WHERE TO FIND BETA READERS
DEPENDS ON TWO THINGS:
Some writers have no-to-little money to work with and they will take one route. Other writers have no time but have some money to work with. Where you are on this road will determine what your choices are.
I HAVE TIME BUT NO MONEY:
This could be a person who works full time, lives alone, or has a few kids and there is just not enough extra money around to fund all the things necessary to do when self-publishing a book. Not to worry. There are a few choices for you.
Goodreads.com is an active website for readers and authors and is filled with other authors who are also looking for help to publish their books. The trick is to find them.
If you search "Beta Readers" in the search box on Goodreads, it will bring up all of the beta reader groups that are available to you at that time. You can access this under the community tab on the navigation menu. Be sure to read the rules and regulations for the specific group because the last time I looked, there were a few Gestapo-like warnings and instructionals about how people should post.
If you happen to be extraverted or bubbly, good with people, you will have no trouble finding someone in one of these groups or forums to help you. I'm introverted and don't do well in these large groups because I always feel like I'm bothering people. But not everyone is like this, so if you are good at making acquaintances and friends, give Goodreads a try.
Try to google "beta readers" as well and you will find other forums that claim to have people willing to read your book. I never gave this much patience because I chose to just pay someone.
TRY A FAMILY MEMBER AS A BETA READER:
If you have a family member who you can trust to give you honest feedback and gentle criticism, this is probably the best choice. Make sure it's someone who will want to do a good job for you and they will know you are counting on them. That's what I did. My Aunt Gen offered to read my books and I jumped at the chance. She read them and kept a notepad by her book and jotted down everything she thought about.
I also had a friend who needed computer help and I bartered with her for beta reading. That was also a great experience.
The trick to making working with amateurs, so to speak, work is knowing two things. (1) Your readers will feel that they have to give you some level of criticism so you have to be ready to make that work for you. I'll go into that below. (2) The second thing is that sometimes people will give you advice about writing books that come out of left field. They will not know what they are talking about, so it's important to be prepared for this. Just be ready to thank them for their ideas.
Once you have chosen a family member or friend to beat read for you, you need to direct their attention to what it is you are interested in having them do. Tell them that after they read the book, you will want to know the following 5 things:
- Do you like the characters?
- Is the plot easy enough to follow or was it confusing at any point?
- Were there any plot holes or anything about the plot that felt unfinished?
- How were the character and location descriptions?
- Did my prose read easily or did you find yourself having to re-read sentences sometimes?
That's it. Let them have the book with those questions. Then after they're done, you can ask them other questions. By guiding them as to what you want to know, you will get feedback and criticism that is helpful.
