What is a beta reader and why you need one?

​A beta reader is an avid reader of your book’s genre. A beta reader is familiar with the rules and tropes of a particular genre and can provide honest and constructive feedback from the perspective of the intended reader about the big-picture storytelling elements of a story, such as theme, plot and structure, character development, setting, pacing, point of view, genre conventions, and dialogue.

Beta readers are the first people to read a completed manuscript and provide constructive feedback. Writers should seek beta readers after self-editing their manuscript but before giving it to professional developmental editors.

​
How many beta readers?
Beta readers vs critique partners
Beta readers vs editors
Why do you need beta readers
Where can you find reliable beta readers
What kind of feedback to expect from a beta reader?

How many beta readers?
An ideal number of reliable and objective beta readers for your manuscript is 3-5. This number provides a balance of feedback without overwhelming you with too many opinions. Too many beta readers can lead to conflicting feedback and make it difficult for you to decide what feedback to implement in your manuscript. You should limit your input to a few trusted beta readers. 

Beta readers vs critique partners
A beta reader is not a critique partner. A critique partner is another writer with whom you exchange your manuscripts and provide feedback about the big-picture storytelling elements of your stories. You don’t exchange manuscripts with beta readers.

Beta readers vs editors
Beta readers are not editors. Beta readers do not edit manuscripts. They don’t explain why anything is going wrong or give potential solutions. They don’t edit the big-picture elements or sentence-level errors of a story. 

Beta readers provide their opinion as readers. Writers who seek to understand how readers will experience their manuscript often seek out beta readers. 

Why do you need beta readers
 You are on a limited budget
The beta reading service is a cheaper alternative to developmental editing. However, beta readers do not replace developmental editors. Beta readers can provide constructive, surface-level feedback about the big-picture elements of your manuscript so that the developmental editor can focus on the more in-depth issues of your story.

The actual cost of beta readers depends on your manuscript’s word count and genre, your desired turnaround time, and the scope of work.

You are a new writer, and you need to learn more about the writing craft
Beta readers will provide you with an overview of the big-picture storytelling issues of your story and help you improve your manuscript without overwhelming you with detailed page edits.

You have no idea how to further improve your manuscript
You are struck. You have edited your story multiple times to the best of your abilities, and you don’t know how to further improve it. If you have finished self-editing your story, then the next step is to find a reliable beta reader who helps you identify and improve the big-picture issues of your manuscript.

Where can you find reliable beta readers
Firstly, you can find reliable beta readers by looking at the people around you. You can ask friends and family to read your story and provide feedback.

However, be aware that friends and family might be biased and they are not usually trained (if they are not writers or editors), so they might not provide you with constructive and objective feedback.

You can also look at free online writing communities. If you are already a member of a writing community, you can ask your writer friends to read your manuscript and provide you with constructive feedback.

There are a lot of free online writing communities where writers can exchange stories, make other writer friends and get advice about writing, editing and publishing their stories, such as the Critique circle, She writes and Writer’s cafe.

You can also find writers’ groups on social media. There are a lot of writer groups on Facebook and Substack that are dedicated to helping writers and providing them with writing, editing and publishing advice. You can ask other writers there to beta-read your story.

You can also check the EFA (Editorial Freelancers’ Association) to find professional and reliable beta readers. You can take a look at the member directory or post a job at the EFA to find reliable beta readers. 

Make sure to include the kind of service you need, the genre, the word count of your story, your estimated budget and your desired deadline when you post a job.

Finally, you can search online at the websites of different beta readers to see what kind of beta reader services they offer.

Every beta reader defines their service differently, so make sure to check what the beta reading service entails, the process, the cost, and the deadline to find the right beta reader for you and your manuscript.

What kind of feedback to expect from a beta reader?
Beta readers provide feedback about the big-picture elements of their story. You shouldn’t expect feedback about sentence-level errors, such as word choice, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, unless there was a prior agreement with the beta reader to correct those mistakes. Feedback can be provided through a reader’s report, margin comments in the manuscript document or both.

You can provide a questionnaire with specific questions to send to all your beta readers so that you can see how different beta readers respond to the same questions.

The questionnaire should include questions about the big-picture elements of a story, such as plot and structure, character development, point of view, pacing, genre conventions, setting, theme and dialogue. 

Beta readers might also have their own questionnaire and provide constructive feedback based on the questions of the questionnaire.

For example, I have a beta reader questionnaire that is divided into 6 categories (plot and structure, character development, point of view, pacing, genre conventions and overall impression).

​Each category includes 3-4 questions. You can see my beta reader questionnaire to get an idea of what kind of questions to ask your beta readers.

Additional resources
What is the beta reading service?
Example of a beta reader questionnaire
What is the developmental editing service?
What is the manuscript critique service?
How to find the right editor for your book?

---

About the author

​​Maria Georgiou is a professional developmental editor and beta reader for romance authors. She specialises in editing contemporary romance, YA romance, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, paranormal romance and romantasy. She is a member of the EFA and ClubEdFreelancers. 
Learn more about the author: About me
Get in touch: Facebook, LinkedIn, Bluesky
Learn about fiction editing: Resources Library and Blog
Get a quote for your writing project: Get in touch with me form