What is beta reading?

In this blog, I explore what beta reading is, what it isn't, and how I go about doing it. Finally, I offer my thoughts on why others might enjoy doing it too.

Once my book had been published in 2023, I wanted to help others on their writing journey. Authors, readers and editors have varying views about what a beta reader is, and a lot of people seem confused about the difference between an alpha and beta reader. This is hardly surprising, given that there are many definitions of both. Some are adamant that beta readers are the test group who read a manuscript after editing and just before publication. Others say that beta readers are the first people to read a draft manuscript before it's been edited. And there are those who insist that the alpha reader is the one who sees your manuscript first; alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. The word 'alphabet' by the way, is a compound word consisting of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta.

Authors of new works are desperate for their draft manuscript to be read, and at the same time terrified at the prospect. Having been there myself recently, I can empathise completely with this; your manuscript is your baby that you have been nurturing for months, maybe years, and now you're handing it over, perhaps to a stranger. Can you trust that they will take care of it, be kind to it and give it back to you in a healthy state? That's ultimately what this exercise is all about: trust. The author has to trust me with their words.

I decided to test the waters, and find out organically what was being asked of me. I am on about a dozen author Facebook groups, and I started responding to people who were asking for beta readers. I was off! Once I'd completed a few manuscripts, and received positive feedback about how I had gone about responding to the authors, I felt confident enough to write a post advertising my services. I hate marketing myself, but it's the only realistic way to be found. I quickly started receiving requests and had to get myself more organised, calculating how long I thought each manuscript would take and offering the authors estimated time slots. It was once I had gone through the process a few times that I came to my own conclusions about what beta reading is for me, and what it isn't.

What beta reading isn't

There are many things that beta reading isn't, but here are the main things I'd like to highlight.

Firstly, It is not editing. It's not my place to advise an author about what there should to be more of or less of, or to tutor them on what is empirically good or not. It is my role to comment on what I enjoy and what I don't enjoy. That said, by making comments, I am of course implying that there are areas that may need some attention. But I do this by saying what I like, what I am not so keen on, and what I think could improve my reading enjoyment. You could compare that to developmental editing, but I am feeding back on my personal experience as a reader, not as a trained professional.

Beta reading it not proofreading. I am not reading a manuscript to correct grammatical errors, punctuation, typos or sentence structure. What I tend to do if an error occurs frequently and therefore trips me up, is comment on it in my feedback report, and add highlights in the body of the manuscript to draw this error to the author's attention.

Beta reading is not reviewing. I am not reading a manuscript to provide a pre-publication review. That is called ARC reading. I did do this briefly, but I felt uncomfortable writing a review about a book I didn't think was particularly great.

Lastly, it is not a job. Well, for me it isn't. I know some people charge for a beta reading service but I feel strongly that doing this on a voluntary basis as a reader gives me the freedom me to read for enjoyment, not because I have to read out of some obligation or because of a contract.

What I do

There are purists who believe that you have to be a "fan" of a genre to be able to beta read successfully. I think these views are relevant for books within certain specific genres that have particular memes and themes, such as high fantasy, with its many sub-genres. It just so happens that I avoid anything that requires knowledge of some code, motif or trope, as I find archetypes like this galling. So, high fantasy is a no-no. I'll also avoid horror and gratuitous violence, but I'll read pretty much anything else: fiction and non-fiction, summer holiday page-turners, and mystery. I'm well-read and I am in my sixties; I've been around long enough to have read hundreds of books in just about every genre...except high fantasy.

Once the author and I have made contact, I'll ask them a few basic questions, namely the length of the manuscript, the genre and their timeline. I often have a waiting list so it's worth establishing straight away if we are a good fit, and if our timelines are compatible. I have two references pinned on my Facebook page, and I encourage authors to have a look at these before we make any commitment. There are a lot of scammers out there, unfortunately. If all is good, then we'll agree to proceed. Only a couple of times have I had to withdraw my offer; on both occasions the authors were rude and demanding; I am just not going to work with people like that. I do this as a volunteer and as a favour, not to be treated badly.

When we are both ready, I ask for the manuscript to be emailed to me - Word, PDF, Google docs and anything else I can open on my laptop and comment on directly are all fine. I ask if the author has any specific questions they would like answering. Some authors have forms, some have a list of questions, some are just grateful for any feedback. When the manuscripts arrive in my inbox, they are at various stages of development. This doesn't matter to me at all; my aim is to support an author when they ask for it, not when some convention or some expert on a podcast says that they should send it. And I don't worry if they use the term beta reader or alpha reader - as long as I understand what they are asking of me, the label doesn't matter.

It's crucial to approach this task as a reader, not as a writer or editor. I am not commenting on what I would do differently, but on my experience as a reader. I am trying to help an author develop their own voice, their own story.

I take this role seriously; if I am reading a manuscript, I will give it my full attention. I read quickly after a lifetime of having to speed read professionally, and as an avid lifelong reader. I provide my feedback in two ways; I provide comments in the document using the 'add comment' option, and I write a brief report of my overall feedback.

My approach is to make comments as I read the manuscript. Some experts advise against doing this because it interrupts the flow of the reading experience, but this is not the case for me. I much prefer to make a brief comment in case I forget something. Once I have read the whole manuscript, I go back over it all again, skim-reading and looking at all of my comments to make sure I agree with what I've said, add anything I've missed, and make any necessary amendments.

I comment specifically on whatever hits me at the time.

Examples include:

1. I love this bit

2. I am confused

3. I found this bit a little less interesting

4. I want to know a bit more about this character

5. This bit seems a little rushed

With each comment comes an explanation of why I felt that.

As I go along, I also hand-write bullet point notes in a notebook about general things I am picking up. Once I have finished with the manuscript, I prepare a short report based on the comments and notes, which I return to the author with their annotated manuscript. In the report I include summaries on different aspects of the book in terms of my enjoyment, including:

1. Plot/storyline

2. Pace and flow of the story

3. Characters

4. If I feel it's necessary, I'll also add some brief headline comments about grammar, punctuation, typos etc.

I'm happy for authors to contact me to ask how I am getting on while I am reading, and sometimes I offer some feedback half way through, if I feel the person could do with some reassurance.

The manuscripts I have read so far have ranged from memoir to historical fiction, and from to cosy romance to a contemporary fiction that quite frankly defies being categorised into any genre. One author, an older gent, sends me his manuscript chapter by chapter as he writes it. He's never written anything before, and sending his chapters to me is giving him the confidence to continue to write. As far as I am concerned, that's nothing short of magical. If I had insisted that he send me the whole manuscript, he might never have written it. Another first time author sent me a polished, self-edited memoir, with a set of specific questions that she wanted answered. I could recognise a fellow project manager in her approach! And I've been sent a ready-to-publish manuscript by an experienced, published, agented author who asked me for sensitivity reading regarding LGBT+ themes and identity. I was daunted and flattered, but it turns out he was anxious too! He'd never written LGBT+ characters before and was worried in case he might have said anything that could be offensive. It's lovely to be able to help other authors like this.

Outcomes

Most authors are quite simply extremely thankful, and I've had some wonderful feedback about how useful my comments have been, making this a very rewarding thing to do. Only a couple have completely blanked me when I have taken the time to read and comment on their manuscript. Bit rude. But there you go, maybe they were having a tough time. A few people send me revised sections of their manuscript based on my initial feedback. One or two people have kindly bought my book and read it, and even reviewed it while I was reading their manuscript. This has been a fantastic and unexpected outcome. Collaboration like this, where authors mutually support one another, is so helpful as we all struggle to be seen.

One has become a friend. I read her manuscript and loved it. She read my book and loved it. We live on opposite sides of the globe and this beta reading lark has brought us together.

I would highly recommend becoming a beta reader; you just never know where it will take you. If you enjoy helping others, if you can express yourself well, if you can build trust, and if you are an avid reader, then this might be a great role for you.