Discussion: The Beta Reader Process
19:00
“This is not Monday,” I hear you say. Very true. But most
people in my house have been sick, and everything’s all topsy turvey over here
at the moment as we nurse the sick ones, so Monday became Tuesday and you’re getting
a post today instead of yesterday. Many apologies. But it does mean that it’s
time to talk about a subject that I’m always interested in. Namely, the beta
reader process. Now, never having reached a stage where I’ve been able to give
my book to beta readers (hopefully changing that this year though!) I don’t
have a process yet, so I’m doubly interested in seeing how other people go
about this.
So tell me, how do you go about the beta reader process? Do
you like to send your book out chapter by chapter or all at once? How many beta
readers do you like to have at once? Do you send out a general call for
readers, or do you select them carefully? At what point do you actually decide
it’s ready for betas? Any advice for people who haven’t yet had betas for their
book?
10 comments
I've had a few beta readers in the past. I usually chose among those who wrote in similar genre to mine or those whose opinion I trusted. I even had a yahoo group at one point where I posted my chapters as I went along and my beta readers sent me back their comments, suggestions, etc.. It was very convenient.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually send out a call for betas because I know very few people around and I also know that no one will answer it anyway. I actually tried that once with a book I was going to rework and I wanted to have as many opinions as possible before starting. Quite a lot of people agreed to look it over and give me some feedback. I sent out my book to them with a questionnaire attached to it and, you know, I haven't heard from most of them!
I have a critique partner now. We meet every week. I find sharing a chapter at a time or a part of a chapter works the best for me. I see what works from her reaction. I see what doesn't. I can make changes as I go along and while reading my stuff out loud I also get to spot mistakes, inconsistencies and things that need changing. I tried finding CPs online but somehow I never managed to retain them; sooner or later they just disappear with my books...
That sounds like a really interesting way to do betas. Do you have specific people you ask to beta all your books, or do you change them up every time? I can definitely see that would be a bit of a risk when doing a general call for betas. Seeing as that's been a bit of a dodgy method of finding betas in the past, how do you do it now? How do you go about approaching people and asking them to beta?
DeleteI've done some beta-ing and CPing in the past. For me, what's worked best is maybe doing a trial period with one chapter to make sure you work well together, and then just lumping the whole WIP out there so that the two of you can work on your feedback when you're ready with a due date. I think it helps because they are more flexible, and... yeah...
ReplyDeleteUsually, I don't think I would send my work out for beta readers until my CPs gave me the confidence that the book was mostly in order and it would be more helpful to just have readers rather than people to help me really change the work. Pretty much. Yeah. *nods*
That's a good thought, trialing betas beforehand to see how you work together. It would be difficult to work with a person who doesn't get the project, or doesn't work with a style that's helpful to you. That's one of the benefits I've always liked about giving people the whole WIP. People an work at their own pace for one deadline, instead of trying to keep up with chapter installments. From the beta-ing I've done, I definitely prefer to have the whole book and get it all over and done with in one.
DeleteYour method of going through CPs and then beta readers is interesting. How many CPs do you have? And how you let them read your book? Do you give it to them in one, or do they get to read it in bits and pieces?
My methods change EVERY time. XD Sometimes I select a few people? Other times I only ask one person to read it...and just recently I went with the wattpad route to see how that'd work out. (Terrifying, but very helpful, heeh. ;D) So I don't have like a #1 method yet? I'm highly in favour of trying everything and seeing how it works best for you!
ReplyDeleteMaybe different things work for different projects? I admire you for having the courage to put a book up on Wattpad for feedback and beta-ing. I'd love to know how that's working out for you as a method. How would you compare it to other methods you've tried?
DeleteFirst... how cool is your blog name!!! :)
ReplyDeleteBeta readers... o...m...g.. I get palpitations and cold sweats just to think about anyone reading my WIP!!! I wonder if I'd ever be ready for Beta readers! this is how I went about answering your questions first time around... hummm... oh oh... oh no... LOL then I rolled my eyes at myself and told myself "woman up!" and give an intelligent answer!
so ok... I think this is how I'll do it: Because I'm such a chicken, I'd send my work to one of those places were you actually pay for the first 10 or 50 or whatever pages critique. A profesisonal that is a total stranger first! Then I may ask with some close blogger friends that have offered to help. Then Maybe... only maybe lol (what a coward!)
I'd ask other bloggers that I know like that kind of work.
I'm looking forward to learning more about how it went for you! :)
I'm so glad you like my blog title. Dragons make everything better!
DeleteIt is rather a terrifying thought, isn't it? I always find another excuse as to why I can't give my books to beta readers yet because I'm so scared of handing it out for critiques and feedback. What if people don't like it? *shudder*
It's interesting how giving your writing to a total stranger is easier than letting close friends read it, even though, in reality, they're probably going to be harder on you than your friends are. I suppose it's because the opinion doesn't feel so personal.
I'll definitely have to write a post on my own beta experiences when I actually get around to having some! Which means I actually have to woman up and actually give a book to betas... *gulp*
Thanks so much for taking the time to join the discussion Daniela!
Sorry I'm late to the party! *grabs cake*
ReplyDeleteSo, I've only used the beta reader process for two novels, which means I don't necessarily have a tried and true system yet. But what I've done is this: I revise the whole book and send the entire second draft to one or two beta readers plus my critique partner. Then, I revise a whole ton more and send the entire book out to about six beta readers, five new ones, and one who read the story in its second draft form. Then I revise a ton more and send it out to maybe three beta readers at the most and then polish it up. (I'm currently on the polishing it up step right now, so that's exciting.) So yeah, that's my process. I could probably use more beta readers, but it also gets a little confusing and frustrating to deal with a lot of feedback, so I prefer to choose people who know books and who know editing, so I can at least have confidence in the feedback I do receive. For my first book I picked my cousin because he's really choosy about what he reads, and I wanted to see if he would like my book. :) And also, my admissions counselor for university read my manuscript as well (it wasn't part of my admissions procedure, he was just curious about it), so I got some nice feedback from him. I didn't really count him as a beta reader though.
So yeah, I rambled a bunch there. That's basically my process. :)
Oh, I love this process. It's so thorough. Does your critique partner get to see all the drafts, or just the second one? And how do you go about finding betas? Open call? Personal invitation? Something else? (Also, how do you find the courage to show a second draft to betas? Because that's one secret I wouldn't mind learning). Also, how cool that your admissions councilor wanted to see your book!
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