A YouTube video by Julie Broad offering practical guidance for nonfiction authors on when and how to use beta readers. It outlines three effective stages to use beta readers (first-draft proof-of-concept, mid-edit, and final-draft proofreading), the specific questions to ask at each stage, cautions about potential pitfalls, and recommendations for collecting and compensating feedback.
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Many authors use beta readers as part of their book writing or polishing process. And for some books and some authors, bringing in beta readers makes a lot of sense. For some projects, though, beta readers slow the project down, bring in unnecessary uncertainty, and just wreak havoc where it wasn't needed. So if you're a nonfiction author and you're thinking of bringing in beta readers to your project, well, before you do it, this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers and author of three soon to be four books at Book Launchers. Because we work with authors at all stages of a book project, from conception to publication to promotion, we've seen the good and the not so good of authors doing all the things in the name of helping their project. And one of those things is getting beta readers. And you can probably already tell it's not something I'm super excited about. It's not that beta readers are bad. It's just that I've seen it go wrong more than I've seen it benefit a nonfiction project. That said, there can be some real value in beta readers if you have the right people and you've armed them with the right questions. All right, so the first thing before you ask anybody to be a beta reader is know what you actually need from a beta reader. In other words, never send a draft to a beta reader and say, what do you think? And turn them loose. Always send them a couple of very specific questions. Be clear with your timing and your needs when your book is at different phases. Beta readers can be used for different purposes effectively. So here's what I think can work really well if you're strategic and clear about who is reading the book and why. So one of the phases is the first drop draft beta reader. They can be used to test proof of concept. At this stage, you're making sure your message is clear, the reader is easily identified, and the subject matter can be applied to achieve the outcome of the outcome. Beta readers can be used at this stage. If you haven't worked with a writing coach or had anybody look at your book, this is also a great place to get input from people who fall into your ideal reader category or people who know your ideal reader really well. When you engage a beta reader at this stage, you'll ask them to answer three questions. One, what do you think the book is about? Two, who do you think is the most likely audience for the book? And three, if you could change something about the book, what would you change? Let them know that you're not looking for line editing or actually any editing at all. You're looking for proof of concept. Here's a caution. Beta readers at this phase, it can also give you feedback that can send you spiraling into a pit of confusion. Use them with caution here, because many times they will identify a bunch of problems but not offer solutions. Extra warning if the person reading it has a personal connection to you. In other words, they have the same last name because their own personal stuff can cloud the feedback they give you. It could go awry, but if they're a trusted colleague who has expertise you value, it could work the next phase of your project that you may seek beta readers in is the mid Edit Beta reading. Now, this is when your book has gone through a developmental edit or someone has done a thorough first round of editing for you. You may feel like you're at a point where another set of eyes on the manuscript could help. This can be a good place for trusted clients, relatives with a good eye or or other parties with a vested interest in your success, like members of your team. This also could be when you bring in a spouse or somebody with technical expertise and you want to verify things that you've said. It can work well so long as you're giving them instructions and they're able to stick with it. At this phase, give beta readers questions to answer like Is there a place in the book where you get bored or lose interest? Is there something that just doesn't flow or make sense to you? Does anything seem false or questionable? And you can let them know if they spot typos or missing words, that you'd also appreciate them noting that too. But let them know that you have professional editors to do that so they don't have to stress about finding those things. The Final Draft Beta Reading Final Draft Use of a beta reader gives you extra set of eyes to catch any errors before your book goes to print. A beta reader at this stage can also serve the double purpose of being an early reviewer or early supporter of your book. At this phase, I would let a beta reader know that I would be grateful for anything they notice that is off, like a missing period, a missing word, or any formatting that's missed. And you can have a beta reader review a final proof and it can let them work well to review the formatted version so you can feel confident the version going to the print is the best it can be. But let them know that you really don't want to hear anything negative because right now you need a boost, not a knockdown and this is not about feedback, this is about final polishing. These folks are great as early reviewers. Kind of your book army people that we've talked about before. They can be fabulous beta readers to catch those final errors. Now you're probably wondering who is a good beta reader for your book. Well, some people say you should only work with other people who have written books, but I find they can be opinionated and aren't always the ones that you really want. For me, with my latest book, Self Promote and Succeed, which is coming out in October, I'm going to be reaching out to you folks in August going, hey YouTube besties, I need your help. Not just hitting that like button and commenting, although I sure do love it when you do that too. So thank you. But asking your help with my new book, I'll be sending it out. If you notice typos, I'll be gladly accepting those and and I'll be also gladly accepting all reviews. So basically anyone with an eagle eye will work for the final round for me and for any other author. While you can hire people to be beta readers, if you're paying people, just pay editors as far as I'm concerned. But while beta readers are rarely paid for their service, it is still a service. So I recommend you show your appreciation in the form of something. It can be a gift card or a small gift or doing service in kind. If they took the time and effort to provide you with input that deserves at least a thank you. Send them a nice thank you note and a copy of your book when it comes out. That can be a great thank you as well. Beta readers can help improve a book if you approach the process with clarity of what you need and get supportive readers to review your book. Now if you are getting early feedback or mid edit feedback, my question to you is how are you going to collect that input? Because I've seen people create a table and then they can see all the feedback together in one place, but that's a lot of work. My preference is to put all the feedback together into one document, which you can do pretty easily with word. And that way you can see where multiple people have flagged something and that tells you there's an issue, even if everyone tries to tell you to resolve it in a different way. At least you know the areas where the book needs work. Some people do it one by one, but then you could be changing the same section over and over based on everybody's feedback. And I. I think one of the worst things is doing work over and over again. I would highly recommend accumulating all the feedback into one place and then going from there. No matter what, I always recommend getting editorial help with your book. You may even want to start with a book coach. This video right here on Book Coaches will help you with that. And this one right here is a comparison of a copy edit versus a content edit. Both are darn good if I humbly or not so humbly say so myself. So click on over and I'll see you there.
