Why doesn't BetaBooks find me Beta Readers?

If you arrived at BetaBooks looking for beta readers you are not alone. We are always glad to explain this in individual email conversations with people who ask, but since it comes up relatively often Paul and I thought it would be helpful to write-up a blog post explaining what BetaBooks is, what it isn’t, and why it isn’t a matchmaking service.

What BetaBooks Is

BetaBooks is the best place for authors to privately and securely share manuscripts, track their beta-readers’ progress, and collect and organize their feedback. BetaBooks is also the best place for readers to work their way through and comment on the manuscripts they’re beta-ing.

Because it runs on the web it’s available from any device, including Macs, PCs, Androids, iPhones, iPads and Kindles. This is key, because it solves the first beta woe (the “I can’t open that file you sent me!”).

What BetaBooks Isn’t

Note that BetaBooks runs on a web browser, but it isn’t a web site, in the traditional sense. It exists in the gray area between website and software/applications that live on your computer. It is a webapp, like your email is. Everything you post on BetaBooks is private and invitation-only. Authors control who can read their books and can revoke access at any time. This is key because we care deeply about protecting your first publishing rights. No serious author would use beta-management software if it meant their work would become public on the internet.

Why BetaBooks isn’t a match-making service

Sometimes people will discover us, read that “we make betas easier,” and assume that means we’re a service that provides readers. Nope, that’s not what we do.

But why is that? Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to provide authors?

It would indeed be magical if we could supply authors with a cadre of compatible readers ready to beta your book. But “magical” is the key word there. We have spent a considerable amount of time exploring the idea. Long conversations, lots of reading, and outside input all led us to one conclusion:

Finding beta readers is something that you as an author have to do for yourself for it to be done right.  

Here are 5 of the most easily explained reasons why we don’t provide matchmaking.      

BetaBooks isn’t a dating site.

Every author/beta reader relationship is slightly different, and they change and grow with time. The sum of all communication between the two parties creates nuanced expectations, trust, and distinct social rules. This is true whether you have 2 readers or 200. How you as an author interact with your beta readers will be dependent on who you are, who they are, what you are writing, and what your expectations are of each other. For a third party to try and artificially create that relationship is inefficient.

But wait! There are beta reader services out there. Yes there are, and though I have not used any myself I have heard good things about a number of them. However, those services dictate how feedback is to be given and received. So ultimately the authors and the readers have to conform to the expectations and guidelines of a third, mediating, party.

BetaBooks isn’t a social network.

Why not? Because the internet is full of awesome ones already. There are tons of writing, author, and book-related social networks/forums out there, not to mention Facebook, Twitter, the comment section of every blog, and Youtube/Booktube. Additionally, for better or worse, social networks develop their own flavor, idiosyncrasies, and lingo that make people who favor that space feel welcome and comfortable, and people who don’t feel that way find another space. We know that authors of all stripes beta and need help with the process, so we decided to not be a social networking platform.     

BetaBooks wants you to succeed as an author.

Part of that – a huge part of that, maybe the main part of that – is getting people to read your book. The way that happens is by asking people to read your book. Seems simple, but for many writers it seems to be a huge hurdle. Asking people to read your book implies you think it is worth their time. There is an audacity there that can be hard for many of us to grasp, so we seek someone to provide a stamp of approval. That way we can say, “Group X says I did a good job! You don’t have to trust me, trust group X and read my book.” But doing that slows people’s growth as an author. To succeed you will absolutely have to be comfortable asking people to read your work. Asking people to be your beta readers is where you get to practice that.

BetaBooks wants you to succeed as a writer.

We mean specifically the artistic, creative part of your process. All artists doubt their work and its value. If you have not exposed yourself to Ira Glass’ comments on the topic, you should. The two things that you have to do to become a better artist are produce a lot of work and show work to people – not all your work, but certainly not none. Only you can decide what to show people. Deciding what to show people is one of the ways you define yourself as an artist and chart the course of your growth. You should not want to let someone else decide what you show people; that is your right and privilege as an artist.

BetaBooks cares about authors Privacy.

Before they start using BetaBooks, most authors use pdfs, doc files, spreadsheets and their emails to run their betas. It is a fairly private system and give authors a lot of control, but still, once you send out a document, it is out of your hands. We wanted to make something to give authors even more control. On BetaBooks an author invites all their readers and then can see exactly who is reading and has read their book. That is why there is no discoverability or master list of books on the site. You can’t search for a book. We don’t give your books to strangers.

What this all boils down to

Deciding who will be your beta readers and asking them to read for your work is an important part of growing as an author. Early reader relationships have been vitally important to thousands of authors. How many inscriptions and acknowledgements have you seen to an author's readers? Finding those people is a job that only you can do well.