Why I Don’t Use Beta Readers

I see a lot of writers discussing how they use beta readers in their process, and I wanted to give an alternate perspective for those writers out there who are finding their experience with beta readers lacking. Remember, in the end, it’s your writing process. Do what works for you. 

But first, what is a beta reader? 

A beta reader is someone who reads an author’s semi-polished, unpublished manuscript in order to provide feedback on the work, typically from the perspective of an average reader, not a professional editor. The author can then use the beta reader feedback as they prepare their work for querying or self-publication. 

Sounds like a good idea, right? So why don’t I use them?

I’m no stranger to receiving feedback during the writing process. In college, our usual class format was to bring in chunks of our drafted scripts on a weekly basis, critiquing as we wrote; sometimes moving backward, sometimes moving forward. 

I remember a particular writing class I had. One student’s script leant literary and speculative. Another thought he was the next Quentin Tarantino, loved violence and abhorred writing rules. Another was writing a more experimental action film. Our professor was a feminist who championed women’s stories. We swapped script pages and critiques with everyone, and our feedback varied widely depending on who gave it. Ideas often clashed, and sometimes grew contentious. After four years of similar class dynamics, I got good at weighing feedback, deciding which critiques to value over others. How? It depended on what story I was trying to tell, something only I really knew, at least at that stage. I knew when something didn’t feel right, when a suggestion wouldn’t work. 

In a similar vein, if these disparate voices agreed on something, I knew I had a problem. I think this is the biggest value of beta readers. Often, it’s the pointing out of a story problem that is beneficial, but the author is the one who should come up with the solution. I think if you really know the heart of your story, you can spot these problems on your own, even if it takes some time to try to solve them. 

I’ve said it before, but every story isn’t for every reader. I think one of the traps a writer can fall into is getting too many beta readers, often under the illusion that if they can get a dozen people to sign off on their book being “good” then it is some guarantee of their success. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee. Instead, a writer can get a dozen different opinions of what works and what doesn’t. They are left trying to fix things that might not actually be broken. 

So what is my process, if I don’t use beta readers? I am a huge plotter. Capital P plotter. I spend a lot of time on my story structure, developing my themes and characters. I write my draft linearly. I edit as I go. No one ever reads the first draft except for me. When it’s done, I let it sit for at least two weeks, but preferably a month without touching it. Then, I go back and read it through, taking notes as I go of questions that arise as a reader, plot holes, parts I can cut, parts I can expand, places where I can dig deeper. I write “WHY?” an awful lot in my margins. I X out entire pages. I rewrite. And then I put it aside again, rinse and repeat. 

The idea is to tear your own writing apart. I highlight anything that it isn’t sitting right with me, even if I don’t know why just yet. This is different than the typical writer anxiety of “everything I write is trash,” it’s some specific detail or scene that’s not quite there yet.

It takes practice and experience, but self-editing is one of the most valuable skills a writer can develop. One of the easiest ways to start is to read and analyze other books in your genre. Now, comparing your draft to published work can be deflating—they’ve been professionally edited multiple times, after all—but it will help you to see what’s working and what’s not in your own work. 

Doing multiple rounds of self-editing will not perfect your manuscript, just as getting feedback from a dozen beta readers won’t perfect your manuscript. But I do think you can get your manuscript query ready (or ready for a professional edit, if you’re self-publishing) without beta readers. My manuscript for All We Have is Time didn’t have any beta readers. My husband read the draft I queried with, but didn’t offer any actionable feedback like a beta reader would. 

In full transparency, the manuscript I queried with went through two big rounds of edits before I went out on submission. I received notes from my agent and the editor at my agency that helped my story immensely. So did I regret not using beta readers after receiving my edit letter? No. Because the notes I received from my agent and editor are at a much deeper level than I would expect to get from beta readers. 

But what if you don’t have an agent or an editor? Should you pay for a professional edit before querying? I wouldn’t. I’d sooner recommend putting that money toward something that will help you learn to self-edit, a valuable skill that you can continue to hone as you write. Of course, there are free resources you can take advantage of as well, like YouTube videos and craft books from your local library. (I highly recommend Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell if you’re looking for a place to start). 

There’s more than one way to edit a manuscript, and in the end, this is your story. Whether you are using beta readers or self-editing, you will need to know what you are trying to say with it before you can accept critique and make the right kinds of changes. You need to know where you are going before you can decide the best way to get there.