Alpha readers? Beta readers? Proof readers? Many people are confused about the differences between the different types of advance readers who help an author to ensure their book is in the best possible shape before publication.
I certainly was before I started writing fiction. But it’s actually pretty straightforward.

I can only speak for myself, of course, but here’s my take on it and here’s what I ask from pre-publication readers.

Readers Aren’t Editors

Let’s talk about the first thing that causes confusion. The various readers, Alpha, Beta and Proof are NOT editors. No-one expects them to be and they don’t concern themselves with the things that a writer’s editor/s might do. I’ll mention where editors come into the process, but for my beloved volunteer readers — this is not about editing … OK?

In Chronological Order

It goes like this …

Alpha Readers

These are almost always trusted friends. The people who know that your underwear rarely matches. And that you can produce a horrific, mis-spelled, grammatically tortuous sheaf of pages. They trust those same ugly words will one day turn into a book a lot of people might enjoy.

They can see past poor writing, non-existent grammar and multiple repetitions of the same words where you typed too fast to come up with an alternative for the much-overused word ‘saw’. They can ignore far too many ‘damns’ and ‘thats’ and know they’ll all get smoothed out before the final draft. They love the story and can see through the mess to the shape of it. And they will ruthlessly tell you where you didn’t deliver on a promise you made to your readers in chapter one. (Or two, or ten or twenty). Or how many times your protagonist lost Tilly, you forgot someone was in a scene or where someone forgot to eat/sleep/think/care about stuff like an intelligent person.

I would never ask publically for alpha readers because to show anyone your work at this stage, they either have to love you unconditionally or be a fellow author that you’re swopping alpha reads with.

If I wouldn’t clean my teeth in front of you – you can’t alpha read my work 😂

IT’S THE EDITOR’S PROBLEM – 1
After an alpha read some books, go to a developmental editor for help with the book structure or the shape of the story.

Others go for a first-pass edit to make them readable and get some ‘editor-level’ feedback.

Both these things are at the discretion of the author, depending on the specific project.
(Other than for the first book) I choose the first-pass version.

Beta Readers – Want to try it YOURSELF?

These are usually fans of the author’s work (it still amazes me that people like my books!) and their job is to give the author an idea of what it was like to read their book.

STOP – Seriously – STOP

Give this some real thought for a minute, please.

I didn’t say write a two or three paragraph book report.

I didn’t say tell the author their work is ‘lovely’, great, funny or any other kind-hearted adjectives you can think of.

I said … their job is to give the author an idea of what it was like to read their book.

Yes?

With me so far?

Now imagine the author is sitting opposite, watching you like a hawk. 🧐 Making a note of every time you smile or laugh.

Every time you throw the book on the couch.

When you sigh because a character doesn’t sound quite like themself for some reason. (You don’t have to know what the reason is – just that it doesn’t feel/sound/seem quite right)

When you huff because a character’s actions are nonsensical or incomprehensible. (That might be the author’s intention at a particular stage, so it’s not a criticism of any kind to share this information.)

That is what a good beta reader gives an author. A look inside the head of a reader as they progress through the book. Which words did they need to look up? Did they bother or was it clear from the context? Were there things that confused them? Was anything so British it threw them out of the story?

When did they snigger, snort, giggle? When did they laugh like a madwoman?

Did anything make them pause for thought?

When did they realise they were stiff and sore from sitting in the same position or that the dog had been asking to go out for twenty minutes and could now get taken out because this scene or chapter is less gripping than the previous ones. (We are supposed to give readers a break occasionally. It’s good to know where the beta readers feel those breaks happen.)

Essentially, a beta reader’s emotions, good, bad and ugly, need to be reported to the author when they do a beta read. Along with anything about the overall story that was awesome or just didn’t feel right to them. At least that is what I request from my betas.

Now you know why I’ve called them my FABs in the acknowledgements in every book. Because they are Freaking Awesome Beta-readers

Would YOU like TRY beta reading?

If you would and there is NO obligation. Heavens, we don’t always like everything we try do we? Unpickled beets anyone? Anyone?

May 2024 NOTE:

I don’t currently have spaces for any new advance readers. I’ll put out a call in the Reader Group and the newsletter when I have any spaces on the team. At the moment, I’m set up throughout this year.

Here’s how it works …

• Contact me
• Include the fact that you’d like to TRY beta reading a chapter.
• I’ll send you an unpublished chapter of one of my future books. Right now it will be a chapter of Seeing Red – but in the future that might vary.
• You’ll try reading it like a beta reader and
• Let me know what it was like to read it. Send me your feedback.
• If you read and followed the instructions above and you enjoyed doing it and want to do more …
• We’ll take it from there.

The bad news about beta reading

It’s NOT a chance to read the finished book early. Only a chance to read a version of the book at a certain stage in its development. There are usually substantial changes to plotlines, character behaviour and sometimes extra twists between the beta version and the final version.

Reading a finished book early would be ARC reading. An Advance Reader Copy is a finished, fully edited (but sometimes not proofread) version of the book that is given out to reviewers a week or two before publication in return for a review.

I do not use ARC readers personally, but if you’re looking for some, try a search for #ARC or #ARCreaders on TikTok or Instagram.

IT’S THE EDITOR’S PROBLEM – 2
When the author’s final draft of a book is complete. It goes for a copy edit.
Sometimes these days with electronic publishing editors will combine a line and a copy edit.

Proofreaders – the last bastion

The unsung heroes of the writing world. They can be professionals but are more often friends or readers who have the exactly perfect level persnickety accuracy that makes them absolutely THE people to spot where two full stops crept into the end of a sentence or where one didn’t make it in at all

They notice when there is an extra A in a a sentence.

They pick up if the formatting of the page doesn’t look right. Weird breaks in the

the middle of

of a line for example. Or repeated words.

My favourite proofreaders are usually slightly on the spectrum. They’re Finn’s, but with words, not data. Obsessive might be another word. But they’re not looking for grammatical errors. Unless something glaring slipped through and they can’t help but point it out so it can be checked.

They’re simply looking for mistakes that were introduced by the editing process or were missed by everyone so far.

If you’ve ever used “Accept all changes” in Word, you’ll know that it occasionally puts mistakes into a document. My editor is brilliant, but she is also human and has kids, dogs and a life. She misses or even introduces the occasional error here or there.

Most editors aim for 95% accuracy. Honestly, mine probably hits 99%. But in 130,000 words (Painting the Blues), that’s still a lot of errors to catch at the very last minute. Up to 1300 in fact! So it’s hardly surprising all published books have occasional typos in the first edition. Proofreaders root them out ruthlessly. They’re just awesome. And we always need a few of them because no one pair of eyes can achieve anything close to perfection.

Sometimes they’re accuracy geeks and they point out that Wednesday 18th February 2021 … wasn’t. Either it was 17th or it was Thursday. Which?

They get to read the finished, fully edited book a couple of weeks before everyone else. I’m always open to hearing from any potential proofreading volunteers.

If this section of this post has made you wince, squirm and want to drop me a line about all the errors it contained and you want to volunteer—you’re my person 💗

Drop me a line through the contact page please.

But please be aware it’s a time-sensitive job. You essentially need to have some time on your hands or able to create it at about a month’s notice and be a fast reader who spots mistakes on autopilot.

Did this help?

I hope this shed some light on my process. I don’t think it’s very different from any other author’s, but I don’t like to speak for anyone else. It’s definitely what works for me.

I hope you enjoyed the insight.