hey there! i'm a regular fic writer, but i've never had anyone beta read my work and i honestly have no idea how? like how do you ask for a beta reader? where/how do you send them work? what should you ask of them? what can you offer in return as thanks? if you have any advice on anything beta related, i'd be incredibly grateful to hear it
How do you ask for a beta reader? If you have a friend in your fandom, you can ask them if they’d be willing. If you don’t, or if you’re shy about it, you can put up a post here on tumblr and/or add an author’s note to the end of your chapter or fic. Basically, let people know you want a beta and people who are willing will reach out.
Where/how do you send them work? This is something that you can work out with your beta reader, but a popular method to use is Google docs. It allows you as the author to give the beta suggesting privileges instead of editing privileges, so they can comment and suggest changes but you still have full control over the text. If docs isn’t your style, you can write emails back and forth, share Words docs, hop on a discord server, etc. Whatever works for both of you.
What should you ask of them? That depends on what kind of help you’re looking for. There are different kinds of beta readers and different skills they’re willing/able to provide. You might end up wanting multiple betas to cover different things. Some things betas can read for are:
spelling, punctuation, and grammar (often referred to as SPAG)
canon compliance
sensitivity (around race, sexuality, gender issues, ableism, etc)
plot structure
As you can see, those are all very different things requiring different skills and knowledge base. You could have a sensitivity reader who has never seen the canon, for example. You could have someone who is an expert in canon who can’t help with SPAG. Etc.
What can you offer in return as thanks? Very often, all betas want is a shout out in your author’s note. Still, since every person is different, just ask your beta and see what would be appreciated.
Other advice: Talk to your beta. Talk to them before they start work to let them know what you want them to do, and more importantly what you don’t want them to do. If you want them to focus on plot and save the SPAG stuff til later, make that clear right up front. If something they are doing is making you uncomfortable, tell them. They can’t read your mind, and since they’re trying to help you, you need to tell them if they’re not doing that. You also need to listen to them. If you’re asking them to do something they aren’t comfortable doing, then accept that you’ll need a second beta for that part of it. And if you aren’t a good fit as writer and beta, that’s okay! We all have different styles of writing and communicating. It doesn’t mean you can’t be friends. It just means that this particular writer/beta relationship just doesn’t work.
That said, if you find a great beta then appreciate the heck out of them. They’re gold!
Be sure to communicate deadlines (if there are any, such as a bang), and give yourself time to go over suggested edits before a deadline. If I’m working on something big, going over suggestions and edits is a 1-2 day process for something 30k+. The beta work needs to be done well before the posting date if we’re going to avoid a panicked crunch.
Offer or ask for a trigger/squick list. I find it good practice to put a working tag list up at the top of my document along with a rough summary so my beta has enough information to tap out if they need to. If I’m in brainstorming mode, I’ll mention where the plot may be going.
Your beta may have shorthand that they use in their comments (I definitely do). Don’t be afraid to ask them to clarify or to ask them to spell things out in more detail.
