When you beta read, all you’re doing is reading something before it is published and conveying your experience to the writer. The actual process is simple: you read a manuscript, make notes as you go about your personal reactions, then answer questions about it.

BETA FAQS

What if I suck at it?

You can’t! Unless you suck at expressing your feelings, then maybe you’d suck at it.

What kind of readers are you looking for?

Our target audience is young adult. Our ideal reader would be someone between the ages of 16-22 (or an older YA reader) who enjoys urban fantasy with a strong emphasis on themes of friendship, young romance, and mystery.

If you do not typically read YA fiction, or if you are much younger than our target audience, this book is probably not appropriate for you.

Caveat: this would be rated ‘R’ for violence, language, and some sexual content.

I don’t know anything about editing. Can I still help?

Beta readers aren’t editors. The only ‘editing’ we would need is to know if something was so jacked up that you couldn’t figure out what we were saying. Of course, if you noticed any inconsistencies, we’d love to hear about them.

How long would I have?

We would like to have your response within six weeks of receiving the manuscript.

How long is your book?

It’s clocking in at around 120,000 words. Comparable titles in length are An Ember in the Ashes, Twilight, Divergent, Sense and Sensibility, and My Sister’s Keeper

What kind of questions will I be expected to answer?

Here are the questions we would like our betas to read for. We ask our betas to pick FIVE to answer. Of course, more than five would be appreciated! Some of them do require noting where exactly in the text they occurred; this would be easiest if our betas marked the text with comments as they read.

1. Did the story hold your interest from the beginning? If not, can you think of why not?
2. Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, why not?
3. Could you relate to the main character?
4. Did the setting interest you and did the descriptions seem vivid and real to you?
5. Was there a point at which you felt the story lagged or you became less than excited about finding out what was going to happen next? Where, exactly?
6. Were there any parts that confused you? Or even frustrated or annoyed you? Which parts, and why?
7. Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in time sequences, places, character details, or other details?
8. Were the characters believable? Are there any characters you think could be made more interesting or more likable? Or less likable?
9. Were the motivations, interactions, and reactions of the four friends believable?
10. Did you get confused about who’s who in the characters? Were there too many characters to keep track of? Too few? Are any of the names of characters too similar?
11. Did the dialogue keep your interest and sound natural to you? If not, whose dialogue did you think sounded artificial or not like that person would speak?
12. Did you feel there was too much description or exposition? Not enough?
13. Was there enough conflict, tension, and intrigue to keep your interest?
14. Was the ending satisfying? Believable?
15. What questions are you left with at the end? Some have been intentionally unanswered. Does the story still feel complete with these unanswered questions?
16. Do you like the title, A Maze of Brambles? If not, any other suggestions?
17. Can you think of any comparable titles? Any other books ours reminds you of?

How will I get the manuscript?

We will email you a Word file. Please turn on ‘track changes’ so you can mark up the file as you read. If you’d like a hardcopy, we can mail one to you, but you have to promise to give it back!

What if I hate your book?

Listen, it’s okay if you don’t like our book. Please tell us the truth! Criticism is necessary, so you would be doing us a disservice if you just tried to be nice and kept your true feelings from us. The important thing is that you aim to communicate why you didn’t enjoy it. We have put our big girl pants on, and we can handle it. Plus, we don’t remember exactly who wrote what, so we will just assume any parts you don’t like were written by the other person.

What if I don’t want to continue, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings?

Hurt our feelings! We know that our book isn’t for everyone. Just let us know that you will not be returning the file. Still want to avoid confrontation? Here are some things you can cut and paste in an email to us if you want to back out:

Hi Tiff and Rach, thank you so much for selecting me to beta read. Good news/bad news, though, it turns out that I am on the verge of solving the climate crisis, and that is taking up all of my time! Please accept my gift of $25,000 in lieu of my services.

Guys! You two are so brilliant and hilarious and also super hot! But I can’t get into your book. I’m soooooooo sorry. Here is a gift of $25,000.

To Whom it May Concern: While your book is well-written and probably a delight for your target audience, I don’t believe it suits my tastes. Best of luck in the future, and here is a gift of $25,000 for writing classes or something.

What’s in it for me?

You’ll get to read a fantastic story!

You’ll get to hone your critical reading skills.

We will thank you on the Ellen show when we are bigwigs.

Are you a writer? Tiff and I will beta read your book in exchange. Yup, that there’s a two-fer.

I’m in! What do I do?

Email us at stuckandmericle@gmail.com. We will send you the first chapter of the book. After reading it, if you feel like you want to finish the whole thing, we will send you the entire file with our Beta Questions included. If you do beta read for us, please refrain from sharing the manuscript.

Email us or leave a comment if you have any more questions!