It is possible to pay for several edits of one's writing. If that is an option for you, go for it. I prefer the feeling of getting "live" reaction. For Agamemnon Must Die, I was fortunate enough to have four such "beta readers"--think beta sites, beta ware, etc. One found my manuscript completely off-putting. This is a valuable discovery: The world is not going to swoon over the appearance of my book. O. K. It is a concept that amazes, but I can live with that.
Fortunately, the next response was from a very enthusiastic reader. Wasn't there anything you did not like, I asked. Apparently not.
One reader was a friend and I recognized the risk of have taken this step. If a friend accepts your manuscript and does not say anything, I consider it not good form to remind the friend. I'd rather keep the friend than have a manuscript read. Also, if a friend is negative--if any reader reacts negatively--it presents a challenge. If you are paying for the edit, you can choose to not ever do business with that person again. That's hard to do if you are friends.
Anyway, those who wish to become a beta reader, be assured that it is a most rewarding process. You get to say more than you would in a review. You get to influence the development of a story, a book.
Here are some questions that you might ask yourself while doing a beta read:
Is It Boring?
~Did the beginning draw you
into the story and leave you wanting to know more? How could you improve the
beginning?
~Is any part of the plot
implausible?
~Did the ending leave you
satisfied? If not, what went wrong? Did the story leave unanswered questions?
If so, what?
~Which part of the story was
the best?
~Which part of the story was
the worst?
~Does any part of the story
drag?
~Are there parts that you skipped
to get to “the good part”?
~Do you feel over-informed
anywhere?
Do The Scenes Flow?
~Does one scene lead logically
into the next?
~Did the actions and positions
flow smoothly from one to the next, or did they jump as though something was
skipped?
~Is there enough downtime
between intense scenes to allow it to build to the next?
~Where the flashbacks smoothly
integrated to fit into the current scene?
~Was anything redundant?
~If you could change any scene
or scenes in the story, which one and why?
~Was there a nice clean scene
break or chapter break between each change in point of view?
Is it Confusing (to try visualizing the story)?
~Can you see every action
clearly in your mind or was it too confusing?
~Could you see what the
characters looked like clearly?
~If you went there in real life
would you recognize the location/place?
~Did you have to reread any
part of the action sequences to understand who did what?
~How does the setting work?
During Dialog
~Could you visualize the
characters talking?
~Could you see where the
characters were while talking?
~Did characters using gadgets
and talents ignore their advantages for the sake of plot?
~Was the dialog necessary, did
it add to the development of the story?
~Do the characters appear realistic?
~Do their reactions seem
logical?
~Could you feel the emotions
between the characters?
~Does any one character get in
the way of the story?
~Was there a character that
would have made the story better by being left out?
Realism
~Is the plot, the development, the characters--all realistic?
To participate, consider joining a group in Goodreads.com that specializes in getting writers and beta readers together. There is choice of genres--romance, horror, paranormal, historical fiction, etc. Go to First Readers (a small group) or plunge directly into the Beta Reader Group (about 4,000 members).
You will notice that some beta readers are editors "in training" and may charge. That is entirely a matter for consenting adults.
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