How to Become a Beta Reader (4 Ways)

After last week's post on "How to Find Beta Readers", Kristi N mentioned that she beta reads to keep her skills sharp for her own work. She also asked:

Question on the flip side of finding beta readers . . . how does one volunteer to be a beta?

Good question, Kristi. I answered in a comment—but I realized it, too, needed to be expanded and addressed in a blog post. :)

4 Ways to Become a Beta Reader

1. Offer to beta read for a writer you're already acquainted with.

Pros: Since you already know the person, you should already have some idea how they'll handle critique, and maybe even what their weak points are as a writer. You might already know some of what the person writes, too, to know if it interests you. If it isn't a genre you usually read, sometimes just knowing someone is enough to get you to try reading a genre you aren't already familiar with. (For example, I had a classmate in high school who hated fantasy but loved A Fistful of Fire.)

Cons: Since you already know the person, expressing potential interest in being a beta can get you swamped with titles or destroy the relationship, if the other person takes things personally. The other person might also expect you to be interested in and/or like 100% of what they write.

2. Find some writers who interest you in the blogosphere and keep your eyes peeled. Even published ones will sometimes put calls out for betas on their blogs, Facebooks, or Twitter feeds. You could also try e-mailing someone you're interested in to ask if they need a beta buddy.

Pros: You can watch the person on the blogosphere and have some idea of their personality and ability to take critique before volunteering. There's no face-to-face contact, which can make it easier emotionally on both the writer and the beta. Also, because you're the one approaching the writer, you can specifically ask to beta a project you're interested in reading.

Cons: If the relationship goes south, the Internet-savvy person might attempt a smear campaign. Also, misunderstandings are more likely in online communication than in face-to-face communication, because text doesn't convey tone of voice or body language. If the critique is in a forum or site where other members can see it, you might also be attacked by other readers who see the critique—even if the writer's perfectly fine with your input.

3. Hang out in the "critique" sections on forums that promote work sharing. (On a lot of forums, these sections require a password and/or special membership, because otherwise anyone who posts their work in the forum is giving up first rights.)

Pros: The community's (presumably) built upon critique, and the members will (presumably) be professional about the giving and receiving of it.

Cons: The community might presume wrong about its goals and professionalism. It might not offer the kind of critique you need, or it might have members whose idea of "critique" is to rip your work to shreds and rebuild it in their own writing styles. The community may not have members representative of the intended audience for your work.

4. Visit a free-to-post site like FictionPress.com or even a fan fiction site.

Pros: Lots of stories to pick through, so you can probably find something you want to read. If you want to give a specific kind of critique, you can probably find that, too.

Cons: Lots of stories to sift through, with poor grammar and sentence structure and such. Lots of immature writers who will ask you for critique then pitch a fit if you give it, or who will see you giving someone else critique and come after you for it. You will come under attack, if you pursue this route.

5. Pay-to-post sites aren't worth signing up for.

They attract the professional critic—the kind of people who will mock you for "misspelling" the word fairy as faerie and give you all-around idiotic advice. ("No, don't have your older, proper, mature woman say 'Came with child'! Have her say 'Knocked up!'")

For the record, I do appreciate the experience of having been on a pay-to-post site—thanks, Grandma and Grandpa—but I strongly advise against others doing it in the hopes of getting or giving critique.

Warning about Volunteering as a Beta Reader:

Writers can be a fickle lot. How many of us have politely pointed out a plot inconsistency 20 chapters into someone's work-in-progress and had the writer and other readers of the story lambaste us for "hating the story"? *raises hand*

Or encountered a writer who claimed to want "honest" feedback but got defensive and tackled and verbally attacked when we gave it? *raises hand*

Or gave a friend the critique she requested and have her not talk to us again until we managed to approach her and figure out what we'd said wrong, and until she accepted our explanation of where we were coming from (assuming she let you smooth things over)? *raises hand*

Or given requested critique on a story only to have the author (or another reader) troll and trash our own story or stories? *raises hand*

If your hand isn't raised, just wait. If you beta heavily, you'll probably end up encountering situations like those, particularly if you don't screen the writers before offering to beta read.

A sign that the writer isn't ready for a face-to-face critique: The writer calls their writing their "baby". Even if the writer uses the term in depreciating good humor, the anthropomorphizing of the story suggests that the writer might take critique of the story as critique of themselves.

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…And all this gives me an idea for another related post, "Beta Reading Etiquette" (or: "Beta Reading Techniques to Use to Avoid Ticking Off Writers"). Anyone interested?

What method do you like using for finding writers to beta? Have any beta-reading stories to share (identifying details redacted, please)?

—Misti

How to Find Beta Readers

Last week, Carmen asked:

I’m still on the first draft of my first novel. When do I start looking for a critique group or beta readers? How do I find them?

Great questions. :) I answered in a comment, but let's go into a bit more detail.

When do I start looking for a critique group or beta readers?

When to Start Seeking Beta Readers:

Common advice is to wait until you have a complete edition before you seek a beta. Reason: Your beta reader(s) can negatively influence how you write your manuscript. For example, if you want to make the hero of your romance novel a fat man who can't adhere to a diet to save his life, and your beta says "Ew! Nobody will want to read that!"—it'll likely influence you to change your hero.

Changing your story to fit someone else's expectations isn't want you want to do, particularly when you're starting out. If you choose to do that later, as in ghostwriting or writing something for a specific market opening, fine. (Not everyone can do that, by the way.)

But when you're starting out, your primary concern should be telling the story you want to tell or read. Not the one you think is wanted by readers.

Once you have some experience with writing and receiving critique, you can figure out if "in-progress" betas help or hinder you.

Personally, I work well having "in-progress" betas and "final version" betas (plural) for each project, but I'm unusual. I've not met many other writers like me—but then, I don't know any other writers who had many friends willing to say "This sucks" about their work, either. :) I tend to be brutally honest, and my friends return the favor.

My one friend whines, "Another vampire story? When will you write something without vampires for me to read?"; another grimaces and says, "Another unreliable narrator? No, thanks; I don't want to read it." I don't mind their reactions one bit. I keep my eyes peeled for stories those two friends will like.

So they're uninterested in most of my work. That doesn't bother me. It's due to those stories not matching their interests, not because I'm a schlock writer. That distinction usually takes time to learn, and is why you need to be very careful when seeking beta readers.

How do I find [beta readers]?

How to Find Beta Readers:

Consider what you want out of a beta reader. What would your ideal beta reader look like? A reader, to give basic input? Another writer, to be critical? Someone from another country, to make sure your descriptions make sense?

Once you know that, consider if you know anyone like that. If not, check places where you have an online presence; ask folks you know if they know anyone who might be interested.

If you still can't find a beta, find a writer's forum and check for any open threads asking for betas. If necessary, you can make such a thread.

Personally, I'm careful to match up story types with what I know those readers like. Once, when I needed fast input because I was submitting the short story to a contest, I put a call out on Twitter and got someone to help me. (Thanks, Phoenix Sullivan!)

But if you can find someone who doesn't usually read your genre who's interested in reading your piece, that can be handy, too. You just want to be extra careful when reading their feedback. (See my below warning.)

Warning about Beta Readers:

Finding a good beta for you will probably be a learning process. Betas are good for identifying problem areas, but even other writers might misidentify a problem's cause or how to fix it. So don't be too eager and blindly apply all changes recommended by the beta.

Example: My first "novel" I wrote as a teenager, my friends read it and said they got confused about who was who because the names were too similar. Eventually, I realized the story had way too many main characters. They had the problem right, but not the cause.

Also, some betas overstep their bounds and try to put their own techniques and writing style in your work.

So don't assume that a beta reader's right, but also don't assume they're wrong. Particularly if you're newer to writing, your first reaction to critique will probably be a knee-jerk "How dare you!" or "I suck!" reaction.

Take a deep breath and consider the critique. Try to figure out what made the beta reader say that.

And keep writing.

Do you have betas? How do you find betas? What do you do when your current betas are all busy or uninterested in a piece?

—Misti

ETA: I keep meaning to add this—there was something in the water the morning I wrote this, and Jami Gold came up with a great post connected on the beta reader topic. Go check it out!