27 Comments
User's avatar
Waka Jejeli's avatar

7 - 10 is way more than my brain can handle. Can't I just have a beta best mate? Need to finish off the second draft first and fix the ending and a whole bunch of other things first. Then hopefully I'll still have brain left for maybe 3 beta readers...

Alexandra's avatar

I mean, the goal is to have 3-5 beta readers who actually provide you with feedback, but I found it's always best to submit to more people, in case some fall through :) But also very fair, a beta best mate would be amazing. You can do it!

User's avatar
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Feb 13
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Waka Jejeli's avatar

Yes - I'm working on a couple of stories - a short one and a serial form.

Rich Udell's avatar

Great post. I went through the process recently. You sound way more organized than me.

Alexandra's avatar

Thank you! I'm trying really hard to stay organised, otherwise I would never get anything done, unfortunately 😅 How is your novel going? Are you editing or querying already?

Rich Udell's avatar

I published early January

Alexandra's avatar

Oh amazing! Congratulations 🥳

Callum's avatar

I bet all your beta readers are super cool people with perfectly normal opinions about kiwis 😅

I'm just coming towards the end of my first draft but I'm still a long way from beta readers, need to clean up a bunch of messes I made along the wayyy

Alexandra's avatar

Totally 👀

Almost being done with the first draft is a huge achievement! Well done 🥳 Can't wait to beta read for you soon 😏

Luise Reader's avatar

hello 👋 do you still need beta reading

Alexandra's avatar

Hey there! I don’t at the moment, but thanks for the offer :)

Ciro Capão's avatar

just starting on getting feedback on my novel and this has been very helpfull

Alexandra's avatar

I'm glad!

Getting feedback can be very daunting at first, but knowing how to work with it makes it a lot easier :)

Marcin Pilarczyk's avatar

Good stuff. I also have two posts on meaningful beta reader feedback and available platforms in my publication.

Sunnywave | Hawai‘i's avatar

Am I currently planning to write a novel? No.

Have I now tagged this as insight for if I do one day? Absolutely!!! ✨🌟✨

Mahalo for sharing ✨🌺✨

Alexandra's avatar

Haha, I hope it can be helpful to you one day! Thank you for reading 🥳

Sunnywave | Hawai‘i's avatar

Mahalo Alexandra! ✨💐✨and good luck with your querying :) I subbed so can come back and cheer you on ✨🌷✨ feel free to drop by my page and connect back? My new post will be up tomorrow 🪷 wishing you a beautiful day! 🪴

Ashley Felice's avatar

I definitely made some mistakes in the beta read process, but it was still helpful. These are good tips for next time!

Alexandra's avatar

Mistakes are great because then you know what to do better next time! Glad you found the post helpful, thank you for reading :)

Author Gold's avatar

I love that you are sharing your experienced advice here for others to follow!

I publish children's books, and I have a great group of friends to beta read those with their kids :) but I'll need to get a better system as I finish my chapter book this year!

Alexandra's avatar

I have made my fair share of mistakes, and if my posts can help others to not follow in my footsteps, I'm happy about it!

That's amazing, I'm glad you have such a supportive friend group :) And yes, it can be really tricky to figure out the right ways to go about beta reading, but it's such a rewarding process!

Lourdes Apresa's avatar

This is very useful! I have my book with three people right now, but have a list to send of people who I will send it to once I make changes with this first round of feedback.

Lourdes Apresa's avatar

It’s a contemporary adult horror, I like to pitch it as Mexican Gothic meets Jennifer’s Body, definitely more paranormal

Alexandra's avatar

Sounds really interesting! I don't think I have ever read a horror novel before, but maybe it's time 😂

Alexandra's avatar

I'm glad you liked it, thanks for reading! That sounds like a great plan :) What is your novel about?

Vincent Oluseyi's avatar

I'm interested

What is the word count

User's avatar
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Feb 13
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Alexandra's avatar

Hi there :) Mostly Fantasy and Science Fiction.