Now that you’ve assembled a dream team of beta readers, it’s time to get them, well, reading. Here are a few tips to ensure that all parties get the most out of the experience.

1. Look for beta readers with knowledge of your genre or subject matter

While honesty is a key quality of a good beta reader, they should also already read and enjoy books similar to yours. Their familiarity with the genre can help them point out played-out tropes they feel have been overused, or key elements they feel are missing. Looking for readers who know your subject matter can also help ensure you handle delicate topics with sensitivity, and that there aren’t any glaring discrepancies or inaccuracies.

2. But also look for beta readers who don’t already read books like yours

Ultimately, you should always write to market — in other words, if your book is young adult fantasy, you want to write a book that young adults who are into fantasy will enjoy. That being said, your feedback is likely to be most comprehensive if you show your manuscript to more than just existing Harry Potter fans.

Another good tip: make your book available to beta readers both in print and as an e-book!

3. Establish deadlines

If your beta reader is helping you out of the kindness of their heart, you might hesitate to give them a deadline. But as long as you are flexible and reasonable when setting your expectations, your beta readers will appreciate knowing when you’d like their feedback. And this will ensure you don’t get stuck in a drawn-out phase of endless revisions.

4. Be open to feedback — but don’t implement it all right away

There’s nothing that quite tests a person’s patience like writing a book, then asking others to read that book, and then anxiously waiting for their feedback. By the time your beta readers let you know that they’ve finished leaving notes, you’ll be raring to start putting their feedback to use. But it’s important to closely examine how implementing their advice or suggested changes will ripple through your manuscript.

Consider their feedback carefully, and look for any remarks that were made by more than one reader: this is a good signal something is obviously amiss.

The last tip is to give beta readers guidance by prompting them with questions about your book.

Questions to ask beta readers

The opportunity to find out what readers think of your book before you send it out into the world is extremely valuable. If there are specific areas of your manuscript that you're not sure about, take notes and put them in a list. If your beta readers don't mention these isues their own feedback, you can bring them up yourself. Here are a few question ideas to get you going.

Pacing

·        Are there any parts of the story that drag?

·        Does each scene flow naturally into the next?

·        Did you feel there were any areas that skipped over information?

·        Does the pacing feel balanced — and are there any areas that are too slow or too intense?

·        Are there any exposition dumps (places I over-inform the reader) you struggled to get through?

Worldbuilding

·        Can you see the world clearly while reading?

·        Can you see the action clearly while reading?

·        Can you see the characters clearly while reading?

·        Can you describe what the main characters look like?

Characters

·        Was it clear who is talking?

·        Does the dialogue sound natural and realistic?

·        Does the character development feel natural?

·        Are there any out-of-character moments?

·        Do any of the characters feel cliche or stereotypical?

General

·        Who is your favorite character and why?

·        Who is your least favorite character and why?

·        What’s your favorite part and why?

·        Did you have a least favorite part? What is it and why?

The more you tailor these questions to your book, the better. So instead of asking “Is there natural flow between the scenes,” look for specific scene cuts you’re not sure about and mention them specifically.