The Importance of Beta Readers

 

As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely love beta reading. I am a firm believer in having other eyes look over your work before you send it off into the world. In most cases, friends and family do not make the best beta readers. They can be too biased, acting more as cheerleaders, which is great for boosting your moral, but not so great for making your work better. Amazingly, there are people in this world who love to read AND give helpful feedback—for free! If you have found such a person, especially one who reads in your genre, you have gained a wonderful asset. Find several such persons, and you’ve got a team of awesomeness!

Is Beta Reading the same as a Critique?

 

No. Beta Reading is done BEFORE your work is published. Beta readers look over your plot, looking for holes or any confusing parts, character development, scenes that drag or go too quickly (pacing), and give you their overall feelings and impressions as they read. They don’t check grammar or spelling, usually. They look at the Big Picture. A critique is done AFTER the work is published.

My Own Beta Reading Experiences

 

I belong to a couple of Beta Reading Groups on Goodreads and have learned so much by lurking, as well as participating in the different discussions. It really is a great place for Indie authors.

 

After beta reading the works of several authors, I got a feel for the whole process, not to mention getting a true sense of how valuable unbiased feedback can be. Authors appreciate honesty and constructive observations. By helping other writers, I learned a lot about my own writing, too—what I do well and what I can improve on.

 

I finally mustered the courage to have Betas read MY work. The experience has been fantastic! Their feedback and suggestions have made my manuscript better. So much better.

 

My advice? Beta read for other writers. Even if you aren’t ready to have ‘strangers’ look over your work (believe me, I know how scary that can be), you will be amazed at how much you learn about yourself by helping others.

 

You can go to my Goodreads page and see what groups I belong to. Lurk away!

 

Have you been a Beta? I’d love to hear about your experiences! You can contact me HERE ♥