Tag Archives: beta reading

Alpha reader or beta reader?

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Most writers these days are familiar with the concept of a beta reader – someone who reads your work and gives you feedback on it. But what is an alpha reader, and what’s the difference?

An Alpha Reader

An alpha reader is usually a fellow writer, who might be reading the story as you write it, giving technical feedback and helping you to shape the story. They should be familiar with how to structure a story, technical issues such as passive voice, foreshadowing, character development, point of view, etc.

 

An alpha reader is reading a story that could be very raw indeed, maybe even first draft, and needs to be able to look past the rawness to the heart of the story, and give feedback accordingly.

 

An alpha reader is the free equivalent of a developmental edit or full critique. It could be a way to help reduce the cost of developmental editing, but be very careful that your alpha reader is experienced enough to be of real help.

A Beta Reader

A beta reader is a reader. They should not be giving technical feedback, but should be explaining how they relate to the story – where do they get bored? Which bits were most exciting? Which characters do they love/hate? Can they understand the story? Do they get lost anywhere?

 

A beta reader should be reading a story that’s as polished as you can make it. They should be the last step before you pass the work to a professional editor. They might catch typos and other errors, but that is not their job and you should not consider them to be your proofreaders or editors. Instead, they give a reader’s eye view of the story, picking up weaknesses and strong points.

 

Neither type of reader will fully replace a professional editor, and you should still consider paid editing and then proofreading as your final quality control. But these two stages will help to ensure that the product you pass to the editor is as good as you can make it.

 

 

 

I’ve finished my novel

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I’ve finished my novel! I have a complete, readable story. So now I knock together a cover, upload the cover and Word file to Amazon and hit publish, right?

 

Wrong.

 

Now the real work begins.

 

It’s really important to understand that there’s a continuum in writing. There isn’t any bad/good writing divide. There’s a whole range of qualities between barely readable and compelling writing. Just because you’ve completed a draft, and maybe a friend has enjoyed it, doesn’t mean it’s ready to publish. It means you have something you can work on and develop.

 

In this age where we can literally type “The End” on a draft and then have it for sale within minutes, some people are tempted to do just that. The result is often a barely readable mess, with spelling, punctuation and grammar issues, random tense changes and very odd, distracting formatting and a cover that screams Self Published!

 

If you just want people to read your work, then there are platforms where you can upload it and have a ready-made audience. In fanfiction particularly, writers can upload stories and be inundated with praise. That’s often not because of the writing, but because of the ideas they express about the characters people have already bonded with.

 

If you want people to pay for your work and feel so happy they’ve done so that they’ll tell others, then you need to put in a lot more investment – in terms of time, effort and usually cold, hard cash.

 

I can’t afford it, you might say. That’s where the traditional publishing market comes in. Find yourself a publisher, often via an agent, and they will invest in the writing for you, as long as they feel it’s good enough. Of course, they’ll take their share of the profit for doing so.

 

Failing that, you need to be prepared to put in the effort yourself. This means revising until you can’t see any way to improve it, asking beta readers to help, working on it some more, and then when you’ve taken it as far as you can, you enlist the professionals – the editors, the formatters, the proofreaders, the cover designers.

 

After all, the traditionally published writers expect to be put through such quality control, and they will be your rivals for sales. And you have not only your own reputation as a writer to protect, but the reputation of indie authors as a whole.

 

So now I have a full draft of my novel, I’ll be going back through to beef it up, and then seeking help, and I’ll be saving up for an editor, because even though I’ve studied writing and editing intensively, I know that I’m too close to it to edit my own work. And I’ll be making sure that what I do eventually publish will be the best I can make it, because I want my readers to want more, not to feel they’ve wasted their time and money on an inferior product.

 

 

 

 

Sending your manuscript to a beta reader

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When sending your manuscript to a publisher or agent, it’s vital that you follow their instructions exactly. Whatever font they recommend, whatever layout they recommend – if you don’t follow their guidelines, then at best you’ll irritate them and at worst your manuscript will be deleted unread.

 

However, when sending out to a beta reader, it’s nowhere near as straightforward. In one sense, it doesn’t matter at all, but I’ve looked at a lot of manuscripts in the past month as I offered free readings of the first 5k words, as an experiment, and I started to notice a few issues.

 

  • Your font should be easy to read and in a reasonable size. I see no reason to use anything more fancy than 12pt Times New Roman. Some are submitted in Courier New, but that tends to give the manuscript a “typewritten” feel, and can be hard on the eye.
  • I recommend including a cover page, containing the title, author and basic contact details. This is useful in case the original email disappears, and as a reminder of the information – it’s very frustrating to not have the book’s title displayed anywhere!
  • It would also be useful to include basic information at the start of your book, such as the blurb and a little about your writing background and your intentions for the book. Be wary of including a full synopsis here though – a reader will generally not want spoilers before reading.
  • Save the file with a clear filename – preferably your book title, with or without extra information. A file entitled “ABBC” really isn’t useful! You might be familiar with it as a nickname for your book, but your reader isn’t.
  • Make good use of the header/footer facility. A page number on the page itself will ensure that you and the reader are both considering the same text on the same page. Having the author/title repeated at the top of the page can be useful.
  • Label your chapter changes clearly. A reader will often read in chapters, and it’s irritating to discover that there are no chapters, or only vague line spaces for breaks. Yes, some writers do write without chapters, but it’s not recommended unless you’re really sure what you’re doing. It’s easier to consider issues such as plot when you can break it down chapter by chapter.
  • Start each chapter on a new page. Page count is not an issue with electronic versions, and the visual white space helps to make the jump from chapter to chapter. It will also help you think clearly about your chapter breaks.
  • Make sure that at the very least you have run spell-check before submitting to a reader. While they do not expect a clean, proofread version, it’s incredibly irritating to discover error after error that could have been easily discovered and fixed with a quick read-through.

 

 

 

How can I tell the writer…

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If you’re a beta reader, one issue that you will come across sooner or later is a project that you just can’t get on with. So how do you break the news to the writer?

 

First, you need to decide whether the problem is yours or theirs. Could it be that you just don’t like the theme of the writing, or that something about it is hitting a sensitive spot? If so, then you could mention that and then either decline and return the project, or be as objective as you can despite your misgivings. It’s possible to write about the way a story is presented while at the same time cringing internally at the storyline.

 

If the problem is that you feel the writing is weak, or the storyline is too implausible, or something else related to the writing itself, then it’s important that you think carefully about the issues you find. Feedback in this case is even more important than if you enjoy every aspect of the story, but it needs to be specific. “I hated this story” is unhelpful. “I found this story totally implausible” helps a little. “I found it very unlikely that he would want to kiss her two minutes after finding her standing over his beloved mother’s body with a gun in her hand” is something that can be dealt with much more effectively. If you really have to return a piece of work unread, or only partly read, explain as sensitively as you can why you had such a problem with it. This might be as simple as “I’m sorry, but the number of spelling and grammar errors in this text make it very hard to read, as I’m having to constantly stop and work out what you’re trying to say. I suggest that you at least run spell check before submitting a piece of work to a reader.”

 

It’s natural to worry when you feel you have lots of negative feedback for a writer. Try to praise the aspects of the writing that you find do work – even if you have to look really hard. They’ve put a lot of work into the writing, and it’s disheartening to be given just a list of errors. Remember the phrase “even better if…”. Try to raise questions rather than making criticisms. “Did you mean…”, “I’m not quite sure what you mean when…”, “Have you considered…” Explain the effect their writing has: “The way you jump from one person’s thoughts to the next means there’s no chance for tension to build up, because I know what they’re both feeling all the time. Have you thought about sticking to her point of view for the scene, so that we only know his reaction and not the reason for it?”

 

Remember that you’re not their cheerleader. Too much focus on the positive and too little on the negative could give them a mistaken idea of their own capabilities and will not help them develop their writing. Any writer who publishes work will be in for criticism via reviews, and some of it will probably be harsh. You can help to prepare their work by raising the issues that you see. After all, they’ve asked for feedback on their work, and that means they should be expecting to receive information to help them.

 

Adapt your feedback to the writer’s background and experience. If you’re reading for someone who’s already published several pieces of work, then they should be used to receiving feedback, and should readily understand terms such as foreshadowing, POV, third person. If they’re showing their writing to someone for the first time, then you need to recognise that and encourage them forward. This might involve explaining the terms you use, recommending they find a writing group, or pointing them towards resources, but shouldn’t be praising them to the point where they feel they’re ready to hit the publish button right now.

 

Above all, don’t worry too much: some writers do find it very difficult to take any sort of criticism. That doesn’t mean that you should become upset over their response. As long as you’ve been careful and sensitive over your feedback, then their reaction is not your problem. Just mark it down to experience, consider briefly if you could have handled it any differently, and move on. There are plenty of writers out there who would value your feedback.

 

My beta reader has gone silent!

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One issue that crops up a lot with beta reading is the silence that can ensue once a manuscript has been sent out. When you’re sitting waiting for that message that tells you what they think, and nothing happens, what is the problem and what can be done?

 

There can be many reasons why you don’t hear back from them, and it’s not always because they hate your writing: it might be that their personal life has just hit problems, and they just don’t have time or energy to deal with your book. It might be that they’ve been inundated with books to beta read and they don’t have the time for them all. Or maybe they’ve realised that whatever the quality of your writing, the story itself just isn’t for them. They should be letting you know, if any of that is the case, but sometimes people panic, feel guilty, or just don’t find the time and motivation to let you know.

 

Or maybe they are one of those who are just seeking free books to read, and can’t be bothered to reply. It’s true, that can happen.

 

So what can be done to avoid or mitigate these problems?

 

First of all, try to agree with your reader a timescale. When do they expect to have finished? Some readers offer turnaround within a day, while others prefer closer to a month. Time itself isn’t the issue; what is important is to agree. If you need a fast turnaround, find a reader who offers that. If you are more relaxed (after all, how long did it take you to write the novel?), then that will give you more scope.

 

Some readers are happy to give progress reports, while others prefer to read the whole thing before giving any kind of feedback. It’s unfair to your reader to expect constant feedback, unless that’s what you’ve agreed in advance. It’s also unfair to constantly nag them about how they’re doing. They have better things to do than to reply to regular messages asking them how they’re getting on.

 

However, it’s perfectly acceptable to send a message if it’s after the deadline and you’ve heard nothing. This should be a polite “I wondered how you were getting on” message, not an “I assume as I haven’t heard that you hate my book” sort of message! If you still don’t hear anything after a couple of nudges (leaving reasonable time to respond, of course), then put it down to experience and move on.

 

Remember also that messages can and do go missing, on both sides. I’ve sent off reports and heard nothing back, and then had a query a week or so later, asking how I’m getting on. Eventually the message was tracked down: it had just been overlooked. I’ve also had clients send chase-up messages, only to find that their original message had ended up in my spam folder and so the file was never received. It’s for this reason that I will always acknowledge safe receipt of a file within 24 hours.

 

Finding a reliable team of beta readers can be tough, and this is why there’s a growing market for paid beta reads: if a reader is receiving payment for their report, that gives them incentive to read and give thorough feedback. However, be cautious with paid beta reads, and make sure your reader has a good reputation.

 

Finally, if you find a good beta reader, or even better, a few beta readers, treat them carefully and look after them – they are a valuable resource! Always respond to their reports, even if it’s just “Thank you for your time and your feedback. Is it okay to contact you again if I have any questions once I’ve read the report properly?” You don’t have to give them a blow-by-blow account of what you think of each comment, but acknowledgement is vital. And respond quickly, even if your time is tight and you don’t have time to consider the feedback immediately. Just as you’ve been impatiently waiting to know what they think of your work, so they are waiting to know their report has been received safely and appreciated.

 

 

Your first chapter

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Within the first few pages of a book, a reader decides whether to continue or to give up. Writers focus a lot of attention on those first few pages, and with good reason. But what should you be looking for?

 

Don’t get stuck on your first chapter. Write something, anything, and then keep going on the rest of your novel. But when it’s time to edit your work, pay close attention to that first chapter, and how you use it to set up the rest of your book.

 

One issue that I often discover when I beta read is that at first I struggle to find my way in the book world. Is this a fantasy world? Is it our world? Are we talking current day, past or future? Who are these people? What’s the relationship between them? Who should I be focusing on?

 

These days, we tend to prefer books that go straight into some sort of action, but is that action detailed enough for readers to pick up what they need? You don’t have to explain everything at once, but make sure there’s enough detail to be able to follow.

 

Book two (or three or four) of a series provides a special problem. It’s so tempting to follow straight on from the previous book, but you know these characters and situations far better than the reader, who might have a large time gap between books. Are they going to remember that character? Are they going to remember the setting? Do they understand the significance of that event? What about the reader who glances at book two without realising it’s a sequel? Will they be interested enough to find the backstory, or will they be completely lost?

 

All this is why putting a manuscript to one side for a while and then reading with fresh eyes is a very good idea. Then make sure you read what’s actually written, and you don’t fill in the blanks with your memory. Is it clear who that person is? Have you indicated the time, the setting, the main drive of the story? Is the genre clear (or at least hinted at) from the start?

 

Sometimes, all it takes is a few extra words, or an extra scene, to make the difference between an opening chapter that leaves the reader floundering and one that pulls them onwards, already deeply engrossed in your story.

 

I’ve completed nanowrimo – what’s next?

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That’s the question that many people are asking themselves at the moment, or will do over the next week or so. If you’ve been keeping up with the wordcount, churning out your story and ploughing on to the end, you should have 50k or more words of a first draft and might be considering the next step.

What not to do

Please don’t rush to publish your story as soon as possible. Your story deserves more than that. It deserves a careful re-reading, consideration and editing before it is cast out into the world. The industry gets flooded with nanowrimo stories at this time of year, as new writers, overcome by the excitement of having written a novel, send it out too soon. Readers can be easily put off by a badly presented story, and you risk damaging your reputation as a writer and the reputation of indie writers generally.

 

For the same reason, please don’t rush it out to an editor or agent. An editor is likely to cost a lot of money if called in at this early stage, and an agent is likely to have many such manuscripts sent to them.

 

On the other hand, if you just want to share your work with family and friends, why not find a company who will print a few copies for you?

What you should be doing

Set the manuscript aside for a month or so. Then you should be able to read it through with a more objective eye. You might be pleasantly surprised or you might be shocked. Either way, make notes as you read, and then go through and fix the issues you spotted.

 

  • Take a look at your characterisation – do your characters grow and develop? Do they behave consistently? Are they interesting?
  • Take a look at your show/tell balance – one thing that might help here is to use highlighters. Highlight dialogue in one colour, and telling passages in another. This will give you an overall view of your balance.
  • Take a look at your use of settings. Do you know where the scenes are set? How do the characters and the plot interact with the setting?
  • Take a look at the structure. Is there a clear progression in the story? Is it logical?

Once you’ve considered all these, and revised your story as much as you can accordingly, then you need to seek out a beta reader or two. This should be someone who reads the sort of story you’ve written and is willing to comment honestly on it. If you don’t know anyone suitable, then try looking online, in places such as goodreads.com groups, or search for beta reading services. You might be asked for a small fee, or you might be lucky and find a good reader who will read for free, or will agree to exchange services. Don’t spend too much at this stage!

 

Another useful resource is scribophile.com, where you critique work to earn points that you spend to post your own work for critiques from other writers.

 

After you have heard back from the beta reader(s), it’s time to work through some more, with their comments in mind. You don’t have to implement everything they say, but they should raise some points that will help you develop the story.

 

Once you’ve reached the point where you can do no more yourself, then it’s time to consider whether your work is ready for editing, proofreading and publishing, or whether it’s better to set your manuscript aside, start on the next and return to this one when your writing has improved still further.

 

 

Help! My beta readers disagree

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I often see complaints from authors that their beta readers are giving them conflicting feedback. “One wants more detail, another wants more action.” “One says this character is too bad, another says he’s too boring.”

 

So is it better to use just one beta reader? Or is there a way to reconcile different comments?

 

Using one beta reader means that you get one person’s opinion. This is useful, but limited. If the person likes thrillers more, then maybe they’re pushing for more action. Or maybe they prefer strong characters, or they’re focused on settings.

 

Using several beta readers will mean a wider variety of issues might be picked up, but it can also mean conflicting comments. Here it’s important to remember the golden rule: if they say something is wrong, then they’re probably right. If they tell you how to fix it, they’re probably wrong.

 

So in both the examples given above, the same issue is raised: in one case it’s the action/detail balance, and in the other it’s the characterisation. Maybe both sets of comments are right, because the passage gives off mixed messages. The fact they’ve selected this passage as not working right should be your cue to look closely at it, but you don’t have to agonise over their suggestions. Maybe the solution is something completely different.

 

What should the passage be achieving? Do you want the reader to feel the action? Then make sure your details are adding to the passage and not slowing it down. Do you want your reader to slow down and take a good look round? Then write the passage more clearly to show that.

 

Every reader will bring something slightly different to your book, and will take something slightly different away. It’s your job as author to ensure that they receive the message you’re trying to give. Not everyone will get it completely, but awareness of the ways in which the message is missed will help you refine your writing.

 

The most important thing to do is to listen to your beta readers and think carefully about their comments. Then remember that it’s your novel and you have final editorial control. So thank your readers for their comments and input, and then edit your novel as you feel best.

 

Writing books – The Story Grid

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2015-09-23 10.37.53The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne is subtitled What Good Editors Know. This is another book that looks in detail at story structure, but from a different angle than the Blueprint your Bestseller that I looked at previously.

 

Coyne looks at two ways of analysing a book: the Foolscap Global Story Grid breaks a book down into its essential components, as a check that the basic structure is sound and clear, while the Story Grid Spreadsheet looks at each scene in more detail, recording the change in mood, turning point, length of scene, POV and other aspects. Both these sections take Silence of the Lambs as a reference point, analysing it in depth and applying the methods to the text.  I found this a little irritating, as it has been many years since I read the book and I’m not sure I ever saw the movie, so my lack of familiarity with the sample text made these parts a little harder to follow.

 

However, what I did find very useful with this book is the in-depth look at genre, both in the sense of genre fiction and in the sense that every book falls into a specific category of book. Each genre has its own rules and conventions, and these are laid out for some genres at least in great detail. This came to mind recently when I read a thriller that did not follow those conventions, and I did indeed find that it fell flat because of this.

 

Story arcs are also looked at in depth, with the arch-plot, the mini-plot and the anti-plot discussed in detail, as well as the interplay of external and internal content genres.

 

Most or all of the material is available online, at www.thestorygrid.com, and I would suggest that before considering buying the book you take a good look at the website and the resources there. You can see a summary of the techniques used on the resources page. The paperback book is rather expensive, at £25, while the kindle book at just under £5 is better value, but I found it a struggle to view some of the images, especially on a kindle device, which doesn’t have the same facility as an iPad to zoom in on images. However, it is useful to have the text all in one place for easy access.

 

There is a lot of useful material in this book, and it is well worth looking through. It emphasises the necessity of knowing the rules in order to break them deliberately if you feel appropriate, rather than ploughing on without understanding them in the first place, and the fact that understanding your genre is essential to producing a strong book. The grid is a good way of checking that every part of your story is strong, while the foolscap method is a good check that the overall arc is clear. Both techniques together will tighten up your writing and reduce flabbiness that fails to drive the story forward. This is not a book for the writer just starting out, but if you’re nearing the point of thinking about seeking publication in some way then this would be very useful. It would also be useful for any beta reader to bear in mind, although there is always the fear that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and I would hate to see anyone applying these rules rigidly without understanding why they exist or when they may be broken (a bit like the rules of writing itself, in fact!).

 

I want to be a beta reader

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I often see comments from people who would like to be a beta reader but are not really sure how to go about it. This is to answer some of the most common questions.

How do I become a beta reader?

Just find yourself a writer who needs a beta reader and volunteer. It might be through your local writing group, or through goodreads, or some other place where you can find writers. Good beta readers are always in demand, and writers are usually looking to build up a regular team.

What do I have to do?

The basic idea is to read the manuscript (often a novel, but it could equally be a memoir, or non-fiction), and then tell the writer what you thought of it. The important thing is to be honest and as specific as you can. They might have a list of questions they want answered – are the characters believable? did the setting sound realistic? – or they might just want your overall impression.

How long does it take to do a beta read?

How long do you usually take to read a book? Some beta readers can provide feedback within a couple of days; others take longer. As long as you and the writer understand how long it is likely to take, there is no problem.

Do I have to be honest?

Yes, but you also need to be kind. The writer has put in a lot of work, and you should always bear this in mind when you give feedback. it’s also good to comment on things that you enjoy or feel works well, so that your feedback is not all negative.

Do I have to be a writer myself?

No. You just have to be a reader. Make sure you read genres you feel capable of commenting on, and remember that the writer is looking for feedback to help make their work better. You don’t have to tell them how to fix any problems you find; you just have to point out anything you see as an issue. Is the pace flagging? Do you find the character unlikeable? Is that event unbelievable? Once you’ve pointed out what you see as a problem, it’s up to the writer to consider your feedback and deal with it if they consider it necessary.

Do I have to be good at grammar/spelling/punctuation?

No. It’s not the beta reader’s job to point out errors like that, although some do anyway. You are the test reader, giving the writer an idea of your response. The writer has spent a long time very close to their manuscript; they need someone to look at it with fresh eyes and check the content for them to see how readable it is.

How do I actually read their work?

It’s possible you might be given a printed copy, especially if you know the person offline. It’s more likely that you’ll be provided with an electronic copy. This might be a Word document, PDF, or a format suitable for an ebook reader. You can usually ask for the version that you would find easiest to work on.

Do I do a written report?

Some beta readers provide comments through the manuscript; some provide feedback via a written report. Some do a combination of both.

Do I have to sign a non-disclosure document?

Some writers might ask you to do that, but most don’t. However, it is expected that you’ll keep their work confidential and not pass it on to others. The same goes for discussing it with other people. On the other hand, once the book is published there’s nothing stopping you promoting it to your friends!

Can I charge for beta reading?

Some people do charge for beta reading. The advantage to you is that you get something back for your time apart from the pleasure and experience of helping out, and the advantage to the writer is that they can be pretty sure you’ll provide feedback. On the other hand, there are plenty of people around who offer a free read. Some writers offer a copy of the finished work as a thank-you, or a mention in the acknowledgements. If you want to make a charge, then I would recommend building up a reputation, collecting testimonials and then testing out the waters, but any beta read fee is unlikely to reflect all the time you spend working on it, unless your fee is very high – and then you’d better be very confident that you’re offering a high level of help and expertise.

What if I really don’t like what I’m reading?

It happens sometimes. A manuscript for beta reading can be very rough and unfinished, and can be tough to get through. Just do your best, and at the very least give the writer some feedback to indicate why you found it so hard, whether it was because the writing style was too rough, the main character too unsympathetic or the pace too slow. The tougher the read, the more important your feedback is. If you can’t finish it, then try to explain the problem.

What if real life intervenes and I just don’t have time?

If you take on a read and then find you can’t complete it, for whatever reason, please do let the writer know. The same applies if you find it will take longer than you thought. Communication is key. Remember that you may be the first to read a piece of work apart from the writer, and it is their precious baby. If they don’t hear back from you, they might assume it’s because you found it terrible and can’t bear to tell them, whereas in reality it’s because you’ve had the flu!