First Readers (Beta Readers) discussion

When I first set this group up, I thought it would be best to make it a private group. The reasoning was that, with greater control over who joined, the quality of beta reading would be higher than it would if just anybody were able to join the group.

I've since reconsidered and think this logic is flawed because, first of all, the smaller the group, the fewer the beta readers available. Secondly, the smaller the group, the fewer the number of offered works. Put these together and you wind up with a pretty stagnant group with very little member activity.

So I've gone ahead and made the group public in order to increase the number of members. Where, before, only members could browse the discussions, now everyone can. Where, before, one of the mods had to send an invite or else approve a request for membership in the group, now, anyone can join.

I'm hoping this might attract non-writers as well. Avid readers are a valuable resource for writers who are looking for high-quality beta readers to catch not only the great blunders but also the subtle slips that shadow their way into our manuscripts.

As far as the quality of beta reading going on, I'll just put my faith in 'the invisible hand of the market' (in this group for good beta reads). I'm confident things will balance out.


Thanks!

I agree, readers are valuable resources. Serious beta readers are gems, but like gems, they're few and far between. Nonetheless, extra eyes are always a good thing.

I should add, if we have a general list of requirements for beta readers, that might be helpful, going even so far as to ask for references if available.

Good ideas. I'd leave the requirements and reference requests up to each individual writer if they want them though. The reason being that we wouldn't want to discourage avid readers by having them think they need references in order to participate at all. The same goes for other qualifications.

What sort of requirements were you thinking of, by the way?

Mike wrote: "Good ideas. I'd leave the requirements and reference requests up to each individual writer if they want them though. The reason being that we wouldn't want to discourage avid readers by having them..."

Just a few hard set requirements, like meeting a deadline for completed work and providing requested feedback.

I know this sounds like this would be common knowledge, but I can tell you from experience, I have sent out work to beta readers and either they did not meet the deadline or provided little to no feedback. In their defense, I did not specify an exact date I wanted the feedback, but now I know what exactly to request of them.

Makes sense. You think a standard time frame according to word count, and, maybe a standard form to fill out?

What I don't want to happen is for a good and serious writer to enter into a beta-reading agreement with a fly-by-night dabbler and have that writer provide a detailed, good-faith analysis while the other person responds only after being prodded and with a flippant, terse reply at that.

So, yeah. I think it makes perfect sense. I'll work on something today or tomorrow, pm it to you and see what you think.

Thanks!

Mike wrote: "Makes sense. You think a standard time frame according to word count, and, maybe a standard form to fill out?

What I don't want to happen is for a good and serious writer to enter into a beta-read..."

I also don't want to discourage avid readers from beta reading as their feedback has proven to be invaluable to me in terms of plot issues and character development. I've also found that serious beta readers are not put off by requesting references and often times offer them on their own. So maybe just a mention of references if available, but not necessary, might be helpful.

Agreed, 100%.

Well, that lets me right out. I certainly don't have any references for my beta-reading prowess. Guess no one would be able to get their start beta-reading here, then.

K.A. wrote: "Well, that lets me right out. I certainly don't have any references for my beta-reading prowess. Guess no one would be able to get their start beta-reading here, then."

Sure they would. I'm not trying to discourage anyone without experience. I didn't mean to give that impression. It would just be nice to know up front if someone has experience, but it's definitely not necessary. :)

Exactly. I guess the idea is, "If you have references as a beta reader, share them." While it isn't necessary to have them, it will likely help you with the writers when they're trying to find readers because they know you've done it before.

If we could see the reviews of a potential beta-reader, it might help. Perhaps there is a way to do that but I don't know about it--just clueless, I guess.