I need some more volunteers for my Beta Reading Team. These are the brave souls who grapple with the next-to-last draft of a book and offer feedback to help shape the story.

Beta Reading differs from ARC reviewing in that all criticism is reflected in the final published book. Beta Readers get a Beta copy of a manuscript full of typos and errors of fact and continuity. They help clean it up and whip the story into readable shape. When the revisions have been made and the book hits the shelves they receive a free copy of the published book.

ARC reviewers get a free copy of the published book to comment on. Their opinions are posted so the public can decide whether or not to buy.

Beta Reading is not for everyone. Some readers don’t want to make suggestions. Some find it too difficult to articulate what is wrong with a story. Some hate that since they are on the creative team, Betas are not allowed to post reviews.

I try to make it easy for my Betas by providing a questionnaire to elicit constructive criticism. And of course I love to receive email. Feedback makes my stories better. And there is no feedback more useful than that of real fans. This job is really only suitable for those readers who already love my stories and want to help me make the new ones even better.

If Beta Reading sound good to you, please fill out the form.