Writing & Publishing A question

[P.M. Turner]

I've been hearing a lot of mention about this lately, with no real knowledge of what it actually is.

What is a beta reader, and what do they do?

 

[JT Benefiel]

Is it like a beta fish? They go in and clean out all of the junk in your "fishbowl?"

 

[carolinamtne]

Is it like a beta fish?

Click to shrink...

Sort of. A beta reader reads through your manuscript to find the plot holes and inconsistencies and other problems before the book is published. Here, people will trade reading for each other.

 

[Wesley Southern]

A beta reader is someone u can trust to give u their honest feedback, preferably someone who's a better writer than u.

 

[P.M. Turner]

Got it.  Thanks guys!

 

[Johne]

A Beta reader is someone who's willing to read your manuscript before you release it to the world, who's willing and able to give you specific, constructively critical feedback. Good Beta readers who provide prompt, actionable feedback are relatively rare. They're out there, but you may have to work at finding them. (Which means when you do find some, you hang on for dear life. A good Beta reader is absolutely golden.)

 

[Ky_GirlatHeart]

See, I don't even have to give my opinion because everyone else did the hard work for me.

 

[P.M. Turner]

See, I don't even have to give my opinion because everyone else did the hard work for me.

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I know right?!

 

[Jeff Potts]

You can also use beta readers to verify whether or not you should remove sections of text suggested by an editor.

What the editor thinks the reader wants, and what the reader actually wants are often two separate things.