I have an information technology background, as this is what I do for my day job, and as such, I’ve gravitated to the concept of beta readers, which in the software development world, are people that test your product and report bugs, give feedback on your product and offer improvement ideas for you to consider implementing.

In the writing world, beta readers perform many similar functions, which are geared to ensuring that when the story is released that it is as error free and as enjoyable as possible.  That means finding and stomping out spelling mistakes and grammar problems, as well as looking at the storyline, character development, holes in your story, factual errors, giving feedback as to what they liked or didn’t like in the story, as well as some suggestions for improvements to make it a better product.

The problem with writing is that as the author, you have a lot of thoughts going on in your head about your story, and over the course of changes, what you as the beta reader are seeing on the screen or on paper may be different from what is supposed to be there.

It’s easy enough to do.  In Ashby and Barnett, the working title for one of my stories, I received some feedback on it and changed some things around.  In the process of doing that, some parts of the original scenes were still in there, which were later discovered and fixed.

When I finish a new story or a review of it, I typically move on to something completely different, totally unrelated to that particular story.  Then when I’ve finished with that next project, I might go back to that story, as I’ve been away from it long enough that I need to reread it from the beginning, at which point things start to jump out at me.  This process isn’t perfect, because I’m the one who wrote the words and know in my head what is going on with the characters and the storyline.

A beta reader typically doesn’t know the characters or what is going on, and they will catch things you didn’t even think about.  Perhaps I failed to describe what the main character looked like.  Maybe a scene wasn’t setup properly, or a transition is missing something or is awkward or weak.  Those are things I might not see as the author.

It is also helpful to know if the beta readers like the story itself and where it’s going.  I don’t expect beta readers to like everything I write, which is why it’s important to have more than one, as we all have different tastes.

So what does a beta reader get out of the deal?  After all, they are taking their time to review it and give feedback.  I don’t know what other authors do, but my beta readers will receive mention of their contributions in the acknowledgements of a released story, as well as a free electronic copies of the books I’ve written.  They also get a chance to give input into the stories they are involved in, helping make them better reads for the general public.

If you’re interested in becoming a beta reader, all you have to do is go the contact us page and click on the Beta Reader box and we’ll go from there.