(#9) beta reader buffoonery 🥑

A beta reader is not an editor.

They’re not going to dissect every aspect of your manuscript for structural or grammatical integrity.

Nor should they! Some beta readers charge for their services, but many others read for free, and none of them will be paid on the level of a reasonable editor.

As an editor, though, I can confirm that beta readers are an invaluable part of the writing process.

They can tell you what’s working and what’s not.

And if you have four of five beta readers looking at your manuscript, you’ll get four or five valuable opinions to work with.

So how do you get good beta readers for your stories?

The answer lies 100% in community.

Build relationships with other writers—Instagram and Threads are great places to do this.

Offer to beta read for other writers in your genre.

Engage in conversations with writers, editors, beta readers—anyone in that sphere.

You don’t need a slew of random readers to look over your story. Root yourself in community, not chaos.

I’ve worked with alpha or beta readers half a dozen times over the last few years, and I’ve developed a process that works great for me.

Let me know—would you want to learn about it?

Got questions about right writing rites? Reply to this email with your query; I might include it in a future Bite.

Thanks for reading Avocado Bites!

^{Avocado Bites is a publication of Avocado Tree Press, LLC, that helps you revise your stories one bite at a time. We love working with indie and traditionally published authors on fiction manuscripts—and if that’s you, welcome to our target audience.}

^{Ready for a sample edit? Here’s our site.}

^{Addison Horner is the chief editor of Avocado Tree Press. Here’s his newsletter. It’s different but still pretty good.}