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I do prep at my work on Monday morning and therefore can listen to a book!

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pros: it would most likely vastly improve my life in a multitude of ways

cons: might get scared

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Hi! I have seen you advocate for fic writers using beta readers on numerous occasions and was wondering if you would be willing to share advice?

What are some good ways for a writer to find a beta reader? Or beta readers to find writers?

And what advice would you give to someone who wants to beta read but hasn’t done it a lot?

Thank you for this ask and sorry to take so long to answer it! 

Writers Looking for Betas

The first step, as the oracle at Delphi once proclaimed, is to know thyself. Before you reach out to any potential betas, do your best to assess your needs and goals as an author, either in general or for a particular work. There aren't many standard terms for kinds of or elements of beta reading, but here are some categories I've seen and used:

SPAG: spelling, punctation, and grammar. What most people think of when they think of a beta, but actually the tip of the iceberg.

Plot, Flow, Tone etc: All the other elements of a story, lumped together here because they often overlap. This post has a more extensive breakdown of them, as well as some other aspects I don't cover here.

Alpha Reader: I don't know if anyone uses this term anymore, but it used to mean a beta role that was one step short of co-authoring. Maybe you've got bits and pieces but no plot, or are stuck, or still developing the story. You need help creating the story, not just editing it. This tends to become the role of a beta who is also a longterm fandom friend, who consistently edits your work and has been let into the writing process.

Sensitivity Reading: a read done when an author is depicting a culture, community, or other marginalized group they're worried about misrepresenting, so they ask a member of that group for feedback on that aspect of their work. This is a big topic so I'll just link to an overview here. 

Topic-Related: Here you're asking an expert about how you've depicted a certain topic in your work. The topic can be anything. I once set a fic in UC Davis and spent a while pestering someone who went there about the campus. 

Cheer Read: The beta focuses on highlighting all the parts of your fic that are good or working well, to help hype you up about it. These are underrated imo. I use them all the time because I'm a great big baby about my work and want someone to hold my hand. It's okay to ask for that! Just know what you're looking for. Don't ask for criticism, for instance, when this is what you secretly want. You can also ask for both! The key is to communicate.

First Impressions / Sanity Check: for when you just need someone else besides you to read the story and give you some feedback, or if you have a specific question about how some part of it comes across to a general reader: does the surprise twist make sense? Is this joke funny? That kind of thing. This is the kind of beta read that requires the least expertise, beyond being prepared to explain how the work came across and why.

The second step, probably never urged by the oracle at Delphi, is to kiss frogs:

Hunt down and try different betas! Join communities, comment on your favorite authors' works, look for people who show a real interest in your work, follow people on various platforms—reach out however you can. I've met all of my betas through fandom community spaces like Livejournal and Discord. Err on the side of asking and trying and seeing what happens. 

It's not always easy to put yourself out there, especially to ask for constructive criticism, and the stress can climb if you've had bad experiences getting feedback on your written work—the way, uh, everyone who has been a student has. My advice would be to keep in mind how different fanworks are from schoolwork etc. Working with a beta is ultimately about being in fandom together—enjoying something together—not getting your work graded somehow. It's about making something in a community! Yay!

I've got advice for how to evaluate a beta writer at the bottom.

Beta Readers Looking For Writers

I'm also breaking this down into two parts: finding works you'd like to beta, and connecting with authors.

1. Finding authors you'd like to support. This part of the process is probably the most self-evident. There's a lot of fic out there! Which authors would you like to spend your time with? Whose work would you like to support? Is there anyone whose feedback you might like on your work in turn? A reciprocal beta relationship can be so beneficial.

2. Creating a relationship with authors. Show you're invested in their work: comment on it in as much depth as you can, and look for ways to join fandom spaces with them. The offer to beta, out of the blue, can sometimes be interpreted as a criticism, so it's important to establish a connection. 

When the time comes, I find it helpful to make a more open-ended offer: "I love your work! Seriously, if there's anything I can do to support it—sound boarding, brainstorming, looking something over—please let me know!" Stress that this is about excitement and support, rather than telling them their work needs help.

Finally, Advice For Beginner Beta Readers, Which Doubles As What To Look For In A Beta

Be kind. Whether you're working with a nervous newbie or a seasoned writer who delights in the editing process, everyone appreciates kindness. Take the author's feelings into account as you beta. Point out things you like in addition to things that could be strengthened. Avoid needlessly harsh language in discussing issues, and stress the ways in which your suggestions will enhance the strengths of the work, e.g. "I think if you cut this line, this terrific line will hit even harder." Be honest and direct, but take the time to be kind also.

Communicate and be reliable. Let the author know how long it will take you to read something, and try to keep to that timeline. Update them as necessary. Ask them what kind of feedback they're looking for, and their experience with betas. Ask how they feel about the work and if there's anything they're especially worried about. Explain your reasoning for anything more complicated than grammar corrections. If you waffled on whether to include a comment, include that you waffled on it. I try to err on the side of including things.

If the author says they only want spelling and grammar checked, resist the urge to make suggestions about anything else.

No matter how tempting it is.

As an author, let your beta know if you need a work by a given time, but be flexible on how long it takes someone to do this work for you for free. Think about whether you have requests or concerns. If you're anxious about receiving criticism, let the other person know. If, conversely, you know there's a big issue in the story, you just can't figure out what it is, let them know you'd appreciate help in identifying it. 

Be specific and solution-oriented. If you make a comment or correction, zero in as much as you can on the issue and suggest a solution if you can. "This part isn't working" might be true but it's not actionable feedback. What's not working, why, and what would be better? Why would it be better? How would this change fit with the story the author is trying to tell?

That leads me to my last point.

Identify what the author wants and act accordingly. Remember that your job is to help the author tell their story. What tone are they going for, what ending do they want, etc.? If they're trying to write a comedy, your job is to help make it a more effective comedy. It's almost never appropriate to tell them to make it a tragedy instead (almost! I'll get to the exceptions at the end).

This can be more difficult than it sounds if you're invested and opinionated—aka an effective beta. If a change seems intuitively right to you, take the time to break down your reasoning: can you justify this change based on canon/what the story is establishing/the author's usual style, or is it more about what you want and would do? 

On the flip-side, as an author, be on the lookout for a beta who is supporting your story vs one who is trying to get you to tell a different one. 

There are exceptions to this rule, however. Sometimes, the story the author is trying to tell has a large-scale issue: the whole concept is glaringly at odds with canon, for instance, or it's not actually clear what tone they're going for (are they writing a comedy or a tragedy?). It might have a racist or sexist subtext, problems that are much more common in fandom than anyone would like to admit. As a beta, be on the lookout for these problems, and think about how you'd like to communicate them—do you trust the author to listen to you?

As an author, these concerns are the hardest to hear. It sucks! It will be tempting to protect your feelings by saying "well this beta doesn't get my story/is being mean." Resist that temptation! Sit for a minute, feel your feelings, and then focus on the fact that this is still about someone being invested in your story and wanting to help you. Now that they've brought up this issue, what would you like to do about it?

There's a lot more to say about all of these points, but I let intimidation stop me from answering this ask for way too long, so I'll simply stop here. Thank you again for the ask, and if anyone else has advice about any part of this process, I'd welcome it!

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To this day, Captain Janeway’s most relatable moment is: “There’s coffee in that nebula.”

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people who let me wake up to this get a special place in heaven. firefly_fox how does it feel to hold my life in ur hands....

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I still don't know my purpose on this planet but I do love reading fanfiction.

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HEY WRITER 🫵

Open up a random writing project you have in the works and add one word

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scott mccall knows that being kindhearted is punk rock :)

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my drafts keep growing…

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Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Kell Maresh & Maxim Maresh, Maxim Maresh & Rhy Maresh, Kell Maresh & Rhy Maresh, Delilah "Lila" Bard & Alucard Emery, Delilah "Lila Bard" & Ojka, Alucard Emery/Rhy Maresh, Delilah "Lila" Bard/Kell Maresh Characters: Kell Maresh, Rhy Maresh, Maxim Maresh, Delilah "Lila" Bard, Alucard Emery, Calla (Shades of Magic), Ojka (Shades of Magic), Holland Vosijk, Emira Maresh, Maris Patrol, Jasta (Shades of Magic), Cora Taskon, Col Taskon, Tieren Serense, Hastra (Shades of Magic) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, but less than in canon, Coercion, Mental Coercion, Soul Bond, Slavery, Background Relationships, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary:

Instead of letting Kell go after their argument, Maxim uses forbidden magic to bind Kell's will to his.

chapter 11! (Please let us all hope I can fight this fatigue to get chapter 12 drafted, because *I* want it pretty bad and imagine y’all will too.) 

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Is there a popular stereotype that you’re never beating the allegations of?

(For example I’m a woman and a horrible driver 😬)

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This is a sign for you to write that self-indulgent fic

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Delilah "Lila" Bard/Kell Maresh Characters: Delilah "Lila" Bard, Kell Maresh, Rhy Maresh, Alucard Emery Additional Tags: Birthday, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Lila is Stabby: Affectionate, So close to smut but not quite explicit, background rhylucard, Humor Summary:

Vasry gets splendidly drunk with Raya for his, Stross and Tav think this is a wonderful tradition, and on her own birthday, Lila can’t see any reason not to indulge herself. With Kell, of course, it’s more complicated. Like it always is.

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I'm about to be working on Shades of Magic fanfic while doing writing sprints in a Teen Wolf server while listening to the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. Truly blessed day for me.