My NEW Writing Process: Alpha and Beta Readers

Hello again, and welcome to my second of three posts recapping my NEW writing process.

This month, I'm going to be talking about working with Alpha and Beta readers.

Quick side note, not everyone uses an Alpha reader, nor does everyone need one, but (partially due to my Dyslexia) I couldn't imagine putting a book together without the help of my Alpha reader/editor/mom. If, like me, you need some help cleaning up your book before you feel comfortable handing it over to Beta readers, you may want to consider finding an Alpha reader. If you are looking for an Alpha reader, I would personally recommend finding someone who is gifted in grammar/wordplay who you trust intimately, as there are few things as humbling as asking someone to critique the fruit of your labor.

Now, onto the post! 

Before we actually start editing the book, my Alpha reader and I individually pre-read the manuscript and leave notes on continuity errors, odd phrases, or other problems we see in the manuscript. These days, we leave the comments directly in the document to help save time later, while I compile the bigger, overarching notes into an action list in Google tasks.  

Once we know where the sticking points are, we go through the book, reading every single word out loud, as some lines will look fine, but end up sounding very odd. We edit out the major issues, though it's important to note that we don't always agree on every single point, and that's okay! At the end of the day, it's there's nothing wrong with claiming author privilege and leaving one disputed point untouched, so long as you don't do that with every line. 

Once we've gone through the manuscript a handful (3-5ish?) times, it's time to find some Beta readers! Personally, I like using other authors as Beta's, as no one understands the writing craft quite like an author, but there are a lot of people who don't agree with this point. Either way, it's fair to say that finding good Beta readers is hard. If you do end up using fellow writers as Beta's it's generally considered polite to at least offer to swap manuscripts with them, (Beta-swapping) so you can both get a read out of it!

I always offer a list of basic questions (formatted as a Google Form for ease of use) to my Betas, though I find most writers don't actually need that. One major change between how I work with Betas now, vs before, is that I'm trying to incorporate clear guidelines for when I need to hear back from them, however, I'm still working on actually following through on that. 

When my book is with my Betas, there's nothing much to do, but sit back and chew my fingernails, so how about we skip ahead to the point where I've already gotten all my feedback? As with my Alpha reader, I carefully compile all the critiques from my Betas, and consider each one. I do not always implement every comment from every Beta, but I do read, and think through every one, before making a decision. 

I am ever so glad to be able to tell you, that taking critiques has become much easier over the years! I no longer consider even harsh critiques to be personal attacks, and I now know the difference between a good Beta and a bad one. This means I can simply dismiss destructive criticism when I realize that a Beta simply isn't in my intended readership. Again, I do not do this with every reader or critique, but sometimes you can just tell that someone is trying to make your book match their style, rather than helping you improve the book you wanted to write.

And... that's where we're going to end for this post, next month, we'll cover post-Beta edits, and finishing the manuscript.

Have a great day, and keep writing!