How To Be a Beta Reader » Part One

Have you ever wondered how to become a beta reader?  I did too. I'd been casually editing fiction and academic writing since high school and professionally editing and tutoring writing since college. All through that time, though, I wanted to be someone's official Beta Reader for a serious work of fiction.

How I Became a Beta Reader

And then, in 2015, I received an email from an indie author, Celine Jeanjean, asking if I'd be so kind as to read and review her new book, The Viper and the Urchin. Most of the time, I decline these requests, because I know I won't like the book. That, or I know I won't have the time. But Celine said the magic words — "Lindsay Buroker."

Buroker is one of my favorite indie authors and Celine cited her as a writer with similar style and content to her own.  Naturally, I HAD to check out Celine's stuff.

I wound up really liking her book and read it in one go! See my review of it HERE.

To my surprise, Celine contacted me after I posted my review.  She thanked me for my trouble and politely asked me if I could elaborate on some of the criticism I had of her book.  It struck me that the whole thing could have been awkward if Celine had been more confrontational about it, but she wasn't.  Celine, a consummate, yet friendly professional, was asking me to tell her more about what I didn't like about her book, because she genuinely wanted to improve her writing.

I thought that was pretty awesome.

I wrote back an email, detailing some of the finer points that I thought could be improved.  Was that the end of the dialogue? No! Celine wrote me back, and asked if I wouldn't mind being a Beta Reader for her sequel.

Of course, I said YES. A thousand times, YES!

My First, Official Beta Read

Quite a few months passed, but eventually, I received a note in my inbox.  It was Celine! She was wondering if I could take a look at her book, Black Orchid.  Indeed, I could.

I remember being impressed, straight off, with how well-constructed the book was, despite it being a draft.  There were no typos, no run-offs or dribbles, and the whole thing just sparkled with intelligence.  I remember being so honored that I was tapped to read it as part of its pre-publication passes.

Once I'd carefully read the manuscript, I wrote Celine a series of long emails in response. I sent one email titled 'CHARACTERS,' and detailed my thoughts on the arcs of all the major, and a few minor, players. Then, I sent two emails, titled 'PLOT,' where I shared both my praise and concerns about Celine's complex plotlines. I tried to write as much as possible, to really scrape the bottom of my brain for examples and critique points.

I felt a great deal of concern that I wasn't doing the Beta Read correctly.  I mean, in college, during my Writing Center days, we Tutors were whipped into shape.  We were under constant encouragement to self-analyze, self-critique, and self-improve our editing and tutoring approach. As a result, we were beasts — total critiquing machines. I was worried that all that muscle had turned to flab since my graduation.

But Celine seemed very happy with my responses! In fact, she gave me glowing words of praise that I might one day screenprint and hang on my wall.  I can't say enough how awesome Celine was at every turn during the process.

Then, I got this in the mail...

Acknowledgements

I was again fortunate to receive support and help from wonderful friends and artists. Silvia Park, thank you for being the most amazing critique partner a writer could want. Crystin Goodwin and Ellen Baldwin, thank you for being such thoughtful and supportive Beta Readers. Big thanks also to Keith Faulkner, my brilliant proofreader...

I can't even say how many Acknowledgement pages I've read or skimmed over the years of my life.  I read a lot of books, so I'd say... hundreds, maybe over a thousand.  So to actually be in one for the first time... it's too amazing.  It's just such an honor.

To Come In Part Two...

• How YOU can become a Beta Reader...


• How to make editorial comments that help writers...