What is a Beta-Reader?
A beta-reader is someone who reads a book before it is published to the public and then gives advice and points out errors within the book.
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Beta-readers are to give a new perspective since the author can be slightly biased at times.
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Our beta-readers get added to a mailing list, and as soon as a project comes in, they receive an email and then can accept or decline to beta-read that said book.
Once readers are working on a project, they are added to a separate mailing list to keep them updated and discuss the book.
Beta-Reader Checklist
READABILITY
Does any part of the story drag?
Are there parts that you skipped to get to ‘the good part’?
Do I over-inform (info-dump) anywhere?
Did you understand every phrase / term I used?
STEAMY BITS
Do any of the love scenes seem overly cliché?
Were the love scenes too fast, too slow, or too frequent?
Did you have to reread any part of the love scenes to understand who was doing what?
Did any action in the love scene make you cringe?
Did it make you hot?
FLOW
Does one scene lead logically into the next?
Do the scenes flow smoothly from one action to the next, or did they jump as though something was skipped?
Is there enough downtime between intense scenes to allow it to build to the next?
THE WORLD
Can you see every action clearly while reading?
If you went there in real life, would you recognize the places?
Did you have to reread any part of the action sequences to understand who was doing what?
DIALOGUE
Does the Dialogue sound realistic for the individual
characters?
Could you see what the characters were doing while talking?
Could you see where the characters were while talking?
CHARACTERS
Could you see what each character looked like clearly?
Do their actions and reactions seem logical and realistic?
Could you feel the emotions between the characters?
Does the story stay focused on my main character?
Were any of my characters too much of a jerk or too aggressive?
Were any of my characters whiny, wimpy, or overly dramatic?
Are any of my characters too stereotypical?
Who did you like best and WHY?
Who did you hate and WHY?
Who got on your nerves and WHY?
Do any of the characters get in the way of the STORY?
Become a Beta-Reader
Need Beta-Readers?
To enter your book into our beta-reading program for free, please email
submissions.thebooklover@gmail.com
Please make sure the subject line is formatted exactly like the example below, and be sure to include everything our checklist requires.
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE
So, for example, it could be like this -
Beta-Reader Program Book Submission - Girl of Puzzles - ANR
EMAIL CHECKLIST
REQUIRED
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Book title
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Book synobsis
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Pen name
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Deadline
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Goals
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Full book in PDF form
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Author contact information - phone, email, ect.
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OPTIONAL BUT HIGHLY APPRECHIATED
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Book cover
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Real name
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Planned release date
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Press release
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Full book in PDF, Word Docx, and Epub form
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Author website and social medias