A beta read is all about how your manuscript will be received by your target audience. It focuses purely on reader reactions, rather than the deep analysis and guidance of an evaluation or edit.
This is ideal if you are confident diagnosing developmental issues yourself: a beta read will provide an external perspective and show you where your manuscript is excelling and where it might need some more work, but it won’t dig down into the root of the problems or provide possible solutions to them.
Beta reading is ideal for when you have a polished manuscript draft and are looking for some fresh input to inform your next revisions.
Here’s what you’ll get
- A 2–3 page feedback letter letting you know my overall thoughts about your manuscript. With my reader’s hat on, I’ll give you my opinion on the big-picture elements of your story, such as your plot, characters and worldbuilding, as well as on how readable and engaging I found your prose.
- If you have a prepared set of questions, or something in particular you’d like to know my thoughts on, I will usually be able to include these in my letter—just let me know before I begin reading.
- Optional add-on: I will add my real-time thoughts as comments in the margin of your manuscript. These will include:
- highlights of my favourite lines and moments,
- questions I have about the story as I’m reading,
- notes about anywhere that I’m feeling confused or unengaged,
- predictions about where I think the story is going to go next (so you can check whether your foreshadowing, tension-building, twists, or reveals are working as intended).
- Optional add-on: While a beta read is done purely from a reader’s stance, I can provide some brief editorial notes in addition to the standard beta read. With this add-on, I will provide a one-page editorial assessment with the feedback letter, letting you know where I think your manuscript would most benefit from revision and making some broad editorial suggestions.
Cost
- Standard beta read (feedback letter): £3.50 per 1000 words (e.g. £280 for an 80,000-word manuscript)
- Beta read with manuscript comments: £4 per 1000 words (e.g. £320 for an 80,000-word manuscript)
- Add-on editorial assessment: £80 (flat rate)
Why pay for beta reading?
Beta reading is often done as an exchange or a favour, and swapping manuscripts can be a beneficial way to meet other writers. But things don’t always work out the way you would hope: people flake, or don’t get around to reading your manuscript for six months, or their feedback turns out to be vague and unhelpful or not at all what you were looking for. This is understandable when people are doing it for free; your manuscript is not going to be their priority. And if you’re asking people who aren’t experienced beta readers, the amount of usable feedback you receive is going to vary wildly.
If you can find reliable beta readers who give you helpful feedback, that’s great—hold onto them! But if not, this is where paying a professional beta reader can take away the extra stress: you will get the agreed-upon feedback from a trustworthy, experienced reader within the agreed-upon time. It’s that easy.
Ready to book? Got a question?
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