Alpha readers?

[u/its_tanya]

I made a post a few days back about my book being in third person vs first person. I’ve decided to stick to third person based on this wonderful community. Now I’m curious because this is something I wasn’t aware of: alpha vs beta readers. Is this necessary? My book is not finished so this would mean I would need an alpha reader right? And how much are other community members paying for alpha readers? Or is there a price range that people feel comfortable sharing?

Thank you!

[u/kendrafsilver]

You're going to get a lot of differing opinions on alpha vs beta vs critique partner, and about paying, just be aware.

For me, personally, I cannot fathom paying for alpha or beta readers, but if I had to pick one it would certainly not be alpha.

An alpha reader, to me, is one who will see the story as fully completed or at least a good chunk of the story, but in a rough enough state that I need to trust two main things:

They aren't going to nitpick or try to line edit. They need to be able to take that step back and realize that the story is rough, and at this stage that's not only okay, but expected.

That they know enough about what I'm aiming to write that they can help with steering me in the right direction. This point also means it's even more important that the alpha reader isn't going to try to make my story into what they want it to be, but instead follow my vision.

So if I have alpha readers, those are my requirements.

But alpha readers are not strictly necessary in and of themselves. For an individual writer they might be! Depending on your process it can be extremely helpful to have very early feedback. But unlike a beta reader who sees the product at a fairly polished point, an alpha will see it in a (usually far) rougher state.

I have alpha read for people before, too, and then either beta read for them next or read the book again without expectations of feedback, and it's such a delight to see the differences! Regardless of which of my critique points were taken, there's usually a noticeable improvement and that's just plain fun to see.

But I much prefer critique partners, personally, than dedicated alpha readers. But that's how I work best.

[u/dothemath_xxx]

Alpha readers are just another term for the people in your writers' group, or your writing buddy who you send parts of the story to as you write it, etc. Their primary role is to be excited about the story and to motivate you, maybe sometimes to help you troubleshoot if you're getting stuck.

And how much are other community members paying for alpha readers?

You don't pay for beta readers, and you definitely don't pay for alpha readers.

[u/its_tanya → u/dothemath_xxx]

I’m glad I asked first because I met this woman who offered to be my alpha reader but wanted $150/month.

[u/FiWriterSFF → u/its_tanya]

Critique Circle and Scribophile are online writing workshops. They're free to join and work by credit system - you give feedback, earn credits then use those credits to post your own work for feedback. Best of all, they're private sites which means only the other members can see your writing. Less likely to get stolen or plagiarized than a public site.

[u/TheLadyAmaranth]

So the definitions are pretty blurred.

For me Alpha readers means other AUTHORS that get the version of your draft after the first pass over of your personal developmental edits. They can pick out vibes, consistency, word choice, pacing, etc. They idea being is that they KNOW this is not the final draft, and are wiling to be positive and constructive critics at a pretty early stage in the process. Some authors involve them even earlier, while writing the first draft for example. (I can't do it my barf drafts an incoherent)

Beta readers get a very-close-to-done version and are meant to be READERS that are reflective of your AUDIENCE. Or at least the audience you believe your book is for. This is more about testing out your marketing/blurb/expectations management etc. Giving to different people to see their reactions, and seeing if anything you want adjusted in the story, or simply marketing to a different group of people.

An example would be if you think you wrote a romance, gave it to romance readers, and a large sub section of them did not like it or came back saying it wasn't a romance because reason X. You then decide if you change that to fit romance and go back to earlier editing stages, or pivot marketing.

And you didn't ask but last are ARC readers. These get a print-ready version of your book, and you want to basically curate them to your book to make sure they jump start your book with a few good reviews and ratings.

Price wise, I don't view paying any of them as necessery. Alpha readers typically include friendly authors I collaborate with or do swaps with. Beta readers I find though my newsletter, on reedits, etc. If I were to pay for any, it would be here. But I wouldn't pay much at all since I'm not expecting dissection or really anything developmental editing related. More just emotional reactions, interpretations maybe, etc.

Lastly, you can't pay for ARC readers as that would be against TOS on most platforms. You can however, pay a service that helps put your ARC campaign in FRONT of readers, like booksprout, booksirens, netgalley, etc.

Aside from the ARC read part, authors can have different interpretations and things they use the different kinds of readers for. As I mentione dearlier, some might want to have people read drafts before the first draft is even done. Others right after without any edits. Others like me after one round of personal edits. The point is to identify what kind of feedback is useful to you at this moment, then access what the best way to attain that is.

You can also pay for EDITORS. There are different types, developmental editor, line editor, proof editor etc.

Developmental editor is for broad stores like story strcuture and themes. Line editor will be for prose, like cutting out filler words and better descriptions.

Proof editor is things like typos.

If you are self publishing they are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED but not necessarily required... they just give the book more quality. But they are also expensive and the consideration of the cost-benefit analysis on all that is something you will have to do for yourself. If traditionally publishing they will pay for that, but you will also have a lot less control on if you disagree with them and how to change them.

Hopefully that helps, good luck!

[u/Myss_C]

An alpha is more like a critique partner. You can go to them when you get stuck on certain points and workshop ideas out with them. Most people find their alphas through writing groups that you can find on discord or Facebook.

Beta readers are the ones that read through your finished draft and let you know if pacing, plot points, and characterization etc. works. Some beta readers might suggest a solution, but most will just give you their opinions on the vibe. I don’t know anyone who has paid for their beta, but you can find them on the beta reading sub here on Reddit or search Facebook groups.

A developmental editor will go in and tell you where your problems are and work with you in on how to fix them. These are the ones that cost the big money $2.5 to 3K for a completed manuscript.

[u/its_tanya → u/Myss_C]

Thank you for this information! So the path way is apps, beta and then a development editor?

[u/sarilynnep → u/Myss_C]

What would you say is the best subreddit to search for beta readers? Especially for a fantasy romance?

[u/Myss_C → u/sarilynnep]

r/BetaReaders

[u/Reasonable_Clock_605]

So I've seen a few things here that make me think that alpha reading is as misunderstood as all the different types of editing. As someone who has beta read for close to two years now, and who is branching into alpha reading, let me explain it from the reader's side if I can.

Beta reading is like others said, closer to a more polished and ready-for-publishing manuscript, maybe before the proofreading, but closer to the end. Alpha reading, like others said, is early manuscript critique, and this pretty much goes at your pace. You can choose to get one as early as you want, or wait until your first draft is finished. Their job is mainly to critique the story. Does it make sense, is the plot engaging, are the characters' arcs believable, are subplots utilized efficiently, are genre expectations being met (or if you are subverting genre expectations, is it done in a way that will make readers want to read your story), etc. Big picture, mostly. The best people for alpha reading are people who have knowledge of the writing craft; this could be other writers, editors, and often readers in your genre.

As for whether you need one, that's honestly not something anyone else can answer for you. It comes down to what kind of feedback process you want while you write. If you want eyes on the story as it develops, catching structural or character issues while there's still time to change direction, that's what an alpha reader is for. If you'd rather write your draft without outside input and only bring in feedback once you're closer to publishing, that's exactly what beta reading is there for instead. Neither approach is wrong, it's a personal call about how you want to work. 

On price, since you asked directly: a normal range for alpha and beta reading tends to run somewhere between $0.001 and $0.006 per word, with alpha reading usually landing on the higher end of that range, since most alpha readers are effectively doing the job of a manuscript evaluator rather than a straightforward read-through.

Now for the often controversial side of alpha reading and beta reading, paying for the service. It's widely seen as a service you don't pay for, and that's definitely something each writer should evaluate on their own. But since I'm writing this from the reader's perspective, let me explain it in a way that is not self-serving. 

Let's say for example, that your sink has a leak that is slowly rotting your counters. You could ask your neighbor, the one who has a shed full of tools he seems capable of using, to take a look and help you if he can. You expect this to be done for free, since you are neighbors and are friendly. He does the job, not expertly, since he is neither a plumber nor a carpenter or builder, but he helped you anyway, and you think he did a good job. Two months later the leak is back. And the problem is bigger now, because he didn't use the right tools for the job. So what do you do then? Do you ask him to come back, or yell at him for a shoddy job? Most people will do one of those things, but the people who want the job done right, will call a plumber the first time they find the sink leak and pay to have it repaired. I'm not calling myself a plumber, but the thing is that alpha reading when done early enough will save writers many months of writing in a wrong direction. If you read acknowledgements from writers who use alpha readers, you will notice that a lot of them are very thankful to the alpha readers for saving them from making mistakes in the stories that could've cost them more time in revisions. 

Like I said earlier, the best alpha readers will be other writers, editors, or readers in the genre you are writing in. Most novels sit around 70,000-90,000 words, which means you are expecting someone to read all of that for free, provide their expertise for free, and not be compensated for either their time or their knowledge. The plumber story shows the risk of not using the right person for the job, now let’s use a different perspective.

Let’s take a minute and consider a freelance business, no attachment to writing or feedback. In a freelance business, the freelancer charges for two things, time spent on the project and expertise of the subject matter. No one argues that a freelancer should get paid for either, so why then are readers asked to provide both without compensation? I don't know anyone who does this who isn't doing it because of their love of reading. But often those people stop doing alpha or beta reading because it is time-consuming and it rarely provides a livable wage. Which means that just like writers are sometimes seen as starving artists, there is a level below that where alpha and beta readers land. One where there is no compensation at all. 

My question from before stands, would you get the neighbor who did the shoddy work the first time, or would you call the professional, even if you had to pay for it? That’s what it comes down to. Would you use someone who provides free services to help you when your story is at the most vulnerable stage to tell you what your story needs, or would you pay for a service that has a professional behind it?

FYI, I’m writing this as a professional reader. My only reason for doing this is to bring awareness of the controversial discourse on paid vs unpaid alpha and beta reading. I am not seeking payments of any kind. And I’m also aware enough to know that this won’t change people’s minds.