Beta Readers and Why You Need One
If you are anything like me, you cringed reading the title of this post. Writing is a deeply personal activity, just you and the page/screen/microphone. Then to let someone else read, not only your private thoughts and imaginings, but the unedited, sloppy, misspelled version of them? Ick.
I am an intensely private person. I know this seems oxymoronic, since I have this ‘Stack and another ‘Stack and publish books and put things up on social media. For one, I never post in real time. That beach day post last weekend? Happened over a month ago. Kid faces? Not in focus or even pointed toward the camera. (I like the candid nature of that style, plus I don’t want them to be on SM is they don’t want to be.)
The single hardest thing about publishing a book or any type of writing is knowing that some small part of you is shown forever to the world. Other people will read it and judge it and many writers stop right here and go no further.
As Caroline Donahue and I discussed on her podcast, The Secret Library, publishing is like walking out of a public restroom with your skirt tucked into your underwear. Non-skirt wearing folks, maybe the analogy would be a big ol’ hole in the seat of your pants.
People will see your underwear. Unfortunately, some people won’t say anything. They’ll let you stroll by without a friendly tap on the shoulder. Just an averted gaze and a hissing whisper: Look at her butt! How embarrassing!
Side note: have you noticed how that word describes what it is? When you embarrassed, you are metaphorically baring your ass. Was this on purpose? I need an anthropological linguist…
So there you are with your butt hanging out. Some people will turn away in shame, others will point and snicker. But your best friends will stop you — still laugh at you, sure — but then help you get yourself decent and through the fiery embarrassment with jokes and hugs.
That’s what beta readers are for. They are pre-emptive booty-coverers. They take your raw, unfiltered word vomit and point out all the weak points. The plot holes. The unanswered questions. Because you are too close to it. You know everything that happens, all the things that didn’t happen, all the ways it should have happened.
I have an amazing, wonderful friend who does this for me. She reads voraciously, is whip-smart, and hilarious. She is the best cheerleader and always has great feedback.
Your beta-reader doesn’t have to be a close friend, though. It can be a stranger, a writing acquaintance. A spouse or a child. Anyone whose opinion you trust with your delicate writer sensibilities.
We all have them. Trust me, I am not ‘delicate,’ or ‘sensible’ in the old-fashioned sense. I work a tough job in a tough part of town and frequently have to tell people to knock it off or get out. On the regular, people try to bite me, kick me, threaten me with lawsuits (yawn), and generally make themselves obnoxious.
But the moment I hit ‘post,’ ‘send,’ ‘publish,’ a teeny, little wiggle of doubt creeps in there. What will people think? What if they hate it? What if someone laughs at it?
I am more confident now that I’ve been doing this for a bit. It’s nearly a year since my first book came out and I’ve been plowing headfirst into the publishing world. I know my voice, I am confident in my thoughts, and I know I can write a good story.
But I still run things by my beta-reader. She raves, asks pointed questions, and helps me see my work better. We disagree sometimes, but her feedback is invaluable.
If you don’t have someone like this in your writing life, reach out to your friends. Find a group online. Hire a writing coach. (I’ve done all three). Not everyone will fit, some connections won’t stick. But you will find a person or two who you know will give you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it.
My first book, Archer 887, was a 2022 Indies Today Awards Contest Finalist, and is on sale now through online book retailers. Pick up a copy, leave a review, and let me know what you think!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing. I post original short stories, book reviews, and writing advice, as well as my process as I edit my newest novel (I still can’t think of a title…). I will be querying it for traditional publication; subscribe to follow along as I work through that whole process!
Paid subscribers receive access to my complete, full-length fantasy novel, The Lost Hero, the first in my fantasy series. Once it is through final design production, you can get a free copy, either eBook or print!
Follow me on socials (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest) and never miss a post!
I also write about my work as an RN on my Substack: This Is My Nurse Face. Crazy stories, advice, and vents about inpatient nursing. Blood, guts, snort laughing: all the best things.
Thanks for reading!
Well I love this!! And I’m pretty sure the skirt tucked in the underwear was another shout out! I am in constant amazement at your writing skill and how I’m impressed every time. You’re pretty easy to cheer on! Love being part of the journey.
100% agree with everything here! It's interesting that I hear "beta reader" used in a different way than you described, though... it seems like you're describing an "alpha" reader, like a critique partner, someone who (as you say) reads an early draft that hasn't been edited. I use the term to describe someone almost like an ARC reader, someone who loves your genre and who "gets" your author voice—usually a current fan of your work—who gives you feedback in time for your final polish of your ms, and affirms your ideas for your book blurb and other marketing phrasing. Like a last-minute check before leaving that restroom: you thought you were ready to walk out the door, but your beta reader gives you one last look-over and thumbs up.
And hopefully notes the way your necklace accentuates your outfit, or whatever: something positive that you would not have noticed, but which you can be confident about as you step out!