Should You Pay for a Beta Reader?
- Jackie
- Jan 17
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 25
Beta readers are an essential part of the writing and publishing process. It's practically a rite of passage as a writer to be told you need beta readers to look over your book. But what exactly is a beta reader? And do you have to pay for one or can they be volunteers?
What is a Beta Reader?
Beta readers are essentially another set of eyes on your manuscript. They help you find problems in your book before you send it out to agents or hire an editor. They look at your book with the eyes of a reader in your genre to make sure you're meeting reader and genre expectations.
They can tell you if your ending is too rushed or your main character is boring or they got confused halfway through the story. They can also tell you if your mystery was too easy or your romance wasn't believable. Basically, beta readers help you answer the question, "Will readers like my book?"
Paid or Volunteer?
Now that you know what a beta reader is, we can talk about whether you should pay for one or not. And the answer to that is: it depends.
I know, I know. That sounds like a cop-out. But it really does depend on your publishing path and what you're hoping to get out of the beta reader experience. The expectations you have of your beta readers, the feedback they provide to you, and even the amount of work you need to put in all differ depending on if you're using volunteers or paying a professional.
So, let's look at those differences, shall we? (If you'd rather look at a simplified comparison of the differences instead of reading the in-depth explanations below, click here.)
Volunteer Beta Readers
Volunteer beta readers should be people who are familiar with your genre and read extensively in it but aren't writers, editors, agents, or other professionals in the book world. You want the opinions of people who will read your book after publication, not those who will work on it before that stage.
It is best to get three to five volunteers so that you get a range of opinions/advice but there aren't so many people that you get bogged down in conflicting feedback.
Although anyone can use volunteer beta readers, they are ideal for people who are wanting to be traditionally published. Because traditionally published authors have an agent and an entire publishing team working on their novel, they don't necessarily need the detailed report and feedback that comes with a professional beta read.
As the author, it's your job to create a list of questions you want your beta readers to answer. These can include things like if your ending was satisfactory, if they got bored at any point, or if your setting made sense.
However, unless you have a section for beta readers to comment on any other issues they encountered in your manuscript, volunteers will only answer the questions you provide to them. That means that you may miss out on valuable information because you didn't think to ask about that aspect of your story.
There is also no expectation that volunteers will be able to articulate why they have a problem with something in your story or give any advice on how to fix that problem. Their main job is to simply identify anything that didn't work for them within the context of your questions.
However, there are certainly volunteer beta readers who will provide you with highly detailed answers to your questions and helpful advice on how to fix any issues they found.
Unfortunately, there can also be issues with volunteers not getting back to you with their feedback or only giving feedback that amounts to, "Everything was great, and I loved it." While that can be a great morale boost for you, it doesn't do anything to help you improve your story.
The ultimate benefit of using volunteer beta readers is the number of people that you get feedback from. By having multiple readers, you get a diverse range of responses and you can easily differentiate between genuine issues in your manuscript and things that are problems for one specific reader because of their personal preferences.
If all of your readers have an issue with your ending, for example, you know that means your ending needs to be fixed to meet reader and/or genre expectations. However, if everyone loves your ending except for one person, it's much more likely that your ending is fine and that one particular person just has a personal dislike of it.
Paid/Professional Beta Readers
Paid/professional beta readers should be people who are familiar with your genre beyond just reading extensively in it. Whether they are industry professionals such as editors or writers or people heavily involved in the book world such as book reviewers, they should be people who know why something does or doesn't work in your genre or your manuscript and can articulate that knowledge. You still want their opinions as readers instead of as professionals but those opinions need to be backed up by more than just being a fan of the genre.
It is best to get only one or two professional beta readers both because of cost and because of the type of feedback you will receive from them. Because professionals are more involved in the industry and your genre than volunteers, their input holds more weight than a volunteer's.
Although anyone can use professional beta readers, they are ideal for people wanting to self-publish. They are a cost effective way to get detailed feedback about problems in your manuscript so you can fix them before sending your manuscript to a developmental editor. Volunteer beta readers may not give enough feedback to affect a developmental edit and its cost.
As the author, you can simply indicate any areas you struggled with or would like your beta reader to focus on. Because professionals provide a report that covers all aspects of your manuscript, there is no need to direct their reading with questions or worry that you'll miss out on valuable information.
There is also the expectation that professionals will be able to identify an issue, explain why it's an issue, and provide advice on how to fix it. This advice will not be as detailed as it would be in a developmental edit but it should be enough to give you a starting place to fix the problem yourself.
However, it is possible that a professional will still let their personal opinion affect what they identify as a problem and the advice they give to fix it.
Because they are professionals, there should not be any issues with your reader(s) not getting back to you. If there are, you may have legal recourse (as long as you signed a contract or agreement) to get your money back.
There also won't be any issues with your reader(s) only giving positive feedback that doesn't help you improve your story. By being in the book industry, they will have experience identifying even small problems and giving useful feedback.
The ultimate benefit of using paid/professional beta readers is the type of feedback you receive. By having a professional reader who is especially informed about your genre, you get an incredibly detailed report that identifies issues across all aspects of your manuscript—even ones you wouldn't have thought to ask about—and ensures your story meets genre expectations from an industry perspective.
If your reader has a problem with your ending, for example, their opinion is backed up by experience in the book industry and a deep understanding of reader and genre expectations, not just personal preference or opinion.
If you found all that information overwhelming or would like to see a more simplified comparison, check out the simplified comparison below.
Simplified Comparison
Volunteer Beta Readers
Ideal for: those looking to traditionally publish
Number of beta readers: 3-5
Work from author: create a list of questions that you would like your readers to answer about plot, pacing, characters, etc.
Expectations for beta readers: low-medium; they are volunteers who may give vague answers or may not respond at all, but they may also have genuine insight into what isn't working in your story
Feedback: answers to your list of questions only, may include more detailed information from one or two, likely won't give advice on how to fix a problem they identified
Results: a range of opinions from people familiar with your genre, may give conflicting advice, may highlight an area many people have a problem with
Pros: free, multiple opinions to help identify actual problems in your manuscript vs. personal preference from a reader
Cons: less detailed information, won't provide feedback outside the questions you ask them, less reliable, may not give any useful information/only give positive platitudes
Professional Beta Readers
Ideal for: those looking to self-publish
Number of beta readers: 1-2
Work from author: indicate any areas you struggled with or would like your reader(s) to focus on
Expectations for beta readers: high; they are professionals with intimate knowledge of your genre
Feedback: a detailed report covering many areas of your manuscript, in-depth answers to any questions you asked, advice on how to fix something that isn't working
Results: opinions from one or two people familiar with your genre, highly detailed explanations for why something isn't working, may give advice that is only personal preference
Pros: very detailed feedback that covers all aspects of your book and not just the specific questions you ask, feedback will be more than just positive platitudes, reliable, actionable advice for any problems identified
Cons: costs money, higher risk of feedback being only personal preference of the reader
In summary, there's no one answer to whether or not you should pay for a beta reader. Cost, expectations for you and the reader(s), and the type of feedback you want will all affect the kind of beta reader you choose. I hope this post has shed some light on this situation for you. And if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Happy writing!
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