What does it mean to be Beta Ready?
One big thing we emphasize at BetaBooks is not starting a beta until your book is Beta Ready. But what does that mean?
On the Beta Reader Pool Submission Page, we list two key criteria:
- Clean, well-formatted, complete manuscripts. You should have proofread your manuscript at least once, so readers can focus on the story, not be distracted by tons of typos.
- A good story with a solid opening hook and an ending that resolves it. Our screeners won't necessarily read your entire book, but we place a lot of weight on the first and last chapter. We don't like sending out cliffhanger endings.
These are good tips not just for submitting to our event, but before sending a manuscript to anyone who you want to read it. With the possible exception of your paid editor, readers just aren't going to enjoy muddling through poor grammar and a minefield of typos. And when it comes to betas, if they're not enjoying it, they're probably not going to finish it or give you the constructive feedback you're craving.
Just how important is this? Consider some feedback one frustrated beta reader on the site shared with me:
Please, let the authors looking for beta readers know that there is a very fine line between an editor and a beta reader. Editors get paid for their job. Beta readers are volunteers who offer their free time and goodwill. Being presented with a manuscript that has too many issues apart from the normally expected typos and has clearly not been edited by a professional is simply insulting and shows that the author is not looking for beta readers but for free editors.
Yikes! You can hear the frustration there, and it's totally justified. Beta readers are not free editors!
But on the other hand, if you're a new author you may not have an editor, or be able to afford to hire one. Like most things in life, you need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do the work yourself.
Fortunately, there are tons of great resources to help. I'll leave you with my two biggest secrets:
- For developmental editing, buy The Story Grid and learn it's method. It'll change the way you think about writing, I promise.
- For copy editing, start reading your own work out loud. This has improved my prose and caught more typos than anything else.
There are plenty more tools and techniques to help you, but those two have been the most helpful for me. I hope you'll try them out and let me know what you think.
