A Writer’s Tribe: Critiquers, Alpha Readers, and Beta Readers, Oh My!

Writing is a solitary occupation. Well, except for the tribe of other people you need to help get your story edited, revised, polished, published, marketed, and sold.

True, the actual act of putting words onto the page tends to be very solitary, even if you’re typing away in a crowded café (remember those?). But at some point, if your story is ever going to leave the warm, cozy environs of your laptop and venture out into the world, you’ll need some additional eyes on it.

That’s a scary thought. So scary, in fact, that many writers want to skip letting anyone read it and just send it directly to an agent or publisher (or just as bad, self-publish it).

Why? Simply put, it’s the fear of humiliation.

Sharing our writing can be a degree of exposure so shocking to our psyche that we are only comfortable showing it to someone we’ll never have to see again if things go poorly. (It’s like singing karaoke in a bar full of strangers vs. singing karaoke in front of your boss.)

However, sending your story directly to an agent/publisher without a round or two of reviews by other writers/readers/editors is probably the most counterproductive thing you can do to your story and your career. If nobody has read your work before you send it to that agent (or self-publish it), things probably will go poorly. In other words, your story will most likely be rejected.

Consider this: Why are you afraid to show your work to another writer/editor?

The real reason, deep inside, is probably the fear that they’ll find something wrong with it. (Why do I know this? Because I’m a writer, too. We all feel this way.)

But shouldn’t you be even more afraid that if something’s wrong with your story, the agent/publisher (or if you self-publish, your readers) will find it? Here’s why:

Agents and publishers almost never give second chances. Neither do readers.

If a fellow writer notices a problem in your story, they’ll usually try to help you revise it until it shines. They’ll still be willing to talk to you later, read more of your stories, show you theirs, and discuss writing in general over coffee. But if an agent or publisher finds a problem in your story, they will reject you out of hand, usually without explanation. And here’s the real kicker:

You will have blown your one and only chance with them.

Since you only have one chance with every agent or publisher (and reader), don’t punch that ticket until you’ve first used every resource you can to raise your story from pretty good to phenomenal.

To help you build your tribe, here’s a list of the types of readers and when they’re most helpful:

• Critique partners or groups—Other writers whose writing skills you trust. You trade your writing with each other as you go, often one chapter or scene at a time, to discuss merits, gaps, character arcs, plot holes, etc.
• Alpha readers—Readers of the first complete draft who give you an overall idea of the story’s impact on a reader, where it triumphed, and where it needs work.
• Subject matter experts—People who can verify the accuracy of technical, historical, scientific, occupation-related, or other aspects of your story, such as a cop to review police procedures, a scientist to verify the science bits, or a tarot card reader to correct your tarot lore. They don’t have to read the whole manuscript; you can just give them the scenes relevant to their area of expertise.
• Beta readers—A handful of readers who read your complete and mostly polished draft. Think of these readers as focus groups, or like “beta testers” in the software world, where software is released to a small group of people whose job is to find any last-minute problems before it’s launched into the wider world. Here’s a useful Reedsy article: “What are Beta Readers — and How to Find Them.”
• Sensitivity readers—A specific type of alpha or beta reader who reads for cultural problems, such as language or assumptions that may be inaccurate or offensive to certain groups (i.e., racism, sexism, other forms of bias). This role is very important in today’s publishing landscape.
• Fact checkers—People who literally check all the facts, such as historical dates, tools that are relevant to the time period, measurements, etc.
• Copyeditors—The angels who focus on grammar. You don’t need a copyeditor at first draft—why fix a comma if you’re just going to rewrite the whole paragraph? But at final draft, copyeditors clean up every typo, misplaced punctuation, spacing issue, and misused word.
• Professional editors—Editors who provide book editing as a paid service. They are (hopefully) skilled at all three levels of editing, so you choose what you need:
  • Developmental/substantive editing (fundamental story structure, arc, plot, character development, etc.)
  • Line editing (editing at the sentence and paragraph level)
  • Copyediting (punctuation, spelling, etc.)

Many of these folks can be found in your local writing community. Except for professional editors, these people sometimes will join your tribe for free if you’re willing to reciprocate. Others, such as sensitivity readers, are in such demand that they may require a reasonable fee.

To begin building your small tribe of writing buddies, try looking to writing organizations, such as Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW). They often offer ways to connect with other writers interested in critiquing. (Click here to learn more about RMFW in-person and online critique groups.)

Asking someone to review your story can be scary. We all understand! Just don’t let that fear get in the way of your better story.

(Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash)