Beta Reader Feedback Tool
Let's start with the basics: what is a beta reader? A beta reader is a casual reader—not a writing professional—who will view your work before publishing with the intent of providing honest feedback. Beta readers can be someone you know personally, though friends and family can sometimes be reluctant to provide constructive feedback because of your connection. They are not there to fix sentence structure or grammatical errors, but they will hopefully point out any flaws, glaring errors, plot holes, or anything else that a casual reader would pick up on.
I didn’t use online resources since I get nervous about sharing my draft work online with strangers, but my perspective might change as my network grows. Try to have a selection of people if you can get them.
Beta readers are wonderful and are doing you a huge favour for your book. (Also, bribing helps.) They help improve your book, as long as you're utilizing them wisely. If they're giving you general feedback like "it's great" or "mehn"—well, that’s not helpful to you as an author, is it?
The best beta readers provide you specific feedback, chapter by chapter, allowing you to pinpoint issues while also helping them manage the task. They offer their perspectives, so you may or may not incorporate all of their feedback. If you're seeing common themes amongst the feedback, then it's best to pay attention. Life gets busy so it’s also helpful to set a deadline for each chapter so the two of you have a goal to work toward. If they need to withdraw their commitment, then you know early on because you didn’t give them the whole book at once. Be grateful for what they do provide then move on.
Since I’m a new author, in my blogs I won't be sharing writing advice other than a few random tidbits. But I can share a tool I created that might help you get useful beta reader feedback. After much research, these were the questions I felt were important for me to ask, and it helped the beta reader focus on those things. Depending on your project, you may find all of this tool helpful or not, but feel free to use it and make it your own. I keep my tool in a chart format with details like chapter length, name, etc. The chart won’t format properly here, so here are the questions in free form, with explanatory notes for the beta reader. Good luck!
Questions (yes/no, comments):
Did the chapter consistently hold your interest? (Were there aspects that hooked you, sections that dragged, did the chapter title create a hook)
Was there an appropriate amount of tension or conflict? (Appropriate to the story; there won’t always be bombs or explosions and tension can be small, e.g. among characters)
Was there an appropriate amount of description and exposition? (Versus too much or too little, world building)
Was there anything that confused you? (Point of view, characters blending, explanations, plot consistency)
Were the characters believable?/Could you relate to the characters?
Were there any behaviours or statements that appeared out of character for anyone? (The reader perspective is important even though the author knows the full character arc)
Was the dialogue interesting, realistic and effective?
Were there any obvious errors in sentence structure, grammar, capitalization, consistency in terminology, word overuse, etc.? (Reader is not an editor)
Are you invested in the story? (Is the story compelling/continues to be compelling as opposed being invested as a beta reader)
Did the end of the chapter leave you wanting to turn the page? (Not every chapter ending will be a cliffhanger but there should be an interest in reading more)
Any other comments? (Author may ask 1-2 specific questions after you’ve read the chapter but has intentionally not included it here)
To be answered once the book is completed:
What was your overall experience of the book?
Was the ending satisfying?