Sharing your early writing can help you avoid embarrassing mistakes that cause readers to leave bad reviews after you publish to the world. When you encourage honest feedback from early readers you also get a team of people who feel invested in your book. When it's time to launch your book, you're going to have a marketing street team to help. Read on to learn how to cultivate and interact with beta readers. 

Which Comes First? Critique Partners or Beta Readers?

Beta publishing is pre-publishing or publishing “small,” before you distribute “big” using IngramSpark, Draft2Digital or any of the other services that get your book into Amazon, Apple, the other online retailers, not to mention bookstores and libraries. 

For beta publishing you might distribute your book to early readers using Google Docs, Dropbox, or even better, a tool like BookFunnel, Story Origin, or ProlificWorks. (See my Consumer's Guide for a full list). 

In my writing life, I've had groups from two to ten critique partners. Some members have been family members, but I've always had at least two writers to exchange critiques with. I'm also a big fan of writer's groups.

I think you should get input from critique partners who have studied the art of storytelling before distributing to beta readers. Why? Because beta readers just like to read. They may not be able to give you the kind of feedback that another writer can provide.

Overcoming the Fear of Revealing Your Early Work

You may be feeling nervous about sharing your early work, before it's perfect. So beta publishing can be a tough hurdle to jump but it's undoubtedly the best way to start marketing your books. 

You may imagine they'll judge you. That they'll think your writing is bad, or your story is silly, that your memoir is self-serving, or your business book is pompous or boring.

These are understandable insecurities, but here are the top three things I believe about fear.

• Fear is normal.
• Fear is inevitable.
• Fear can stop you from living your best life.

If you aren't doing something that scares you a little bit every day you might be missing out. So, trust yourself. Plus, you'd rather it happen now than AFTER you publish, right? That's a powerful incentive. 

How to Find Beta Readers

If you're writing in a certain genre or on a topic, you're probably connected to others who read the same kinds of things. You'll probably need to start hanging out on social media with them and interacting BEFORE you ask them to read your book. 

There's a trick to finding beta readers. You want people who don't know you very well, and who are interested in the topic you're writing about. 

Where to Beta Publish

Now that you've learned how to find beta readers, let’s explore all the places where you can safely and  beta publish your stories and books. Save perfection for the finished product. Just get your writing out there and start conversations with your readers. This is a great marketing practice that helps you build your community and your 1000 true fans. 

How to Interact with Beta Readers

Working with beta readers should be a pleasure. It's important to find the right ones, offer them a reward that is valuable to them, and to maintain communication. When you contact your beta readers, clarify that the critique questions are optional.

Be upfront and honest about the type of critique you’re looking for, but never believe you’re entitled to receive it simply because you’ve offered to beta in return. Writers lead busy lives, and sometimes they simply don’t have the time or desire to meet your needs.

Wait for my upcoming blog post on how to interact with your beta readers for tips and resources.

Turning Beta Readers into a Powerful Book Marketing Street Team

Once you've developed relationships with your beta readers, don't drop them. These people are your early fans and will be happy to spread the word about your book once it's finished.

Keep them involved, send them revisions, ask their opinions, thank them with free, autographed copies of your book. Ask them to take a photo with your book to post on social media and your website. The cost of printing and postage is cheap compared to the exposure you'll get.

• Social media
• Virtual meetings (like Zoom)
• In-person meetings, if you've got local fans
• Email newsletters

Once your book is ready to launch you can ask them to prepare a review for Amazon for the first day of publication. Here's another post on how you can build your book marketing street team.

Create a Beta Reader Application

I've found that everybody wants to read a free book but few readers have the social media accounts and desire to do the work to post reviews. Set the bar high by asking readers to apply to be a beta reader. Use Google Forms and make all questions required. You will be asking a lot from these people - but give them rewards! So it's best if you know they can at least complete a form first, right? Ask them what social media platforms they use, if they belong to book groups, what other authors they read, if they use Goodreads or LibraryThing, and why they want to be a beta reader for you. Make the last question optional: "Do you want me to know anything else about you?" and you'll be surprised at the answers you get. I got over 300 applications for beta readers and found that the only ones worth considering were the readers who filled out that last question. 

Conclusion

Beta readers can help you with editing, but you really should hire professional editing and proofreading before you publish your book. You can download the free book formatting guide I wrote for IngramSpark to find out how.