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Alpha and beta readers: Your manuscript’s first steps into the world

Last week, I wrote about the challenges we face when editing and revising our own writing. But we have to do it. Unless you’re Stephen King, the first draft of your manuscript is going to be pretty rough. You probably won’t want anyone to read it (I see you, slamming your laptop closed when you think someone is looking over your shoulder!). It may take two, five, ten revisions before you are finally ready to share your writing with anyone else. But, if you’re hoping to get published, the time will come when you have to ask other people to read it. Whether you’re writing a short academic article or an essay or a longer novel or non-fiction book, it pays dividends to get other peoples’ opinions to move your editing process along.

That’s where alpha and beta readers come in. Alpha readers are the first people to read your manuscript (think your friend, partner, sister, parish priest) and a beta reader is generally a professional editor who reads it after you’ve revised it based on the fabulous advice from your alpha readers. I’m going to look at each in turn.

Alpha readers

So, you’re feeling nervous. But, you also feel ready to share your manuscript to get some initial constructive feedback, such as what works, what needs more work, what your reader likes or doesn’t like, and so on. Alpha readers are often trusted family members or friends. While blindly handing your manuscript over to someone and asking for their opinion can work sometimes, it can help to provide your alpha reader with guidelines about what specific things you want them to focus on. For instance, at this stage, your manuscript is likely littered with typos, punctuation errors, grammar and syntax issues. You know that. And it’s likely not what you want your alpha reader to focus on. Instead, you might want them to read it with an eye for setting, context, characters, world building, story development, and so on. Tell them that. And discuss what type and form of feedback you would like. Do you want written feedback or are you going to discuss your manuscript over a glass of wine?

Tips for choosing alpha readers

• Readers not writers: The best people to read an early draft of your manuscript are fellow readers. While fellow writers might be overly analytical and critical of the mechanics of your writing, trusted readers are more likely to provide constructive criticism. When I was ready to share a draft of my memoir, I chose three friends who I knew to be good readers. Two have similar novel-reading tastes as me and we talked about and shared books a lot. One was close to my age and knew my story intimately (indeed, had been a part of some of it) and the other was older and didn’t know the story I was telling at all. The third friend had completely different reading tastes. She never reads novels, but loves autobiography, memoir and other non-fiction. I trusted her judgement and knew she would have a keen eye for my memoir. I was very lucky. My three alpha readers came back with almost identical praise and criticism, which meant that I knew what was working and what was not. However, I wouldn’t necessarily go back to those three readers with a different manuscript. Rather, I would choose alpha readers based on their suitability to the particular genre and theme.
• Don’t ask your mum: My mother thinks I’m great. That’s why she wouldn’t make a very good alpha reader. Finding typos, correcting punctuation, improving sentence structure, that’s her thing. But critiquing something I’ve done? No way. I’m a perfect angel who does very little wrong. (You agree, Mammy, don’t you?) In other words, avoid asking someone to be an alpha reader who would never want to hurt your feelings by critiquing your writing. You’re in this for constructive criticism not glowing praise.
• Time on their hands: I’m a solo mum running my own small editing and writing business. I’m the worst person to ask to alpha read your manuscript. I know, because I’ve let people down before. With the best intentions in the world, I lack the time and, because I read and edit content for a living all day long, alpha reading someone’s manuscript in my spare time feels like a bus-man’s holiday. Sure, if you want to pay me to read your manuscript, I’ll do it. But that’s not the purpose of the alpha reader. So, carefully choose alpha readers who you know will have the time and the inclination to commit to both reading your manuscript and giving you feedback. Don’t be afraid to set a deadline (be reasonable and fair): “Can you read this and give me feedback by the end of November?” If they can’t commit to that, then find someone else.

Beta reader

Your friends, family, colleagues, dog groomer, dentist have now read your manuscript and provided you with some great advice. You may, like me, be lucky and get pretty similar advice from your two, three or more alpha readers, or you may get very mixed and contradictory advice. Either way, it’s revision time once again, as you figure out which advice you want to take onboard, which you want to ignore and how you intend to use what your alpha readers have told you to improve your manuscript.

Two or three more drafts down the road and it’s time to call in your beta reader. That’s usually someone like me – a professional editor. Sometimes, my clients even provide me with the feedback they’ve received from their alpha readers, so I can see how they’ve got to where they are now. As a professional beta reader, it is my job to not only provide constructive criticism on structure, narrative arc, character development, world building, and so on, but to provide constructive advice and ideas about how to effect the changes needed. In addition, I’m here to help with copy editing, to work out those grammatical and syntactical kinks, and to edit out typos and punctuation errors. Unlike an alpha reader, a beta reader understands what publishers are looking for and what you can do to improve the chances of your manuscript being picked up.

So, what are you waiting for? Ask those trusted people in your life to be your alpha readers and then find a beta reader (maybe me?) to help you across the finish line.

What I’m working on

The variety of my work never ceases to amaze me. At the moment, I’m (1) conducting a scientific and English language edit on an academic journal article on responsibility for elder care in China, (2) putting in a couple of hours each morning on an ongoing language edit of a vast medical encyclopaedia and learning something new about diseases, injuries, medications and health care techniques every single day and (3) developing a ghostwriting pitch for a genre of writing that I’ve never done before using both written notes and voice notes I’ve recorded when out walking the dog. My desk has been littered with books all week, as I’ve sought inspiration and ideas for what this ghostwritten book might look like.

What I’m reading

Since it was published in 2019, I have wanted to read Ian Maleney’s memoir Minor Monuments and I’ve finally done it. Maleney comes from the other end of Co. Offaly to me and, despite being 20 or more years my junior, shared a similar upbringing and a similar path away from his rural bogland home. Like me, he is deeply influenced by Seamus Heaney, finding in him, as I did, a way to understand and express the beauty and wonder of our Bog of Allen home. Maleney dwells on themes of place and being in the world (I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when he referenced Tim Ingold, my PhD supervisor, even if he did mistakenly refer to him as Scottish!) and ponders (a reflection of Heaney’s Digging) a way of rural life that is passing/has passed and to which he no longer really belongs. Maleney is a sound engineer by training and describes his efforts to capture, with limited success, the sounds of the bog. The memoir is told in a series of essays that focus predominantly on his beloved grandfather’s developing Alzheimer’s. While some of the essays work better than others, I was deeply moved by the book overall, both for what it told me about Maleney and what it told me about myself.

See you next time!

Martina

Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash