Beta Readers, Part One: Selecting a Beta Reader

A friend of mine recently finished the first draft of her first novel, and emailed it to me to go through for her.

I have to be honest: I enjoy reading other people's drafts.  Not only do I like to read pieces by people I care about, but as a writer, I appreciate the heart that goes into creating a piece, and I always feel honored to be part of that intimate process.

Most of my experience as a reader for people has been in a quite informal process.  I've never really been a beta reader.  But by reading even an early draft of a piece of writing for someone, I serve a similar purpose as a beta reader.

For those who don't know, a beta reader is someone a writer trusts to read a piece and give honest feedback from a reader's point of view.  What works?  What needs work?  Are there glaring plotholes?  Superfluous scene?  A beta reader goes through the piece as he or she would something that's been already published, and give it the same critique as something already published, without sugar-coating comments because the reader knows the writer.

Beta readers can be a valuable resource for writers.  It provides them the opportunity to get honest feedback on a piece of writing before exposing it to the world by sending it to an agent or magazine or wherever it's going to be sent when finished.  However, this doesn't mean you should necessarily send your piece to every friend on your email list to read, or give it to your neighbor who's shown a passing interest in your writing, or your significant other because they'll be honest, right?

Beta readers should be selected carefully.  Yes, often great beta readers are people you know well (and trust greatly), but you may find equally great beta readers through an online writer's community or in your writer's group.  Or your book club.  (You don't have to necessarily limit yourself to fellow writers as beta readers.)  There are a few things you should keep in mind as you consider someont as a beta reader.

You should know your beta reader is going to be honest.  This means that if something in your piece doesn't work, your beta reader should be able to tell you (tactfully, of course) that it doesn't work.  You don't want someone to give you glowing praise and say, "ZOMG, I luved yr book!!!!111!!  It wuz awesome!!!1!!!!1"  You need someone who is going to help make your piece better, and the way to do that is through an honest reading of your work.

Your beta reader should be reliable.  If you give someone a piece to read, you should know you're going to get it back in a timely manner.  Before you select someone as a beta reader, make sure they have the time to work with your piece.  It can be frustrating to send something to a reader only to find out they're not going to be able to get to it in time for you to get it back when you need it.

Your beta reader should know something about your genre...or not.  Some writers want beta readers that know enough about the genre of the piece to be able to contribute more to the piece.  For example, a writer of historical fiction may want a beta reader who can sort of double-check for historical accuracy.  Then again, another historical fiction writer may want a reader who doesn't know historical fiction to get a feel for how the piece reads to an "average" person.

Your beta reader should be warned about anything that may be...jarring.  This is particularly true if your piece has violence or language or anything along those lines that may be offensive to someone.  If this is your style, you may not want a beta reader who's easily ruffled.

Your beta reader should be someone who can give criticism tactfully.  This is a very important one to me.  Yes, I want honesty, and yes, I want to be told what needs to be worked on in my next revision, but I don't want a beta reader to go all Kathy Bates on me because of a plothole or something that steps beyond the willing suspension of disbelief into the realm of the absurd.

Your beta reader should be fully aware of your expectations before even receiving the manuscript.  Do you want your reader to just go over the piece and look for glaring errors?  Do you want your reader to dissect every sentence and scrub the piece of hanging participles and superfluous commas?  Something between the two?  Make sure your beta reader knows exactly what you want ahead of time so there isn't any disappointment or frustration at what arises from the reading.  It helps to get this in writing, especially with a new reader.

Whoever you choose to be a beta reader, make sure that reader is someone you can trust with your writing.  Writers put so much of themselves into any given piece, and you want to make sure that you can be that intimate with the person who will be receiving your piece.  Choose wisely, and when you find a beta reader, let him or her read your pieces with the knowledge they're being read by someone who wants them to be everything you want them to be.