I don’t know if it’s just the circles I’m in, but I’ve noticed a large number of authors who’ve suddenly had trouble with beta readers, who read a book and offer feedback before publication. Even experienced betas have been doing things that are frankly unethical, so I thought perhaps we just need some guidelines on what is appropriate and not for a beta reader.
The ethical beta
You have been taken into a position of trust. The author has helped you to make their book better before they publish it. The ethical beta reader understands that they are reviewing a book in a prepublication format. Errors, typos and room for improvement are to be expected. The ethical beta reader gives feedback to that effect—as complete and detailed as asked for & warranted.
Unless the author instructs you that they would like to drastically change their work, the ethical beta reader does not demand the author change the voice or style or entire book to suit the reader’s vision. The ethical beta reader only makes suggestions that they believe will make the author’s book stronger from a “neutral” standpoint, not change it into something different the reader would prefer personally.
Although it may not be mandatory, the ethical beta reader should also try to point out positives in their feedback. It’s not your job to stoke the author’s ego (unless you really love the book 😉 ), but letting the author know what does work is not only helpful but encouraging. A list of entirely negative feedback is likely to be discarded in anguish. Note that the term “textbook,” even when meant as praise, sounds like an insult, especially if that’s the closest you can come to positive feedback.
The ethical beta reader does not use abusive or insulting language about the author’s work. All original novels require a lot of effort and the author has taken you into a position of trust. Insulting their work or them as a writer/person shows a total lack of not only professionalism but also common courtesy.
The ethical beta reader makes clear the issues they have with your book in their feedback to you, not through a public review after the book has been published. Not only is your feedback of no help at that point—when that it exactly what the author asked you for, prepublication help—but it’s unethical to withhold your real feedback from the author, especially if you’ll turn around and publicly attack the book for it.
The ethical beta reader only reviews a book if they have read the version that’s being sold (or are pretty darn sure the author made the changes necessary to the book). The ethical beta reader does not mention the issues that the book had prepublication if they are resolved. If an author has told you that they have addressed a concern such as citing sources or a particular subplot, it is unfair and unethical to publicly air your complaints about their inferior quality work, which they asked you for help with and which they (may have) improved before publishing.
Now, to be sure, if an author doesn’t take your advice, you can mention the perceived weakness/fault in the review, but there’s also no cause to say, “I warned her not to do this,” or anything of the kind. (Who do you think that reflects upon?)
The ethical beta reader has absolutely no reason to create a profile for an unpublished book on a site like Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, etc. When the book is ready for publication, the author may create a profile—or you might even do that, but again, it is unethical to air your grievances against an earlier version of the book.
The ethical beta reader does not use the author’s other books as a platform to review and attack a different book or the author. The ethical reader shouldn’t do this, and as someone who has been accepted into the author’s confidence, you have an even greater responsibility.
If the ethical beta reader realizes the book is plagiarized from another book s/he has read, the beta reader says something. This might include notifying the plagiarized author or the plagiarizing author, or both. (Note: if a beta reader comes to you to report your book has been plagiarized, do not share their name with the plagiarizing author!)
Note to authors
The term “beta reader” means different things to different people—and often it means nothing to people outside of the writing industry. Be sure to clarify what level of feedback you need (general plot notes, characterization, logical flow, wording & line editing, etc.) when you send the file.
What do you think? What else do ethical beta readers do/not do?
Photo credit: Tim
OMG, it sounds as if the old Goodreads/Amazon Forum Bullies gang may have moved into beta reading. That’s terrifying news. I’ve got a guest post from Jami Gold on my blog this week on beta reading and neither of us had a clue this was going on. I will link to this from my blog and spread the word. Thanks Jordan!
Hey Jordan, Anne herself turned me onto this post and I too am flabbergasted. Really, do some people have nothing to do with their day? Who needs to spend an hour doing stuff like that! Quite aside from the harm it could do, where’s the joy in committing any of these errors compared to writing another four paragraphs of your own WiP.
Duly warned, and doubly thankful for the gang I already found.
My betas have only ever been friends and family (and they missed a lot because I’ve recently taken my first book off of sales sites due to it not being publication-ready), but it shocks me that people would actually post profiles on Goodreads, Shelfari, etc, without permission! I feel like it would take cajones to do something like that!
I don’t understand why people would do that. I get frustrated when people want me to turn my book in to something it isn’t, but if they are beta reading, why would they post about previous versions after the final version is done? And creating profiles on sites like that is just a weird kind of creepy. Stalkery, even. I don’t understand people.
I’ve never had any of the above issues with beta readers. I am thankful I haven’t.
The way I use beta readers is I list several questions I want them to answer. I also tell them not to worry about editing — grammatical errors, et cetera.
I give a deadline when I need their feedback.
I include their names in the credits in the beginning of my book if they respond to my questions.
I gift them a $5 Amazon gift card for their feedback.
With my last book (just published on Kindle last week), I sent out the first chapter to 2,000 potential beta readers. 21 people responded they were interested in reading “The King.” Of the 21 people who I sent a pre-published copy (and not edited), seven actually gave me feedback.
I don’t know if my numbers are typical or not, but of the seven who gave me feedback, one loved it and made no suggestions. There was one person who emailed me that she couldn’t read it. She was the one who wanted it in a Word file. That should have been my tipoff that she wasn’t going to give me what I wanted. I prefer to send copies in a Mobi, .pdf, or Nook version.
You send someone a Word file, and they are going to start editing — and that’s not what you want from beta readers.
The best thing about having several beta readers is consistency or inconsistency in feedback. And that’s what I look for. I also know that not everyone will like my book. I thank people regardless of what they write in their comments — as a professional, beta readers deserve that.
I find beta readers to be a great way to “test” my book before publication. If there is something major that comes up, it allows me an opportunity to fix it or discuss it with my editor and get her feedback. It’s very hard to be objective at this stage so sometimes it helps to get another opinion from someone you trust.