Do you ever wonder what beta-reading is all about? To an author, a good beta reader is worth more than rubies, chocolate and coffee. And who better than Elin Gregory, author and beta reader extraordinaire, to explain why beta readers are so invaluable.

Years ago I belonged to a site – now long gone – which had group forums where different subjects could be explored. I joined a writers group where journos, short story writers, poets and novelists all jostled for attention and, frequently, slagged each other’s creations off. It really was very bad mannered. Novelists in particular seemed desperate for feedback but when I suggested that perhaps they might use beta readers I usually got the response “What are those then?”
Just for anyone who hasn’t come across the term, a beta reader is sometimes the first person other than the author to see a book, or if the author shares chapters as she writes them with alpha readers, they are the first people to see the whole book. The term comes from the early days of computing where alpha testers tried to break individual components of code and beta testers tried to break whole systems. I think it applies rather well to books because what are they other than a system for getting us to play a whole movie in our heads?
Some authors manage without betas. Many of the wannabee novelists on that long defunct site threw up their hands in horror at the idea of letting someone else read their MS. “But what,” they demanded “if they steal my ideas?” and got very insulted when told that most writers have enough problems with their own ideas without trying to cope with anyone else’s. Others have the skills to get their stuff right on their own. But for me there’s an absolute necessity for beta readers, and this is why.
If I’ve spent months – or several years in some cases – writing a book, plotting, planning, drafting, changing my mind, redrafting, editing, polishing, giving it up as a bad job then dragging my toes back to it, then I am not at all a good judge of whether it works or not. There could be important things missing – like having never given any indication that my MC wears glasses because the picture of him in my head is so set and firm that it never occurred to me that I might need to describe him. Or that there’s a whole plot thread left dangling. Or that I’ve got three completely different characters all with the same name. The thought processes that lead to me making those mistakes just run along the tracks again when I’m trying to sort the mess out. I am really far too close, too emotionally compromised. And that is where beta readers come in.
Even better they come in a variety of flavours.
First of all there’s the cheerleader beta. They will read a book and give you a general impression that tends to be kind. The feedback can often be almost wholly positive with maybe “I didn’t understand why character X did YYY in chapter Z so could you explain that please” but generally they make you feel good about the project again. This is vital because by the time it’s ready for beta readers you are usually sick to death of it.
Then there’s the technical advisor beta, sub-divided into grammar mavens, sensitivity readers or those with other relevant specialist knowledge – horsemanship, glass-blowing, medicine, medieval medicine, steam trains, the Roman army, modern police procedural, the list of possibilities is endless.
These kind souls are usually enthusiasts about their particular area of expertise and can be merciless in picking out the bits you’ve got wrong. This is vital because if you’ve written a book about, say, romance in 18th century Venice set in a glass workshop you are likely to get readers who are as keen on the glass aspect as on the romance and it’s not good to disappoint them.
The sensitivity readers will help if you’re writing characters whose experience you don’t share. This can be due to race, culture, health, religion, and they are usually people with personal experience of that particular issue. Sensitivity readers are worth their weight in Faberge eggs because nobody wants to write something that, no matter how well intentioned, might cause distress to a reader. Sensitivity readers are deeply committed to seeing better representation in fiction so they want your book to be written, published and shared and they share with you the desire to get it right!
Grammar mavens will pick out and highlight your dangling modifiers, silence your passive voice and God help you if you muddle up lay and lie. They are adept in the arcane use of commas and wield the semi-colon of righteousness and are generally awesome.
So Techy betas can really save those egg on face moments, unnecessary hurt, and those one star reviews because you had a horse in a farthingale rather than a martingale.
Big picture betas are the ones who can shore up a sagging plot with an Acroprop. Often this is by saying something along the lines of “in chapter 4, your characters started to have a really meaningful discussion about their situation that would have strengthened their relationship and made it all more plausible but – I dunno – did you break off for lunch or something? Because you just dropped it and they had sex instead. Also, did you forget about the conflict of interests you set up in chapter eight that should have come back to bite them in the ass in chapter twenty-two? Oh and you killed Dr Monroe in chapter 10 so why is he at the party in chapter twenty-four?” They have the ability to hold the entire book in their dear heads! And they are book savers! Because we can often feel there’s something gone badly wrong without having the ability to see quite what it is.
So, if you haven’t already guessed, I am a HUGE fan of beta readers. They know who they are and I love ‘em to bits.