you’d want a reader to give your novel. 

And if you agree to do it, don’t take it lightly. Go in with the professionalism you’d expect from your beta readers. Commit to a schedule. Tell them what they can expect from you and when you can deliver it. And do not ghost. Sure, you might have read half-way through someone’s first draft and gotten to the graphic rape scene, which may be a deal-breaker for you. I get it. I don’t want to read about rape either. But make sure you let the author know that you’re stopping, where you’re stopping and why. And maybe even give the author feedback on the novel up to that point. But whatever you do, don’t flake on them.  

—Strangers 

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As I mentioned, I have friends. I’ve never hung out with them or anything. But I could if I wanted to. I think. So it’s a challenge to ask even the smart ones to beta read for me because I don’t want to be a taker and not a giver. So I do what most criminals do. 

I take from strangers. Okay, I’m not taking from them. I have the privilege of a stranger’s time because they offer it. And so, I find a majority of my readers on sites like Goodreads. They even have a forum specifically for people who want to beta read books and give feedback.

I can’t thank these people enough. The time and care they take have meant so much to the growth of my novel. But there are also pros and cons to this avenue. 

Pros:

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—First pro is that you have someone who actively wants to read your story. The way it works is that you pitch your idea to them. So, if they say yes, they know what kind of story they’re going to get. This is as close as I’ve come to the illusion that my book is published, and a person walks into a bookstore, reads the book jacket, and decides to buy the book based on the blurb. 

—Another benefit is that typically, if someone is on Goodreads and wants to beta read, then they like to read and they read a lot. So, even if they haven’t ever officially beta read a story, they usually know what makes a story good. 

Cons:

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—Flakes

For some reason, most people, myself included, have flaked on someone for absolutely no good reason other than inertia. And if this hasn’t happened to you, then I applaud your denial. 

You’re dealing with a stranger, and for some reason, strangers often prioritize what they want over what you want. I mean, just ask any stranger to help you move, and they’ll likely tell you no. And reading an entire novel and commenting on it takes longer than moving. Thankfully, though, with less back pain.

In general, I haven’t had this happen a lot on Goodreads, and I think people who ask to beta read a novel follow through for the most part. But there’s still been a couple, which is another good reason, if you go down this avenue, you want more people to beta read your novel. And If they do flake on you, don’t get angry and write a nasty email. Just chalk it up to the cost of business, which, in this case, is costless. 

—Copyright/Stealing. 

I don’t know if this is really an issue, but I put it on here because people might worry about it and not for nothing. Remember: The moment I’ve written my story, it’s copyrighted. And once I’ve sent my manuscript attached to an email out to a beta reader or even myself, I have proof, other than me just saying I wrote it. 

But I wouldn’t worry about it. And now that I’ve said that, I should probably worry about it. 

—Not helpful feedback.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve refused to ask friends or family whether they like my shirt or if they want to hear me sing Mettalica’s One on ukulele for fear they’ll once again go on a tirade about ukuleles or the color orange. 

Unhelpful feedback will happen at some point when you put your creative work out there. It goes with the territory. I mean, I get it, some people just aren’t into Metallica.  

And the person beta-reading your novel might not be into it either. So they go on a rant about your teen vampire novel because they hated their own teen years and the bitter memory of the entire school laughing b/c they showed up solo at the prom dressed like a little too glittery version of Robert Pattinson. It’s not helpful.   

To try to keep this from happening, it helps to provide specific questions you want your reader to address in their feedback. Keep them focused on what you need to hear. They don’t have to like my novel and can tell me that, as long as what they tell me is actionable to, say, the plot or character. Something I can think about using to make the story clearer or more compelling. 

I’ve never had anyone be abusive or cruel with their feedback. Everyone that has read my novel, even when the feedback was not so helpful, has been courteous and generous and kind. So far. But if they weren’t I’d just do the same thing I do when I get butt texts from my mother, respond with a thumbs-up emoji. 

In addition to Goodreads there are other online avenues to find readers:

—One is through social media or what I like to call: Teaser for the apocalypse. I’ve found a few beta readers from Twitter who were actively seeking to read, posting under #betareader. Unfortunately, my experience with this has been people who don’t follow through as often as I’d like. Also, unless their Twitter feed is all about books, I don’t know how much that person reads. Where, at least on Goodreads, I can look at their history. So this avenue is less reliable, but it helps to fish in more than one pond. 

—Paying for it: 

Like Donald Trump, I have also been known to pay for it. Fortunately, my ‘it’ doesn’t have me worrying about STDs afterward. For me, I have predominantly used Fiverr because I’m cheap, and they offer reviews so you can see if other writers thought it was worth it. And there are a lot of beta readers on Fiverr at many different price points and levels. It just depends on your budget. 

There are also professional editors who will beta read for you. Typically they have their own websites. I’ve never used one because they can be pricey, but I imagine that they do a fantastic job. You can also go to a lot of writing forums on Scribophile or Absolute Write and ask for recommendations from people who have used their services. 

—Contests

I’m sure there are a few novel contests out there that I don’t know about that can be helpful. The key here is if you’re going to submit to a contest, make sure they’re giving you feedback in return. 

If they’re not, then it’s not worth it for a first draft. One contest I have found to be helpful is “Critique my Novel.” The drawback with this method is that it’ll take them anywhere from 1-4 months to get back to you. And by that time, you’ve probably rewritten your sci-fi novel into a children’s cookbook. The pro to this contest is that you get at least three different people who will give you feedback. And the readers can still be helpful overall and give you an idea of how your novel ranks in a ‘story’ sense. 

The cons are that it costs money (but I think is totally worth it) and you might get very different numbers and comments. When I’ve submitted, I’ve gotten near-perfect scores to really poor scores, for the exact same novel. Again, this is why the more feedback you get, the more you can average the responses. 

If you want more resources for beta readers, allow me to direct you to Google: the panacea for both misinformation and facts. 

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Quick note:

Much like obtaining that last package of toilet paper at Costco during the Coronavirus, getting feedback can be both exciting and anxiety-ridden. Like trusting your precious child to a babysitter with a face tattoo and unidentifiable stains on his shirt, it’s unnerving, but just remember those stain might mean he doesn’t get squeamish when your kid spits up on him. 

And it’s important to be equanimous with the feedback they give you. 

Your readers will have opinions about the choices made in the novel, that will have nothing to do with objective criticism and everything to do with whether they like mothers who love their dogs more than their children. And that’s okay. Your job is to discern what is helpful and objective, what will make the story better, and separate it from what is more subjective and to remember their opinion is just that, a personal opinion. 

The more experienced readers will actually help you by pointing out their bias. Offering up a “this is just me” explanation for certain comments. The less experienced ones might confuse the two, and honestly, it can be painful to hear. It doesn’t mean the reader is right. 

Just remember that this is your book and your choices, and you don’t have to listen to anyone’s suggestions if you don’t agree with them.

Also, if you do get some harsh feedback and it angers you, then let me congratulate you on stepping a little closer to the joyful and corrosive carousel of being a writer. 

This is where you might hear cliche-driven advice like ‘get thicker skin’ and ‘suck it up, kiddo.’ And while cliches are often frowned upon when giving advice, they often hold a kernel of truth that gets stuck in your teeth and annoys the hell out of you. 

The good news is that the hurt you feel is necessary but temporary. You don’t have to take it personally. And you shouldn’t because even though you’ve poured your heart and soul into your story, even though you’ve neglected your children’s well-being, angered your spouse, and risked deep-vein thrombosis just to get words on the page, you have to remember the novel is not you. And maybe, just maybe, there’s some wisdom in that critique that inflicted so much pain. 

So, my suggestion is, when you do get some harsh feedback from a beta reader, get angry, get upset, let yourself go bitchcakes for a good ten minutes or so. Yell, scream, punch the air, do some Zumba, which, little known fact, was an ancient therapeutic dance villagers did to assuage their guilt after sacrificing a virgin. I let myself feel those emotions. Then, I put that reader’s comments away for a day or a few. That way, I avoid the embarrassing apology I’d have to make if I’d have rage-mailed them a response to their comments.  

Also, it allows me to come back to the criticism when I’m calmer and have had some cookies. When I do this, I find that I discover at least one thing that’s helpful in their critique. Sometimes, even more than one thing. 

Speaking of not being a complete jerk, here is some etiquette to consider when giving your book to a beta reader: 

Like having dinner with the Queen of England and allowing her to lick the bowl first, there’s an unofficial etiquette to follow that is both respectful and will help your beta reader enjoy reading your work. 

1. As I’ve mentioned and I’ll say it again: Make sure you’ve read your own novel before sending it out.

When you send out your novel, you want it to be in the best condition it can possibly be. You don’t want glaring mistakes or developmental holes that are easily fixed because your reader will end up focusing on the shallow while ignoring the deeper problems your novel might have. Think of it like a therapist trying to deal with your separation anxiety. Yes, you want to get things off your chest, but if you take off your shoes and start eating an onion and sardine sandwich, then he might have a hard time listening to your story of being left at summer camp for an extra week because your mom refused to pick you up until the Dog Expo in Secaucus, NJ was over. 

So you need to make sure that not only are your plot and characters as tight as they can be, but also that you’ve spelled check the document and that your grammar is at least as pristine as you can remember it from elementary school. Maybe put it through Grammarly first. But don’t give your beta readers an opportunity to be frustrated with the story because you’ve decided to put the commas in when you feel like it.  

2. Ask what format readers would like your novel in. 

Beta readers often are so kind they’ll read your novel in any form. Word doc. Pdf. Google Doc. Epub. Evernote. Twitter posts. They won’t even ask you to send it in a particular one. But if you get into the habit of asking them what form they would like it in, then you’re taking them into consideration. Sure, they might read it in any format, but maybe they prefer Word docs so they can take notes in the margins. You want to make it as easy for them as possible. 

3. Double-check your formats. 

There’s nothing worse than sending your book in the format that your reader wants, and the text looks like a Terms of Service agreement puked up a Rorschach picture of a bat humping your uncle. The margins are off, the paragraphs are indented in the middle of the page, and each chapter starts half-way down. Check it to make sure it looks like a book. 

Also, don’t forget page numbers. I know, it sounds obvious. But it’s one of those details that can get overlooked. And it didn’t help me when I was told my protagonist’s name changed on a few of my pages…somewhere in the middle. 

4. Ask your reader if they would like questions. 

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Some readers are comfortable giving feedback. Others are new to the game but eager, and they need more guidance. And others know AND want questions. I usually provide questions for my readers to answer if they want to. I don’t demand they answer them. I’m not a tyrant. I just request it. Usually, readers are pretty receptive to the questions. But also, don’t confine their responses to the questions only. Make sure to tell them that you invite any comments they might have, any notes they might take, any emojis they want to emoji in the margins. Even if those emojis are all red-faced frownie emojis over how the grammar is at a sixth-grade level.  

5. Thank them profusely. 

Readers are the unsung heroes of novelists, even among novelists who can sing in pitch. And some writers are lucky with very good readers they can rely on for every novel they write. And if you get a good one, you want to keep them around for your next novel. So make sure you’re appreciative, and if you do like them, ask if they’d be willing to beta read for you in the future. And if you’ve struck up a rapport, maybe even send them a thank you card or gift basket of N95 masks and toilet paper. They’ve put a lot of time into reading your novel, let alone writing a critique on it, and they need to know you appreciate it. 

Getting beta readers is not the fastest process. It takes time to get anyone to do anything for you, and that’s just the ones you know and love. But when you do, tell them how lovely they are and how much you appreciate it and if you can, give back. 

Clearly, I have so much more to learn about beta reading. What have you learned about beta reading and the process? I want to know. Feel free to email me or send me a soundbite through my website Cortwrites.com, that’s C-O-R-T writes.com, and maybe I’ll air it on the podcast. Also, if you have more to say about it, then perhaps I’ll interview you too. It’ll be great. Like you’re a best-selling author, and I’m a well-respected journalist. 

Also, please leave a review on iTunes because it lets other people know I’m here, and apparently if you do, the Mac store will renew my Apple care for life. 

And finally, an inspirational quote for you from Neil Gaiman, a man who keeps bees and thinks books have genders. 

“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”  

Thank you, Neil, that quote feels very non-binary to me. 

That’s it for this one. Good luck finding your beta readers. Remember to keep writing. Write like you’re saving a baby from a burning car. Because that baby is your novel. And that car is time.