Want to Ensure Cultural Accuracy and Inclusivity? Hire a Faith-Based Beta Reader

For years, this page described a sensitivity reading service built around the industry-standard model: readers checking manuscripts against a growing list of identity categories, largely to protect a book from online backlash. We offered that service in good faith for a long time.

We don’t anymore, and we want to be upfront about it. Here’s why…

What we offer now is faith-based beta reading. The difference isn’t cosmetic. A faith-based beta reader isn’t checking your manuscript against a cultural checklist. They’re reading as a fellow believer, asking whether your portrayal of faith, doubt, sin, grace, church life, or a character’s spiritual journey rings true.

Did you get the theology right? Would a pastor wince at that scene? Does your prodigal-son subplot actually understand what repentance costs, or does it wrap up too easily? Would a reader from a different denominational background feel respected even where they’d disagree with you?

That’s a different kind of scrutiny than the one this page used to describe, and we think it’s a far more useful one for the authors we work with now. If you’re writing Christian fiction or Christian non-fiction and want a reader who understands the tradition you’re writing from, this is that service.

When it comes to updating outdated books to remove offensive content, there can be both pros and cons to using faith-based beta readers to review the material. Faith-based beta readers are hired to review written material from the perspective of a person from a historically underprivileged or marginalized groups.

The use of authenticity readers is becoming more common in the industry, and it’s a great tool for editors and authors to make sure that readers won’t be faced with any unnecessary or potentially offensive content when they pick up a book. But there are also some drawbacks to using sensitivity readers to scour outdated books.

According to reports in the national media in the UK, authenticity readers were hired to scour the original James Bond books to identify and remove any ‘outdated’ content including racist and sexist comments. The changes were recommended following a review by sensitivity readers at Penguin books.

The newest editions of these books, written by Ian Fleming, will now contain a trigger warning notifying readers that they may find some of the storylines may potentially be offensive.The warning will read “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace.”

The pros of using faith-based beta readers include the fact that they can help editors and authors locate offensive language or unconscious bias that may be embedded in the text, as well as address any issues of representation in the type of characters portrayed in the book.

Faith-based beta readers can provide valuable input on a book’s cultural accuracy, helping to ensure that it accurately portrays societal dynamics of different cultures or communities. By taking into account the perspectives of marginalized groups, books can become more sensitively written, helping to open up the publishing industry to a more diverse range of authors.

However, there are also some cons to using faith-based beta readers. One issue is that it can be challenge for authors and publishers to hire authenticity readers that can strike the right balance between removing content that is objectionable and entering into the arena of censorship.

Some people may feel that hiring authenticity readers will lead to less diversity in thought and hold back many authors from writing about sensitive topics or writing about characters from diverse backgrounds. Hence, the steep increase in the number of authors wanting to hire sensitivity readers.

Related: Benefits of Hiring a Faith-Based Beta Reader

Faith-Based Beta Reader Fees

AUD $245, CAD $220, GBP £130, EUR €150, USD $165 per reader up to 120,000 words*.

*For manuscripts in excess of 120,000 words please contact us for a quote.

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