Jamie Broker

One of the hardest author-y things to do (I think) is to get your work in front of folks for the first time. This is hilariously ironic, because I am also not really all that satisfied in making art just for myself. If I put that much work into something, I want to share it; to me, it was always intended for an audience beyond my house. This desire constantly wars with the fear of being misunderstood, mocked, or thought a waste of time; between the two, though, I think the desire for connection is the deeper and more natural of the two. It’s the one worth listening to and following — so I persevere!

All kidding aside, though, one of the biggest hurdles I’ve thus far encountered in my authorial journey was the beta reading stage. Other stages have been a little easier. For example, I’m very lucky to have a good friend who is a writer; she was my alpha reader, so I didn’t have to go it alone. I’ve been able to hire multiple sensitivity readers from different groups, and they’ve been very helpful. Once I got beyond the beta stage, I had to request a couple of sample edit before I found a dev editor who I really clicked with (shout out to Marie, you’re awesome). But beta readers… man, that first beta read was tough.

Since my friend had been my first alpha reader, I knew and respected both her and her work (and still do). By the time I got to dev edits, I was more used to sending my precious baby into the hands of strangers. Sensitivity reads were fine, as that was more like troubleshooting. But straight-up beta reading? Where there would be judgement??!?!!!!???!!! It took me a while to screw my courage up for that one.

The end of the story, of course, is that getting feedback wasn’t nearly as awful as I’d feared. That my beta readers were kind, professional, clear communicators. That when I disagreed with their feedback, I almost always understood why they’d said what they said, and that “why” helped me edit. Not every experience will be like mine, but it got to the point where I was genuinely excited for the beta readers to get back to me and to hear what they had to say. So if you’re reading this and you’d like to write a novel someday, I hope you’re less intimidated by the beta stage than I was. Be careful — vet your colleagues, ask for recs, don’t send your manuscript or your money off to people you don’t trust — but take the leap and listen to what they say. It’s growth! And growth isn’t just good for writers, it’s vital.

Go forth and find yourself some beta readers!