Rob Kelley here, thinking about Beta readers.

Recently, Derek Cressman, a fellow participant in the workshop with the amazing Jeff Ford at The Writer’s Hotel conference in June, asked me to be a Beta reader for his next novel. I just returned my notes to him and it had me thinking about how I’ve used Beta readers and what my role should be for friends and fellow writers who ask me to read.

If you aren’t familiar with the term Beta reader, it comes from the technology world (my  former stomping ground!) and it references Beta testers, individuals who test early versions of hardware or software, putting them through their paces in ways that the designers and programmers might not have anticipated. Essentially, they are trying to break the product under use so the designer can make it more robust.

Ideally Beta readers don’t break anything, but they do serve the same purpose. The author has an understanding of what their prose will do, what it will accomplish. The Beta reader tests out that hypothesis.

If it’s early on in the work’s lifecycle, the writer may be looking for a “vibe check”: is this character relatable, is this plot device credible, is the setting realistic? Especially if an author is branching out into something new–a new genre, a new series–it can be extremely helpful to get early feedback.

But I think the highest value you can get from Beta readers is when you share your first solid draft, the characters fleshed out, the story arc complete. That’s what Derek asked me to look at. In that instance I believe my job is to figure out how I can help make it an even better book.

Derek’s new novel is near-future science fiction, set in a very consumerized high tech world. Now, while I’ve read many books in that genre–such as work by Philip K. Dick, William Hertling, Bruce Sterling, and William Gibson–that may not always be the case. So I try to be a “naive reader,” taking the book at face value, asking questions like: is the technology understandable, is it a distraction, or does it enhance the story? Do the characters have a real emotional journey, or are they just vehicles for playing out a technology plot? Does the plot move at a good pace, or does it sag or go too quickly in places? Does it feel like it’s true to the genre it’s in, or, even better, does it expand or challenge it?

What I don’t do is copyedit. Ideally I’m looking at a pretty clean manuscript, but we all have errors in our prose (having recently done a zillion rounds of galley reviews for Raven, finding errors in every round, I can attest to that). Instead, I think I can provide better guidance as a Beta reader by just being a really good reader.

When I had put Raven in front of Beta readers, I asked very specific questions, questions that only a really good reader could answer:

• Any scenes/characters/plotlines that you feel weren’t developed enough?
• Any scenes/characters/plotlines that seems superfluous?
• Did it ever drag? Were there sections were “page-turners?”
• Did anything disrupt your engagement with the narrative?

My Beta readers were friends and acquaintances who were interested in my writing, but, importantly, didn’t necessarily read thrillers. I felt that if they found the work compelling, I’d gone the extra mile. What they gave me in return was exceptionally valuable and helped make Raven a far, far better book.

What have you found useful being a Beta reader or having Beta readers for your own writing?

Currently reading: Burn, Peter Heller, 2024.

Next from the TBR list: Departure 37, Scott Carson (Michael Koryta), 2025.