The Do’s And Don’ts Of Being A Good Beta Reader

On By K.M. Allan

When you find a good beta reader, it’s like striking gold.

Suddenly you have riches of feedback to help shape your story into the MS you set out to write when you typed the first sentence.

It’s natural to want to return the favor and help another writer. Beta reading for others will also help you sharpen your skills. Like a cosmic joke, it’s always easier to see typos, pacing problems, or stilted sentences in someone else’s MS.

For that reason and more, if you ever get the chance to be a beta, take the opportunity with both hands, and stick to these do’s and don’ts.

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Being A Good Beta Reader

Do Spot All The Typos

The best way to spot a typo is with fresh eyes. When you’ve never read the piece before, mistakes will jump out at you. As a beta reading another’s work for the first time, you’re in a prime position to see those typos and point them out.

Same goes for formatting. If there’s an extra space somewhere or something is on the wrong line, note it down and let the writer know so they can fix it.

Don’t Tell Another Writer How To Write

As a beta, your job is to provide your opinion as a reader.

If their scene inspired you as a writer, tell them, they’ll probably be flattered, but don’t tell them how to write it. Instructing how you would change it or what you would add is most likely not the feedback they want.

While some writers might ask for suggestions, there’s a big difference between making a recommendation and flat out telling the writer how to write the scene.

If you feel yourself doing this, pull back. It’s not your MS.

Do Let Them Know What’s Confusing

It’s true when they say no two writers would craft the same idea in the same way. Our uniqueness sets us apart. It’s also this uniqueness that can make things muddy.

What the author thought was a perfectly understandable paragraph from their point of view, might not be as clear to others.

If you come across a sentence, idea, or plot twist that made little sense, don’t assume you didn’t get it and move on. Highlight it and let them know you found it confusing. They might not agree with you, but they may also give that section a closer look and make it better, which means one of your jobs as the beta has been done.

Don’t Say You’ll Do It If You Won’t

When agreeing to beta read, give a realistic timetable of when you can read it and try to stick to it.

Yes, life changes and unexpected things come up, so if you can no longer read it in the agreed period, or at all, just let the writer know. They’ll understand, and giving them a heads up will allow them to rework their editing schedule or find another beta.

Do Go For The Compliment Sandwich

Honesty is always appreciated when beta reading, wanted even. But honesty usually means pointing out the bad stuff and what doesn’t work. For the writer’s sanity, tell them the good too. Knowing they did at least one thing right might make the difference between them moving into another round of edits, or shelving the MS (or writing) altogether.

For those cases, sandwich the not so great feedback between two pieces of good or great feedback, always ending on some good if you can.

Just try to think about the feedback you’d like for your own MS (good and bad) and how you’d like it given to you and use that as your guide when having to share what’s working and what isn’t.

Don’t Make It Hard To Read Your Feedback

The writer might request that feedback is given in a certain way, or they might leave it up to you. In either case, be consistent.

Feedback options.

  • Put your comments within the text in bold, a different color, or highlighted.
  • In a comment box that appears on the side of the document (Word feature).
  • As a track change in either Word or Google Docs.
  • A big roundup at the end of each scene/chapter.
  • An email or a separate document that contains just your feedback thoughts/notes.

I like to add my feedback as a comment in Word and flag certain types of feedback. For example, when it’s a typo, I’ll write “Typo:” at the start of the comment so the writer knows what kind of feedback it is at a glance, and can use the search function on the comments to find all the typos when they’re editing.

You could also color-code your feedback, such as blue for typos, red for confusing sentences, green for compliments. Just don’t forget to tell the writer what the color codes are for.

Whatever feedback option, or mix of options you choose, always make your feedback obvious so the writer can spot it.

Do Give Them The Feedback They Ask For

If they give you questions, keep them in mind when reading and try to give detailed responses to the best of your ability. If you can’t answer the question asked, just be honest and tell them.

Be upfront about the feedback you’re able/willing to give. You might not be able to break every chapter down into a five-page report, but you can tell them what you loved, which character you hated and why, and that you did or didn’t see the twist in the final chapter coming.

You never know, your insights could be the gold they’re looking for to turn their MS into a treasure.

How about you? Have you ever beta read for another writer and do you have any tips? If so, leave them in the comments!

— K.M. Allan

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

35 thoughts on “The Do’s And Don’ts Of Being A Good Beta Reader”

  1. The one thing I learned was to trust the author. Never put your own voice into their writing. Trust that they know what they are doing. Once that is out of the way I do my best to tell them, as a reader, what I would like to see.

    Never/ever do I inject advice as to how I would write it. That is terrible advice.

    I also learn new things as a beta reader. Every time I read a person’s work I see something I never thought of. Their work is my text book.

    Above all beta reading has to be something you enjoy. If it isn’t, don’t do it.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. So true, Bryan. You really do need to love it to do it, and you can learn so much from beta reading for others. I’ve learned from you, both as your beta and as someone who has gotten beta notes from you.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I’m just wrapping up two beta swap. I try to make my comments clear though I am not sure I always manage to do so but I don’t mind being asked about what I meant. The fact I was never used to looking at something with the intention of ‘poking holes into it’ makes beta reading a challenge for me, especially as I tend to be the easy-to-please kind of reader: as long as the book hits my taste and has a good flow and compelling story, I’ll just devour it and ignore small mistakes.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Ruth Miranda

    I’ve beta read a number of times, and my advice is for myself solely: don’t. I am not good as a beta reader. Not good at all. The typos all go unnoticed, I have a hard time expressing what it is that didn’t work for me, my feedback is confusing as hell because my head is confusing as hell… I’m an excellent ARC reader, though, and not so bad as a critique partner.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I thought you were a good beta when you read for me, Ruth 😊. Your feedback was helpful. What’s the difference between a beta and a critique partner? Aren’t they the same?

      Like

      1. Ruth Miranda

        well, I never thought they were, but maybe they are??? I thought critique partners were supposed to read the work well in advance, before any editing had been done, and focus on the flow of the narrative, the story and plot, the characters. I thought they were supposed to be more specific in this than betas – for instance, a critique partner might tell you to get rid of a character because it feels obsolete to the story, but I never expected a beta to do that. Maybe I’m confused ehehehehh

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I thought a critique partner read your MS more than once. For instance, my betas usually read my MS once, tell me their thoughts, and I might make changes based on that, but I don’t show them those changes (most don’t read that same MS again), but a critique partner might read it after each change and help with more feedback? Maybe we’re both wrong about what a CP is? 😅🤷🏻‍♀️

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Really good reminders of how to go about commenting without slamming the door for a writer. I’ve attended writing groups where fault finding comes across as a crusade. A critique of a full novel can be invaluable, but those early stage comments can also only realy be helpful, if tempered with encouraging ones. However, there can be that tendency to access the author’s writing in an academic manner when early chapters of a novel are not set in concrete or later ones for that matter! Sorry about clichés.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I’m never done one. Admittedly, I am a little afraid to read something that’s not polished. It’s a bit of dichotomy because I am passionate about helping others edit and make things better.

    What I most liked was the use of your categories in beta reading comments. That way the author can tackle one category at a time if they so wish. Plus, the coloring is also a good idea.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Glad to hear you like my category tips 😊. I’ve read betas that are polished and ones that probably needed more work before being shown to others. All kinds of drafts can be learned from and help given, but I understand that reading rough drafts isn’t for everyone.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I’ve had beta readers for all my books so far, and will continue to have them – as long as they’ll have me – for any of my future works. Some beta readers have more finesse in delivering their feedback, but i appreciate even the brutal ones – not at first though (I do come around and see the point later). I like the ‘compliment sandwich. As for myself, I’ve done a mix between proofread and beta reading for others. Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Jina. I’ve had the same experience, betas who’ve helped and betas who’ve been brutal, but also helped once I realized their feedback was right and not a personal attack. Thanks for reading 😊.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I’ve done some beta reads myself. The biggest problem I have is time, though. My last author was very understanding about it, but I’ve been in contact with him for some time before that, so I think that helped. Great advice, here, though.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Patty

    Reblogged this on Campbells World and commented:
    Here’s a post I’d encourage all authors to read.
    Though I’ve found someone who understands the job of the beta reader I must say not all do and I’ve kissed many a frog beta reader before finding that prince. Or, in my case princess beta reader.

    Liked by 1 person

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