Be The Best Beta Reader; August 28 2021
Happy blog day! Let’s pretend I didn’t skip two weeks, shall we?
This post is coming to you late, due to a day well spent! I’ve been in overdrive regarding my productivity lately, with a new goal of completing the first draft of my current WIP, Neon Bethel, by October 1st! Incidentally, I’ll be looking for beta readers about that time, so if you’re interested in an adult supernatural fantasy about a vampire dystopia, hit me up!
The proper pitch for Neon Bethel is:
‘In a vampire-dominated dystopia, human Lysander flees his failed marriage to capital Soli Deo. There, two potential Queens amass slavish followings as they fight for the crown, oblivious to a terrorist cult building under their noses.’
… A pitch written in honour of the upcoming Twitter pitch event, #PitMad! I’m going to be touching on that a bit later in my post, but before that, I’m going to jump in late on what could have otherwise been a perfect segue!
Beta reading!
All authors need beta readers – honest critics that are looking to help elevate your work to the next level. A good beta will tell you what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and do it in a way that feels productive. Some authors go looking for beta readers when what they really want is a cheerleader, and there’s nothing wrong with that! Still, what I’m going to talk about are five tips for doing a really good beta read.
1. Take notes as you go!
Have you ever heard of liveblogging? If you haven’t, I’ll explain – liveblogging captures your real-time reactions to a piece of media as you consume it. You might have watched Let’s Plays, in which people play video games for the first time and capture their reactions on film, right? A liveblogger jots down their feelings, theories, and general thoughts as they read or watch, usually to an audience. My recommendation to every beta reader is to liveblog as you read, but do it in a private document, not to the author or anyone else who may be also beta reading.
This is a really helpful practice. Once I’ve finished a story, I organize the notes, omit anything that proved redundant (for example, if I think I’ve spotted something problematic that turns out to be properly addressed later on, I remove that criticism), and give them to the author. I, personally, glean a lot from knowing what my reader was thinking when certain plot points of character choices were unveiled! Did I foreshadow Event A properly? Did I successfully bamboozle them into liking Character B before they’re revealed to be the Big Bad? Live reactions are key!
2. Summarize!
This is a bit of a given, but if you wrote out your liveblogging notes, don’t just send them as-is. I think it’s valuable to preface them with your overall impressions. Authors like to know what they’re getting into, as well, and it helps to know right off the bat what kind of feedback they’re getting. An ‘I loved it, but there are rough patches’ makes your notes land differently than ‘This wasn’t to my taste, so take these criticisms with a grain of salt’. This is, of course, assuming you’re polite in how you give your feedback, which leads us directly into number 3…
3. Be polite but honest!
It takes a lot of vulnerability to share one’s work before it’s polished. Hell, even when it is polished, it takes guts! If you want to be taken seriously as a beta reader, you have to tell the author the truth, but remember it’s a person you’re talking to. Being overly negative, rude, or inflammatory is liable to make that author dismiss you – they might go on the defensive, decide you weren’t the target audience, or think you’re just being a prick. You’ve put in the time and effort to help this author! Both of you deserve to be taken seriously.
Related, but if – at any point – you decide you can’t finish the book, tell the author where you stopped and why. Even if it’s a matter of ‘life got busy and I don’t have the time to read this anymore’, the author needs to know where you got lost or when you stopped enjoying the experience.
4. Know what the author is looking for!
Is this the first draft? Second, third? Is the author trying to fill plot holes, nail down characterization, get typos fixed? Don’t waste your time putting every bit of prose into active voice if the author is going to have to rewrite entire scenes. Discuss that beforehand!
5. Read according to your taste!
Obviously, if you don’t like gore, maybe don’t offer to beta reader your friend’s slasher horror story. If worldbuilding bores you, politely decline the high fantasy book with the unique magic system. The most valuable input an author can get comes from people who want to read their book! If you don’t like the concept, you’re not their target audience.
And that’s it! When I’m looking for a beta reader – or offering to beta read – these are the rules I adhere to and hope my reader will follow, as well.
In all honesty, a book that hasn’t been beta read is generally not ready for querying or publication. That’s why I’m hoping to get some good, fast beta readers once I’m done Neon Bethel, so that I can spend November revising the manuscript and have it ready to query in December.
Why December? Because that’s the next PitMad, after the one on September 2nd! I’m desperately hoping I’ll have more than one book to pitch, thus increasing my chances of snagging an agent’s interest.
This September 2nd, I’m going to be participating with my adult horror, The Other Face of Sympathy. I’d deeply appreciate if people, on that day, retweeted or replied to my pitches to increase the chances of them being seen. If you’re a fellow PitMad participant, drop a comment below and I’ll be on the lookout for you! If you’re thinking of joining in but aren’t sure how to write a pitch, take a look at this blog post in which I recommend some pitch events and give an overview on pitch structure!
Good luck, everyone!