Alpha and Beta Readers…

One of the most important things, at least to me as a writer, are GOOD alpha and beta readers. And I’m thankful for those who help me out…

As a writer, I’m too close to the ‘product’, if you will. I am not good enough to catch my own errors, but I have two groups of folks that do an amazing job! And no, I’m not related to any of them! 🙂

Seriously, good alpha readers are the first group to get the book after I write it and ‘attempt’ to do a check for spelling and basic grammatical errors (and usually miss a bunch of them). I send out a .docx file to the ten alpha readers, both male and female, and they go through it at their own speed, noting errors that can range from the/them/they, her/here, and other ‘minor’ things to continuity errors, to wrong names, sequencing of chapters, etc.  Interestingly, each of them tends to catch different things, in addition to their ‘specialties’ if you will. Some are doctors, some are shooters, some are LEOs, and their varied backgrounds make a major contribution to the final work. And they have absolutely NO problem telling me I f’ed it up… Usually multiple times!!!

Once I’ve made all those corrections, I send it off to the beta readers, who basically do the same things. And again, all of them tend to catch different things that the alpha readers, didn’t catch, or that I screwed up while correcting the previous errors. And they are even more critical, picking things apart in even more detail. (like a three week argument over the sniper shot in Payback). That usually takes another two weeks or so.

I’ll then go in and make MORE corrections, based on their feedback, and let it ‘rest’ for a couple of weeks. Then I’ll sit down and read it from beginning to end, hoping I catch a few more problems that I may have (actually usually have created), then it’s off to the editor. She and I usually go back and forth for a couple of weeks, and then the fun starts…

Formatting… What a PITA!!! And all the errors that get through everybody is on me, nobody else!

So it’s not a quick thing to do the alpha/beta/editing, that usually eats up about three months in the bigger scheme of things, which is one of the reasons that I don’t put a lot of books out every year. And I also alpha and beta read for other authors too. I figure it’s the least I can do, to help others out as I’ve been helped out.

On another note, I usually have at least two books going at the same time, that way if I get ‘stuck’ on one (e.g. the muse takes its toys and goes away), I can usually flip to a different book and get something productive done.

One last note- NEVER EVER throw anything away. You never know where it might work in a different book!!! Something I wrote (the SASS chapters) in 2016 finally made it into a book in TGM- Twilight, two years later. I keep a file of ‘spare’ chapters, snippets of texts, ideas, etc. in separate folders, and sometimes it pays off.

So a big THANK YOU to those alpha and beta readers who keep bailing me out. You know who you are!!!

Comments

Alpha and Beta Readers… — 14 Comments

  1. For one, I appreciate your attention to detail. Recently I quit reading a book where the author kept using “downstairs” when describing scenes on a sailboat. Another, when referring to an Army “corpsman” in several scenes.

    Trivial on my part? Probably.

  2. Jim, you deserve all credit for keeping up on your writing. It’s always an honor to be a reader with one of your literary projects and it’s fun as well. Congratulations on your successes. Keep them coming.

  3. If you’d care for an additional Alpha or Beta reader, I’d be delighted to volunteer. I used to be a newspaper editor, and am now a history professor.

    Chuck

  4. Like most engineers, I have a rather loose relationship with the rules of english grammar. However, during my career I often found myself reviewing technical reports of co-workers and subordinates. Usually I was able decode what was actually meant versus what was on the page, but occasionally I’d have to circle whole paragraphs with a note “WTF”. Ironically I am totally unable to catch my own errors unless I let the project sit for a couple of weeks. A luxury I could seldom afford. Most of the time is was able to find a Language Nazi in the office to help me.

    Keep up the good work. I do appreciate the attention to detail.

    P.S. If you ever need any help on nuclear power issues, or HVAC systems don’t hesitate to ask.

  5. It is always much easier to catch someone else’s mistakes then it is to see your own. But letting it sit, and your memory forget exactly what you said, many times helps to point out interesting sentences constructions. 🙂

  6. I’ve never done any writing like yours (well…a bit in high-school) but I’ve done tons of Tech Writing for employers.

    Yup, you just GOTTA have good proofreaders and editors to produce good stuff!

  7. Are those of us who just buy the book after it is published gamma readers?

  8. WSF- Thanks!

    LL- Tryin… LOL

    B- And I APPRECIATE it!!! 🙂

    Chuck- Now you’re scaring me… Seriously, send me an email, I’ll put you on the list.

    NRW- Me and you both… Will do! Thanks

    Mack- Thanks!

    Suz- LOL, good point!

    drjim- About all I can do is roofpread… sigh…

    TOS- Yep, and I DO fix errors y’all find!!!

  9. Hey Old NFO;

    I enjoy “proofing” your books, I feel like the kid that sneaks into George Lucas’s house and watched the rough cut of Star Wars before the movie gets it 🙂