Gotta Have Those Perceptive Beta Readers

Without Them, Your View May Be Too Limited

By Jeff Salter

Topic: How many people read your books before you submit them? What kind of feedback do you ask for?

Our Monday Fox said it “takes a village” to get a book ready to submit… and I agree with much of what she wrote. She is fortunate, indeed, in having critique groups with responsive, cooperative, perceptive readers who will do the reading and provide their feedback in a timely fashion.

Many authors are not so fortunate.

I began writing novels in late 2006 and it was a struggle to find people willing to accept a reading copy of a manuscript… much less get their commitment to actually read the book. My first few novels went to several readers, some of whom were not particularly helpful and some of whom apparently never got around to reading the ms. at all.

By about the point of my fourth novel manuscript, I recognized that was too much of a shotgun approach. I also realized that I’d been sending out manuscripts that lacked the organization and polish they needed to be worthy of a reader’s investment.

By that time, I’d also wasted three years entering contests, with the misguided notion that I’d receive useful feedback to help me revise my manuscripts into a more publishable product. But the ratings and comments I got from judges was all over the place… and I consider the effort nearly useless [except that it convinced me contests (for me) were a waste of time, entry fees, and the stress of waiting].

Change in Strategy

I changed my strategy to spend more time and care on revising drafts before I started begging people to read them. I also narrowed my list to the small number of individuals who I knew I could count on for prompt, perceptive, and honest feedback.

My two primary beta readers are my brother and my wife — Charles typically reads Draft 3… and after I’ve incorporated his pertinent revisions, I’ll often get my wife to read Draft 4. Of course, that doesn’t work out exactly for every single manuscript I’ve written… but it’s a pretty good indication of who I turn to and when.

Furthermore, instead of printing out scores of pages (during my initial drafting phase) and begging someone to read them, I turned to brainstorming. My wife – an avid reader across many genres – has been quite good at helping me brainstorm characters, plot threads, plot direction, etc.

With my brother – a multi-published author in non-fiction, fiction, technical writing, and professional papers – I’d sometimes brainstorm, but I could also confer about various technical aspects among his varied fields of experience (e.g., my short story featuring Vietnam Era medical care / facilities in-country).

With the input I’d received by brainstorming and conferring, I’d go back through my manuscript and revise it until I considered it a complete, readable draft. [Early on, that may have been Draft 5 or 6… but as I began writing “smarter” it was more typically Draft 3 or 4.] That’s when it goes to the beta readers as a complete draft.

Kinds of Feedback

Here are the kinds of feedback I’ll typically request:
Does this scene work?
Does the pacing bog down here?
Does their dialog reveal too much at this point?
Does this situation need more explanation… or have I provided too much?
Is this scene in the right place?

Examples

As one example (of the latter), in my novel published several years ago, my brother noted that one scene interfered with the “building” flow of the characters’ relationship. He suggested that I dump it. I felt I needed that scene, but agreed it was in the wrong place… and asked for his advice on where it might fit better. He found a spot where it might work, if I altered the time line and made some other changes. I did all that and moved it. The flow was MUCH better… and I could not have done that switcheroo without his assistance / input.

Along the way, I’ll often ask my wife for specific details that are among her many strengths and areas of interest, such as: what kind of flowers would this character have? What does her house look like? What would she / he be wearing at this point in the story? Is it believable for her / him to be aware of this [whatever]? What kind of job does this character have?

Summary:

You’ve gotta have a few really good, trusted beta readers. Otherwise, you run the risk of having a view of the story that’s far too narrow — tunnel vision. No “parent” can be totally objective about their own “children.” But, often, an “aunt” or “uncle” can point out problems that you need to fix. [Even if it might be quite painful to hear.]

[JLS # 559]