My Beta Reading Process
With book one done and released, and the audio book in the works, it’s time to get to work on book two in the Word Walker series. That said, I wanted to go in depth about my beta reading process, since I am still looking for beta readers and I’m worried some people may not know what that looks like.
I have gone over my beta reading process before, both for my first book and for this book I’m currently having beta read.
However, I image using the cover of my first book on the beta reader call for the second might have been a little confusing. That said, let me go over my process, and if you’re interested in reading, please reach out! I still need 15 or so more readers, plus you’ll get a free copy of the second book, as well as the first on request. And if you want to sign up already, you can! You can head to my BetaBooks page now and get started! Or you can contact me to have the information emailed to you (you will still need a BetaBooks account. Don’t worry, it’s free).
Content Reader
My beta reading process is for content reading. That means reading purely for the content of the text. This can admittedly be a weakness for me considering that I’m not my best editor (reading disabilities are a pain for editing) and I don’t work with an editor now until after the beta process. However, if you want to read the story for content and don’t mind some typos, that’s all this process is. Helping me strengthen the story and locate plot holes. I had a plot hole all the way at the end of book one from putting out and lighting a torch between two chapters without explaining it, but my betas caught it! Beta reading is a huge help, and as long as you can read while ignoring typos, this is an easy process.
Two Chapters A Week
Most writers will ask their beta readers to read around two chapters a week. The difference between my beta reading process and the normal beta reading process though is that my chapters are about 10 pages each, with wide spacing, compared to the 20+ page chapters from most novels. This is why I feel comfortable asking readers to go through two chapters a week.
Further, I’m aiming to release one book a year. That means I need to be making deadlines. Reading two chapters a week means you’ll finish my book in a month, which means I have more time to work with my editor to polish the book. It also means that if my betas hit their goals through the whole process, I can slowly speed up my releases (with some graces to my artist) so more Word Walkers can come out sooner.
Questions With A Purpose
Each chapter of my book comes with a questionnaire. This is about 10 to 15 questions about the chapter, helping me target characters and scenes to make them stronger. While you’re absolutely always welcome to add additional notes, I do need these questions answers specifically so I can improve the text. “I don’t knows” are ok, but try to expand where you can so I can do my best to improve the text. After all, I want this book to be better. Don’t be afraid to get really critical either! As long as the comment is about the quality of the text, and not the quality of my character (i.e. “You’re a bad writer because you did…” is not good criticism), all comments are valid .
Did Some Mention Free Books?
Yes I did! All of my beta readers will get free signed ARCs of the book they beta for. Additionally, on request, I will send you a copy of any books you haven’t read yet if you’d like to catch up. Having read the entire series isn’t necessary to beta read, so if you haven’t read Word Walkers: Stolen Secret, you can still beta read for book two. Plus, you can get free books.
And that’s my beta reading process! If you’re interested in reading, or if you have more questions, get in touch. I’m happy to explain anything not covered in this blog post.