Many of the best-known authors working today use beta readers or something very close to them, and they do it for one reason: to make the book better before it reaches the public. Andy Weir, Brandon Sanderson, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Hugh Howey, Jim Butcher, and Patrick Rothfuss have all described relying on early readers to catch what they cannot see in their own work.
If you're wondering whether beta reading is worth it for your book, it's worth noticing that authors with far more experience than most of us still won't publish without it. Here is what seven of them have said, and what you can take from each.
Andy Weir began writing The Martian as a free serial on his website, posting new chapters as he finished them. A core of about 3,000 devoted readers followed along, and many of them knew their science. Weir has said that getting their feedback was great because they would point out where he was wrong, and he would go back and fix it. He described the effect this way: "It was like having thousands of fact-checkers."
He calls these early readers his beta readers, and says they were "incredibly useful." Because he wanted scientific accuracy, having readers who could spot errors was critical. He adds that even for an ordinary story, early readers show you which plotlines they like and which they don't, so you get a sense of what is working.
What you can take from it: Choose readers who know something you don't. If your book depends on specialized knowledge, whether science, medicine, history, or a culture, a reader with that background can catch problems no one else will.
Sanderson uses one of the most organized reader systems in publishing. He sends an early polished draft to what he calls alpha readers, who include his editor, his agent, his writing group, and friends and family. After revisions, he brings in beta readers, usually community readers, and he has described gamma readers as a later stage still.
He explains that beta readers are usually fans and average readers, and that he uses them as a "test audience" to gauge how a book will be received. He doesn't expect them to solve his problems; he wants their reactions. His team also sometimes picks readers for a specific kind of expertise, such as choosing someone with medical experience to read surgery scenes.
Sanderson also thanks his readers publicly. In the acknowledgments to Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, he names his alpha, beta, and gamma readers individually, dozens of people in all.
What you can take from it: Different readers help at different stages. Writers and professionals are often best for early drafts, while ordinary readers show you how the finished book will land.
In his memoir On Writing, King describes the idea of an ideal reader, a person a writer imagines while working, wondering how that person will react to each part. His answer is simple: "For me that first reader is my wife, Tabitha."
Tabitha's role goes back to the start of his career. When he gave up on the story that became Carrie and threw pages away, she rescued them and encouraged him to keep going. She is still the first person he trusts with his writing, and she is known for giving honest feedback.
What you can take from it: A first reader doesn't have to be a stranger, but they do have to be honest. The best first readers care about you enough to tell you the truth.
Gaiman's rules for writers, published in The Guardian in 2010, include a step many authors skip: once you've finished a draft and put it aside, show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing it is. Then comes his most-quoted piece of advice about feedback. When people say something is wrong or doesn't work for them, he says, "they are almost always right." But when they tell you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
What you can take from it: Trust your readers' reactions, but not necessarily their solutions. That is the same advice we give in How to Handle Conflicting Beta Reader Feedback: find the problem behind the suggestion, then fix it your own way.
Hugh Howey, the author of Wool, has been open about his process. He has described sending drafts first to a small team of editors, including his wife and mother, and then to a larger group of beta readers. He has said he wanted to hear from as many readers as possible about what was wrong before a book went out.
His advice to other writers is direct: "Believe the negative comments and discount the positive ones." He says you will see the same feedback later in reviews, only louder. He has also noted that feedback from other writers helps most while writing, but feedback from non-writers helps him the most when he's getting ready to publish.
What you can take from it: Critical feedback is uncomfortable, but it is a preview of what public reviews will say. It is far better to hear it before publication.
Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files, credits a group of beta readers with helping him improve more than anything else. They are a diverse group of readers who give him feedback, and he prefers feedback from readers over feedback from other writers. His explanation: "If you're a magician, you don't design your tricks to impress other magicians."
What you can take from it: Your book is going to be read by readers, so get feedback from people who read for pleasure in your genre, not only from fellow writers.
Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Kingkiller Chronicle, has described "a very extensive beta reader process," in which he shares his books and stories with a lot of people and gathers feedback so he can refine and revise. For one shorter, more recent project, he said he used about forty or fifty beta readers, and he described the process as even larger for his novels.
What you can take from it: Even the most successful authors cast a wide net, and no one reader has to be right about everything. Patterns across many readers are what matter.
The authors above work in different genres and use different systems, but their reasons line up:
| Author | What early readers gave them |
|---|---|
| Andy Weir | Corrections to the science and a sense of which plotlines worked |
| Brandon Sanderson | A test audience, plus expert readers for specific scenes |
| Stephen King | An honest first reaction from someone he trusts |
| Neil Gaiman | Signals about what isn't working, which he then fixes his own way |
| Hugh Howey | A preview of the reviews to come |
| Jim Butcher | The perspective of real readers, not other writers |
| Patrick Rothfuss | A wide pool of feedback to refine and revise |
None of them treat beta readers as a replacement for editors or their own judgment. They use them to see the book from the outside, which is the one thing an author can't do alone.
Many authors thank their early readers in the acknowledgments. Sanderson names his readers one by one, and if you flip to the back of your favorite novels, you will often find a line thanking the people who read the manuscript early. It's a good habit to copy: if your beta readers helped, thank them by name.
You don't need a big team or a bestseller's budget to use the same approach:
If you would rather not manage volunteers, a professional service does the matching and delivers a structured report. See Free vs. Paid Beta Readers and a sample beta reading report.
Do What Bestselling Authors Do
Get honest, experienced feedback before your book goes out. Entrada Publishing matches your manuscript with readers who know your genre and returns a detailed written report in two to three weeks. A single reader is $85, three independent readers are $150, and the cost can be credited toward a professional book review when you're ready to publish.
Many do. Andy Weir, Brandon Sanderson, Hugh Howey, Jim Butcher, and Patrick Rothfuss have all described using them, and Stephen King and Neil Gaiman describe relying on trusted first readers.
To see the book the way a reader will. Early readers catch confusing passages, slow sections, factual errors, and plot problems that an author who knows the story too well cannot see.
It is a common courtesy, and many authors do. Brandon Sanderson, for example, names his alpha, beta, and gamma readers in the acknowledgments of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.
No. As Neil Gaiman's advice suggests, pay close attention when readers say something isn't working, but you can choose your own way to fix it.
Yes. If authors with many bestsellers still use early readers, a first-time or self-published author has even more reason to.
Quotes and details in this article come from the following: