Beta readers are crucial to me as an independent writer.  When I decide my book is DONE, they are the first people to read it – and I count on them to tell me why it’s NOT done. They are critical readers who know when a novel isn’t living up to its potential, and they can articulate what has gone wrong.  Is a character stereotypical? Is a chapter dragging?  Did something happen that no one would believe, even within the context of fiction? Why wasn’t that loose end tied up?

Beta readers spot problems to which I am blind and let me know, so I can fix them before the novel makes its way out into the world of readers (and reviewers!).

Here’s the process I follow, and where the beta readers fit:

1. Write a draft
2. Rewrite it until I think it’s ready for publication
3. Send it to a professional editor who is ruthlessly critical, but full of excellent advice.
4. Make changes to plot and character based on the editor’s feedback
5. Rewrite it again and again and again until it’s REALLY ready for publication
6. Send it to beta readers who find those final, nagging plot, character or style issues that are preventing it from being its best
7. Rewrite it again to fix those issues
8.  Publish!

Beta readers are essential in the success of my work.  They are unpaid volunteers – a combination of fiction enthusiast, literature professor, secret keeper and diplomat that is rare indeed.  They are not proofreaders — I’m not looking for them to tell me a comma is missing. I’m looking for them to tell me what about the book is not working for them.

If you think you have what it takes, drop me a line at a.h.gilbert@outlook.com.  You may become one of the first people to read my next novel!