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Janell Robisch — Book Designer, Cover Designer, Editor, and Self-Publishing Expert
Author: Janell E. Robisch
“What is a beta reader?” As a writer and editor, I am a member of many writing groups, both online and off, and I hear this question with surprising frequency.
For simplicity, you can head over to Wikipedia and get this definition:
“[A] beta reader…is a non-professional reader who reads a written work, generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to find and improve elements such as grammar and spelling…[and give] suggestions to improve the story, its characters, or its setting.”
Beta readers usually, but not always, provide this service free of charge.
Why Do I Need a Beta Reader?
In most cases, a novel will require several drafts before it is ready for publishing. Unless you’ve got plenty of money to spare, you might not want to pay for a professional editor at every stage. Optimally, your novel should be read and critiqued by a small group of people in addition to yourself. A small pool of beta readers will give you a variety of opinions on what can be done to improve your novel, from small details, such as spelling and punctuation mistakes, to big issues, such as flaws in plot and characterization.
What Should I Look for in a Beta Reader?
Having beta readers is like having a small focus group for your novel. Look at them like a small sample of your potential audience. With that in mind, look for beta readers that like to read in the genre or niche where your novel falls. Asking a person who reads only business texts to read your suspense novel will probably not get you feedback that will be relevant to your audience. In addition, dependability and attention to detail are also important.
Where Can I Find Beta Readers?
A few resources include:
1. Writers Groups: Your fellow writers may be more than willing to read your work and give you feedback, especially in exchange for the same favor from you. These groups can be in-person or online. For example, there are many fiction writing groups on Facebook, some of which provide a forum for critiques.
2. Friends and Family: The people that you are close to may be chomping at the bit to get a first look at your story, and even if they are not, they will often be willing to do you the favor of giving you a bit of advice on it. Don’t forget to ask your Facebook friends! This is a time when those overly critical relatives might come in handy, as you don’t want your beta readers to ignore flaws in the manuscript in order to save your feelings.
3. Online Forums: There are many online sources for beta readers. These include Wattpad, Goodreads, and many others.
If you have patience and an open mind to accept their feedback, beta readers can be a great boon to your writing process and can help you improve your novel and perhaps even your future writing.
Be sure to click on my Resource Editors for Fiction Writers for more info on finding beta readers and dealing with beta reader feedback.
What is the best thing a beta reader has done for you? Have you had a bad experience with beta readers? Finally, where did you find your beta readers? Help other writers out by leaving a comment below!
Leave a CommentIs your scene structure moving your story forward? This week’s reblog comes from C. S. Lakin’s Live Write Thrive. It is the final installment in a series of 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing.
This month we wrap up our yearlong look at the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing. Editor Rachel Starr Thomson opens up our look at Fatal Flaw #12: Flawed Writing Mechanics. We’ll be looking a…
Source: Writing Mechanics: Scene Structure as a Mini Novel | Live Write Thrive
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In the last couple of months, Scrivener writing software has become an essential tool for me both for writing and business tasks. Literature and Latte, the makers of Scrivener, describe the software as “a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents.” I have found it to be very helpful so far.
Some Reasons that I Love Scrivener
- It has the most awesome free trial period ever. Scrivener’s 30-day trial period is unique in that the program code only counts a day used when you actually open the software. I knew within a few days of use that I wanted to buy the program. However, because I didn’t open it every day, it was probably two months before I actually bought it. I couldn’t resist taking advantage of this weekend’s Black Friday sale (if you read this right away, you might still have time to catch it!)
- I can store all of my writing “stuff” in one place for each project. For my novel, this includes my outline, the actual manuscript, character sheets, photos of my characters (pulled from lookalikes on the Internet), setting sheets (again, including pictures), and other research, whether in the form of notes or full pages from the Web.
- It has various ways to organize and look at your project. You can write in full screen. You can write in split screen so that you can look at your notes or character sheets on one side while you type a chapter on the other. Use the cork board view to see summaries of various scenes and even move chapters or scenes around right from this view. You can look at your whole manuscript at once or look at just one scene at a time.
Scrivener’s Split View - It is set up to help you self-publish. I haven’t decided yet whether I am going to self-publish my novel or go the traditional route, but the tools are here. Scrivener can automatically compile your book into ePub format (and other formats). I already have plans to help clients by using Scrivener to format their books for electronic publication.
- I can set targets for my writing. If I want to write a thousand words a day or if I want my novel to be 100,000 words long, I can set project and session targets, and Scrivener will let me know when I have reached my goals.
Summary
It is a surprise that although I have used it for my novel and my blog (yes, I am writing in it right now) for a couple of months, I have only scratched the surface of what Scrivener can do. My only real complaint is that sometimes it is a little difficult to find out how to do something without searching the help file or the Web. So, while the interface could be more user-friendly, there is a lot packed into this little program.
Update: November 2017
I’m still using Scrivener two years later and still love it. It even sometimes helps me organize developmental edits as well as my own drafts.
I still adore it for drafting and organizing my thoughts and chapters, but if you want to do any revision, especially with track changes (such as while working with your editor), it becomes more difficult. So, I tend to use it in combination with Word and not exclusively.
I also prefer Word hands down for ebook and print formatting, but I haven’t taken a great deal of time to learn how to best do it in Scrivener.
Dictation also works in the program with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and that helps, although dictation is still smoother in Word. As a caveat, like many things, this may still work better in Scrivener for Mac.
And we’re still waiting for Scrivener for Android, although Mattias Alvin at Tall Tech Tales did write a tutorial on ways to work around that and using Scrivener on the go.
So, overall, I still recommend it highly, but with some caveats.
Do you use Scrivener? What things do you love? What things do you hate?
Please note: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I receive a small percentage of sales through these links but at no extra cost to you. My editing, design and consulting services are paid for by clients, but affiliate links help me to provide free blog content, videos, and writing and self-publishing resources for all of my readers.
“Awesome! This is a great course. Beautifully made and super-clear. If you want to write better and get organized in the process, Scrivener is brilliant. This course is too!”—Will Roffé, Learn Scrivener Fast Student
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