Why Free Beta Readers Can Come at a Cost

New and unpublished authors will often hire beta readers to receive an insightful critique before submitting a manuscript to a publisher or self-publishing. The beta reader’s job is to read the manuscript as an actual reader would and present feedback on what works and what doesn’t, any styling or structural issues, plot holes or issues with characterisation, flow, grammar, pacing and so on.

Some authors who have multiple books under their belt or are writing a series of books have the ability to enlist existing readers of their books on social media, Goodreads or writing forums. This can be a valuable and free way to get feedback from fans who are familiar with the author’s writing style and know what to expect from that particular author.

First-time authors may not have the luxury of enthusiastic fans who are prepared to beta read their manuscripts for free. So invariably they fall back on family and friends to read their work. The major problem with enlisting family and friends is not that they are inexperienced when it comes to giving in-depth feedback but that they are reluctant to hurt the author’s feelings if the book has major flaws and requires substantial revision and may not even recognise this fact.

Aspiring writers are not always flush with cash so finding affordable beta readers to critique their work in a methodical way is essential. As experienced beta readers, we guarantee you a friendly and personalised service which will deliver valuable feedback in a report to assist your writing ambitions.

There is also the very real possibility that your manuscript will be ripped off in part or in its entirety by an unscrupulous operator who has claimed your work as their own and decided to sell it on Amazon, Apple iBooks or Smashwords under their own name. The following forum post on AbsoluteWrite claims that someone acting as a beta reader ‘borrowed’ some of the author’s work.

- Jason U.

Please thank the sensitivity reader for me. The comments are very helpful! - Jason U.
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- Peter B.

I received your beta report and I first want to thank you for the kind comments you made about this story. Your suggestions and ideas were right on, and I’ve already made most of the corrections. I was stunned by the number of typos, etc. in the manuscript. I thought it was pretty clean. Thanks for pointing them out. I know that proofreading my own work will never be perfect, and to compound things, I’ve been proofing four different novels of mine all at the same time. I can see now that I need to take a different approach with it comes to proofing, and that means that I should probably follow your suggestion to hire a proofreader. That will free me to continue writing the new stories that keep swirling around in my head. 🙂 - Peter B.
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- Christopher M.

Thank you so much! This is great feedback, I appreciate your ability to see the grammatical details, while still evaluating the manuscript on it's broad strokes. That's not an easy thing to do. Thanks again, Chris.

- Christopher M.
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- Thomas M.

Hi Declan, I am, in a word, speechless. This is not at all what I expected from your beta read. Just to be clear, I'm thrilled! First, you pointed out a lot of things that got me thinking and realized I agree with you. I will make all or virtually all of your suggested changes in the next revision. You have made what I consider vital suggestions that will smooth out some of the rough edges still to be found in the book. Second, regarding your thoughtful commentary. I'm very happy that you found that the plot, characters, dialog, etc., worked well. As you know, the kind of praise in your evaluation is not something writers get to hear too often, if at all. - Thomas M.
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- Lhexa D.

Thanks for the report. This novella was based on my adolescent understanding of Catholicism and American slavery, so the parallels are deliberate. I won't change dialogue, since it's meant to reflect indoctrination, but I will change the pertinent prose. I will also follow up on some of the other suggestions. Thanks, you've been very helpful. Lhexa - Lhexa D.
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- Denise N.

Thank you for my Evaluation. I was quite excited and nervous to read the feedback. Your feedback was really great. I do understand what you are saying. My biggest thing I did get from the feedback was, I am obviously not getting my message across about the most important topic of all, which is, negative money thoughts, all to do with the mind. It is not about, financial security, independence etc it is about looking at your money thoughts and language. If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear from you, if not, thank you again. - Denise N.
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- Elizabeth S.

Thanks very much for this. I will work on the recommendations, especially to speed up/improve the beginning. I’m feeling a little more hopeful about the story overall. Best regards, Elizabeth. - Elizabeth S.
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- Margaret D.

To cut a long story short. Could you improve the story and if so what would it cost me to do so. I'm thinking that a bit of tweaking will help the story tremendously. Margaret - Margaret D.
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- Renae M.

Thank-you so much! This report will be so helpful in rewrites. Do you offer a re-read service when my edits are finished. I love the fact that I get an unbiased opinion and feedback!

Thanks again!

Renae Mercado - Renae M.
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- Alarna H.

Hello Declan, You’re amazing, this is exactly what I needed. Thank you for such a quick turn around. Kindest, Alarna. - Alarna H.
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- Martin O.

Thanks for the comments, they were exactly what I wanted. [...] I like your idea of rewriting as a epistolary novel taking the form of a diary though I need to look up exactly what that means and find some good examples. Martin. - Martin O.
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- Penny F.

Thank you for your detailed report..work life has got in the way sadly. I appreciate your many recommendations.. many, no real surprise. As a new writer I felt I needed another opinion even though the MS was incomplete to help me clarify strengths and weaknesses. I had set my book aside deliberately for almost a month and now have two solid weeks to devote to it - and will attempt to address your concerns. I know I have a long way to go to develop good novel writing skills ....I'm hoping practice will get me there!!
Once again thank you for your guidance.
Penny - Penny F.
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- Laura B.

This was VERY helpful. I guess the Beta reader did not know that this is just the first 5 chapters of a longer book. I agree it needs work and that is why people hire beta readers- so they can get feedback and revise, revise, revise. Thanks again.. Laura. - Laura B.
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- Patrick L.

Thank you for another wonderful assessment. This is very helpful and I greatly appreciate your suggestions and compliments. Everything makes perfect sense. I'm working on the revisions now and I am very excited to complete the next draft. I was planning to start querying agents/publishers after that, but I was curious if you think feedback from beta-reading might be necessary/helpful before moving forward. Thanks, Patrick.
- Patrick L.
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- Rob B.

Just got to work and read the report with some trepidation. I'm happy to say that I'm quite excited. I've noted your points which I've found encouraging and enlightening so I think I'm going to be making some changes including extra work at the end. There is a sequel that expands a lot more on what happened and how Sarah's life changes and what drives Rachel. In the new year I'll send it to you for a read. In the mean time many thanks and have a great Christmas. Kind regards, Rob. - Rob B.
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- Stephanie H.

Thank you ever so much! Hope to send more business your way soon. Stephanie Hansen - Metamorphosis Literary Agency - Stephanie H.
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This type of thing is more common than you think and a major reason why you should hire only trustworthy beta readers rather than posting a request on a forum for free beta readers or using a Beta Reading Service which allows anyone to sign up and beta read an authors manuscript without passing any background checks or signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

There is nothing stopping someone you’ve made contact with on a forum or social media from uploading your manuscript to The Pirate Bay or another torrent website to give anyone the ability to be able to download your ebook for free. As you know, internet piracy is rampant which is why you need to be smart about whose hands your unpublished manuscript ends up in. The simple truth is that no publisher will consider signing a new author if their work has been illegally uploaded to a file-sharing website without the author’s knowledge.

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