25 Questions to Ask Beta Readers
Beta readers are the test audience for the early drafts of your book. They'll give feedback on what is and isn't working in your story, based on the point of view of your target readers. Just like beta testers, they'll help you work out the bugs before your book goes to launch.
This feedback is an invaluable tool for a writer, but finding a great beta reader team can be a challenge. Between never receiving the feedback and receiving the wrong kind of feedback, the process is enough to make the writer rage quit the entire industry of words.
So how do you know what makes up great beta reading teams?
And—more importantly—what questions do you ask to get the best feedback out of them?
What Makes a Good Beta Reading Team
• They'll be made up of people you don't know. Your friends and family won't want to tell you there's a characterization problem with your beloved protagonist.
• They'll be fans of your genre. If you're writing a horror novel and you ask a romance fan to beta read your book, that feedback is not going to be useful.
• They'll be readers, not critique partners. Your beta reader feedback will be based on their feelings when they got to each part of your story. They won't offer ways to fix the story if the feeling isn't what they preferred.
• They'll provide useful feedback every time. Nothing is worse than sending off your manuscript and never hearing back from a new beta reader, or only hearing "I liked it." A great beta reading team is made up of people who will always follow through. Or you can consider hiring a professional beta reader for guaranteed, experienced feedback.
What to Ask Your Beta Reading Team
Once you've identified your beta readers, it's time to ask them for guided feedback. What you don't want to do is send over your manuscript with only the note: "Just let me know what you think." This is a great way to receive some broad opinions but nothing specific that will help you.
Knowing which areas you're most concerned about will help your beta reader guide their report.
You can choose to send all questions to your beta readers, but just know that they're usually reading your book and writing up a report in their free time, and they probably won't want to answer every question. It's best to pick and choose the ones you think need the most attention.
Overall Impressions
1. What was your favorite part of the book? What grabbed your attention?
2. Was there anything you greatly disliked?
Opening and Ending Scenes
3. Did the story grab you from the beginning?
4. Did you understand quickly who the main character was? Where the story was taking place?
5. Did the ending feel satisfying?
Characters and Motivations
6. Did you like the main character? Could you relate to his/her pain or joy?
7. Did you cheer or boo any character relationships or lack of relationships?
8. Were the motivations and goals of the main character believable?
9. Did you like or dislike any of the character names?
Plot & Conflict
10. Was the plot easy to follow? Were there any areas that confused you?
11. Were any parts of the plot predictable?
12. Was the conflict easy to follow? Was the protagonist's problem to solve clear?
13. Did the action scenes make sense for why they were happening?
Pacing
14. Did the story keep you turning pages?
15. Did it feel like it dragged in any areas?
16. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?
Setting & Worldbuilding
17. Was the setting interesting to you, or would you have liked to see more of it?
18. Did the worldbuilding details feel naturally introduced or explained?
19. Were there too many writer-created fantasy/tech terms that left you confused? Were there not enough writer-created terms for the setting and genre?
Dialogue
20. Did the dialogue feel natural or were there places of awkwardness?
21. Were there areas where too much dialogue was happening, or not enough?
22. Could you tell who was speaking each line? Were there times when that confused you?
23. Did you have any favorite lines of dialogue?
Writing Craft
24. Did the writing style suit the genre?
25. Did you notice any repeating grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors? Did it distract you from the story?
Additional Questions for Comment
This is where you ask your readers to give any overall feedback you may have missed in your questions.
Do you have any preferred questions I missed? Let me know in the comments!
And if you’re ready for your 1,000-word sample edit and project estimate from The Book Foundry, click here!