Romance Beta Readers: What They Are, Why You Need Them, and Where to Find Them

If you have even dabbled in romance self-publishing, you've probably heard the term word beta reader. They're an important part of the self-publishing process, but serve a different function to editors. But what exactly are they, and how are they different to editors?

That's what today's blog post focuses on. Beta readers—what they are, why you need them, where to find them, and why they play a very different, but still essential, role to a professional editor.

What is a beta reader?

Beta readers are readers who volunteer to read your book and provide their personal reactions to things like characters, pacing, plot, theme, and tropes. The exact feedback they give depends on the questions you, the author, ask them to respond tout, usually via something like a Google Doc or an MS Word document. Jane Friedman has a great article on what questions to ask your beta readers.

What romance beta readers aren't is romance editors. They can't tell you where your story is missing tension, if you've misused a trope. They won't be able to fix structural issues in your manuscript.

But what they can do for you is equally valuable. They can comment on how they connected with your characters, if they were truly rooting for their romance, whether your middle was exciting as you hoped it would be, if your ending is satisfying. They offer their experience of reading your book as a member of your audience, giving you insightful feedback into areas you can adjust and revise to make your book better for readers, who are, after all, the people determining your book's sales.

When can you send a romance novel manuscript to beta readers?

Beta readers are a key part of the self-publishing process, but exactly when romance authors send their manuscripts to beta readers differs. Some authors choose to send their romance novel manuscripts to beta readers as they write them, whereas others wait until their manuscript is finished before sending it out.

Both methods have value, especially if your beta reader really understands your writing style and the messages you want to communicate in your books. They might be able to help you with that thorny meet-cute or a difficult sex scene, but keep in mind that their advice will be from a personal, rather than professional, standpoint, so if you're really struggling with a scene or chapter and just can't figure out what's wrong with it or why it's not working, it's also worth getting help from a book coach who can evaluate the scene's purpose and part of the larger narrative.

In general, however, I recommend waiting until your manuscript is finished before asking for beta reading feedback, as it's easier to solicit feedback on things like characters, pacing, and plot if a beta reader has the full manuscript in front of them. You also might find that you don't really know which aspects of your novel you're unsure of, or want feedback on, until you've finished writing your manuscript.

How many beta readers do you need?

Just one beta reader can make a huge difference to your romance manuscript, but asking for feedback from a few betas gives you different personal perspectives on your manuscript, which can be incredibly useful.

There's no magic number, but soliciting feedback from 5-8 beta readers will give you a good amount of feedback to work with, without feeling too overwhelming.

Where can you find beta readers for your romance novel?

You can connect with beta readers through Facebook writing groups targeted specifically for your writing experience, sub-genre, or trope (Romance Writers Club is a great one) and Reddit forums for romance writers like r/romanceauthors.

If you have an established author social media platform, you can also put a call out to your readers. Cast a wide net, because not everyone who volunteers will ultimately take on the job. And offer beta reading services in return; this quid-pro-quo is standard in the writing community, and not only will it help you foster long-term relationships with writing buddies, but it also helps you see beta reading from both sides, which makes it easier not to take the critical feedback to heart when you receive it, because you yourself understand the importance of that feedback to the manuscript.

No matter what platform you use to find beta readers, keep in mind that you're looking for readers who

1. are part of your audience and familiar with your sub-genre

2. are willing to be totally honest (but still respectful) with their feedback

3. understand what you're trying to do with your story

Readers who aren't part of your audience won't give you the valuable feedback you need on how your readers will respond to your story, because they aren't part of that audience. Readers who can't be honest, or are honest but disrespectful, aren't worth your time. And readers who don't understand the message you're trying to communicate with your story—whether that's about found family in queer communities, healing after trauma, or trusting your instincts—won't be able to properly evaluate whether your story makes that message clear.

Don't sweat too much about that last element, though, because you'll communicate your book's message in the document you give your beta readers to fill their feedback on.

Should you hire a beta reader for your romance novel?

I don't recommend hiring a beta reader. Most beta readers aren't professionals; they do beta reading because they are authors themselves, or because they love reading and helping their favourite authors. And these are the beta readers you want, because they're steeped in the writing and reading community, the community you yourself are part of and writing for.

Beta readers who beta read for love, not money, are also more likely to read fewer books each week, meaning they can devote more time to giving you feedback, whereas a beta reader you hire for a modest fee on a freelancing platform, for example, has to juggle a lot of other projects to make ends meet.

There have also been numerous reports of paid beta readers on freelancing platforms using AI to write their feedback, which is an issue not only because it goes against the beta reading process (providing personal feedback of the reading experience), but also because it means they've plugged your book into an LLM, putting your copyright at risk.

In an upcoming blog post, I'll cover another valuable member of your manuscript prep team: the alpha reader! But until then, happy reading and writing.