- Do the first 10 pages make you want to keep reading? If not, what is the problem?
- Do you find yourself skipping pages?
- Are you confused at any point in the story?
- How do you relate to the characters?
- Do you know what genre you're reading?
- Do you find satisfaction in the ending?
What should I look for when reading Beta?
- Honesty. A good beta reader must have the ability to provide honest feedback. …
- Finesse. Delivering constructive criticism to someone takes finesse. …
- Fit. One way to know you've found a great beta reader is if he or she fits your target audience. …
- Knowledge.
How do you ask someone to beta read?
- Have betas comment with their thoughts or take notes as they read, even if it's to say, “Ooh, I like this” or to make predictions about what will happen next. …
- Specify what kind of feedback you're looking for. …
- Ask them to focus on certain aspects of your book.
What does beta reading include?
Beta readers review
finished manuscripts before they're published
, providing the author with feedback from the reader's point of view. … A beta reader is the opposite of an alpha reader: the first person who reads and provides feedback on your manuscript, usually while it's still a first draft.
What is a good question to ask a reader?
Best Questions About Reading Books
What's the first book you remember reading
? What are you reading right now? What was the last book you read? What book will you read next?
Can beta readers steal your work?
First-time authors may not have the luxury of enthusiastic fans who are prepared to beta read their manuscripts for free. So invariably they fall back on family and friends to read their work. …
A beta reader cannot legally steal your words once they are set down
.
How long should a beta reader take?
You need beta readers who are reliable and motivated. It is going to require several hours of their time. As a rule of thumb it takes
an hour to read and process 10,000 words
. Therefore if your manuscript is 100,000 words tell your beta readers that it is approximately ten hours of reading time.
What should I ask an Alpha reader?
Typically, questions you may want to ask should revolve around
plot holes
, believability, fact-checking, underdeveloped characters, originality, dialogue, pace and overall structure.
Can a friend be a beta reader?
The whole idea that family and friends aren't good beta readers is baloney, for three reasons: Family and friends will give you incredible feedback.
A nice beta reader is better than none
.
What are alpha and beta readers?
Alpha Readers:
Those who read your really, really rough manuscript and give you feedback
. They have to be built of sturdy stuff if they are to read something so rough. Beta Readers: Those who read your touched up manuscript to give you feedback (after you have fixed the mistakes the Alpha Readers pointed out).
What is a beta reader supposed to do?
A beta reader is usually a test reader of an unreleased work of literature or other writing (similar to beta testing in software), who gives
feedback from the point of view of an average reader to the author
. … This feedback is used by the writer to fix remaining issues with plot, pacing, and consistency.
How much does a beta reader cost?
001 and $. 0015 per word
for beta reading, depending on how heavy the feedback was.
Do you really need beta readers?
Beta readers aren't mandatory
, by any means, but they can give authors a powerful opportunity to see what's landing and what's not in their manuscripts. After all, when you've been so focused on something for so long — and when you're so emotionally invested — it's easy to lose perspective.
What are some fun questions to ask?
- What would you name your boat if you had one? …
- What's the closest thing to real magic? …
- Who is the messiest person you know? …
- What will finally break the internet? …
- What's the most useless talent you have? …
- What would be on the gag reel of your life? …
- Where is the worst smelling place you've been?
What is the 5 WH questions?
- Who is it about?
- What happened?
- When did it take place?
- Where did it take place?
- Why did it happen?
What are some question to ask about a book?
- Explain the title.
- What category or genre do you think it fits into?
- What do you think the author's purpose was?
- Something you liked about it.
- Something you disliked about it.
- Describe the setting.
- Which character did you like most?
- Which character did you like least?
