Book editing can be expensive for many authors, so it’s understandable why they may choose to forego what services they can. It’s a surprisingly common myth that beta readers and developmental editors are the same thing. This misinformation can lead an author to solely rely on alpha and beta readers for developmental edits, leading to a less-than-spectacular experience for everyone involved. Especially the reader.
Developmental editors are professionals who understand how to construct, strengthen, and reinforce a story. Beta readers are a test audience, readers who will inform the author of their emotional reaction to a story. It helps to understand how each role in the editing process works together to better your manuscript in order to know the specific needs of your book and what editing services to prioritize.
There are many roles involved in getting a manuscript ready for publication. Each role is separate and serves a specific, unique, and important purpose. These roles are usually brought into the editing process in the following order:
Self-edits: edits made by the author before presenting the manuscript to others, focusing on story cohesion and clarity.
Alpha readers: friends of the author who are usually authors themselves, providing general and free feedback on story cohesion and clarity.
Beta readers: test readers of various backgrounds who provide feedback on the emotionality of the manuscript and overall reader experience
Accuracy reader(s): feedback on the accuracy of a given subject, usually on representation of a given marginalized group portrayed in the story whose identity the author does not share
Manuscript Critique (optional)
Full Developmental Edit
These steps are then followed by line editing, copyediting, formatting, and proofreading. Those subjects will be discussed further in separate blog posts. This post will focus on the roles on the bulleted list above.
I will not be going in depth about each specific role, but will give an overview of each and how they differ from one another overall.
Before beta readers…
Before any other editing or feedback, an author self-edits their manuscript. These self-edits are all about making the story cohesive and understandable. There may be aspects of the manuscript the author knows aren’t working but isn’t sure what needs fixing. They need other people’s feedback in order to recognize what needs changing.
After the author self-edits, alpha readers, also called critique partners, read over the manuscript and provide general feedback. The author then employs the feedback they agree with. Alpha readers are not beta readers, despite sometimes being confused with one another.
Alpha readers are usually friends of the author who are authors themselves. They are usually few in number, about two to four. Alpha readers are not paid. Generally, alpha readers exchange their manuscripts with each other so everyone benefits.
Alpha readers only read the manuscript once and their feedback focuses on broad changes. They help the author ensure that their manuscript tells a story that is cohesive, easy to follow, and engaging. They point out big picture issues such as too many characters to keep track of that could be combined and chapters that don’t contribute to the plot and could be cut.
Alpha readers contribute their time free of charge. They should not be expected to give detailed, thorough feedback on every aspect of the story, as a developmental editor is expected to do. Nor are alpha readers required to provide potential solutions to the problems they catch in the manuscript, which also falls under the domain of a developmental editor. They are there to help their friend make sure the manuscript actually tells a story that makes sense. That’s all.
After the author implements the feedback from the alpha readers, only then do they submit their manuscript to beta readers.
What are beta readers?
Beta readers are like a test audience. They are not professionals. They are readers who give feedback to the author on the entertainment value of the manuscript. They are either not paid or paid very little compared to professional developmental editors. They read the manuscript once and give feedback on what they liked and what they didn’t.
An author uses beta readers to find out if readers have the emotional reaction to the story that the author wants. Are the funny scenes funny? Are the scary scenes scary? Are the readers rooting for the love interests to end up together?
A beta reader might be paid for a specific area of expertise, but they should not be expected to be as thorough, detail oriented, or as knowledgeable as an accuracy reader or a consultant. Some authors may also pay beta readers a small amount because they think it will entice the reader to be more timely with their read-through of the manuscript and helpful in their feedback. Some beta readers are also accuracy readers and can provide specific insight into certain subjects and representations.
An author can greatly benefit from having many beta readers from a variety of backgrounds. Different individuals will see the story differently. It helps to have many different perspectives on your novel from various genders, ethnicities, sexualities, disabilities, cultural, and lived experiences.
Some authors find having many beta readers to be overwhelming, while others could have avoided problems with their manuscript if they had had more. How many is up to the author. Just ensure that the beta readers are active readers, are ideally in the book’s target age demographic, and who enjoy reading the genre the book is in.
Beta readers don’t need to offer potential solutions to story problems. They don’t need to give in-depth analysis of what changes could strengthen the manuscript. They are there to communicate their emotional reactions to the story and give the author a sense of the overall reader response to their manuscript.
From there, the author edits their manuscript again, focusing on entertainment quality.
The importance of accuracy readers…
Accuracy readers, sometimes called sensitivity readers, are qualified to speak to the accuracy of a given subject in your manuscript. They could be more of a consultant, speaking to historical accuracy in your historical fiction or medical accuracy in your doctor/doctor romance. Often, though, accuracy readers are what until recently was called sensitivity readers: they provide insight on accurate and respectful representation in the novel of a marginalized group to which the author doesn’t belong.
Accuracy readers should be paid for their time, insight, and the education with which they provide the author. Authors should be open to the feedback presented to them by their accuracy readers and always be respectful. We all make mistakes or have internalized problematic views to unpack and unlearn. Accuracy readers are there to help the author and advocate for marginalized readers.
Keep in mind no one person can speak for the entirety of a marginalized group. No group is a monolith. Don’t expect your accuracy reader to speak to every point of view of every marginalized person in any given group! Before hiring an accuracy reader, be sure to do research ahead of time so your accuracy reader can focus on nuance rather than big picture issues you could have easily learned about on your own.
Accuracy readers can be brought in at various stages of the publishing process, depending on the needs of the manuscript. Some manuscripts need several, others only one. Generally, accuracy readers are brought in after beta readers and before a developmental edit.
What is a manuscript critique? And what is its role in developmental edits?
A manuscript critique is a less detail-oriented developmental edit. It looks at big picture, structural, narrative issues in your manuscript. It does not look at your story scene-by-scene. A manuscript critique is done by a professional book editor with the training and expertise to guide you in strengthening your manuscript.
A manuscript critique takes less time and costs less money than a full developmental edit. This step in the editing process is perfect for those who feel their manuscript needs some extra professional feedback prior to a detail-oriented, full developmental edit.
While I wouldn’t advise skipping a full developmental edit, if an author is looking to replace that step in the editing process, opting for a manuscript critique will serve the story better than solely relying on beta readers.
If the manuscript is strong and has received positive feedback from alpha, beta, and accuracy readers, forgoing a manuscript critique and skipping right to a full developmental edit can be a good choice for authors looking to save money. Keep in mind that in traditional publishing, a book can go through several rounds of edits, which can be extremely costly in indie publishing. Paying for a manuscript critique and a full developmental edit is much more economical than paying for several rounds of full developmental edits.
What does a full developmental edit cover? And why is it worth the cost?
Every editor is different in what services they include in a developmental edit and what they charge. I offer more services than many other developmental editors due to:
my detail-oriented personality
being a writer myself and knowing what services will be most helpful
having unique insight into certain areas of storytelling due my background in theatre, film, and voice over.
The last point is particularly true of anything to do with portraying characters, such as their arcs, physicality, and voice.
According to the Editorial Freelancer’s Association, the average amount charged by its members for a full developmental edit in the year 2020 ranged from $0.03 to $0.039 a word. As of late, I have seen many editors charging $0.04 a word.
If you have a 100,000 word epic fantasy novel and your editor charges $0.04 a word, that’s $4000! No wonder a new author may be tempted to skip a developmental edit, especially when they’re told they can get essentially the same service for free from beta readers. This, as covered previously, is not true. Beta readers cannot replace a developmental editor.
Just as I can’t blame an author for trying to save money, I can’t blame editors who charge $0.04 a word. They spend four to eight weeks analyzing every aspect and nuance of an author’s story and writing style. When editing is someone’s full time job, that can be two months of rent needing to be paid, plus other expenses. In the theatre industry, two-hour musicals often go through years and years of readings, workshops, and rewrites before being ready for a professional, full-staged production. It’s not uncommon for the process to even take ten or more years. Most books are far longer than two hours’ worth of material, as audiobook listeners know well. So asking a developmental editor to provide the most productive feedback over a few weeks is a big ask! It takes a lot of skill and expertise.
I offer both beta reading and developmental editing. For a beta read, I charge $0.002 per word. For a full developmental edit, I charge $0.03 per word, which is at the low-end of average. The price difference is no small matter, and neither is the differences in services offered.
Due to my training and experience in editing, storytelling, and character depictions, my beta reads are more similar to alpha reads. They are even comparable to what some less-detail oriented editors consider a manuscript critique. I also always keep an eye out for issues regarding representation of marginalized identities. My one read through cannot catch every issue and nuance in a manuscript.
I read through a manuscript four times or more for full developmental edits. Some scenes will even require many more read-throughs. I offer constructive and supportive feedback on the manuscript’s strengths and areas that need support, keeping in mind the overall big picture story and moving chapter-by-chapter and scene-by-scene. The feedback is communicated through side-bar comments and a twenty-page minimum editorial letter, which is much longer than what many editors offer.
The feedback addresses:
Plot & Story Structure
Pacing
Chapters and Scenes
Voice & Style
Characterization and Character Voice
Character Arcs
Themes, Imagery, and Symbolism
Sensitivity and Accuracy: any big picture recommendations and concerns
Content or Trigger Warnings: any big picture recommendations and concerns
Marketability regarding Title, Age Group, Genre, and Ideal Audience
Age-Appropriateness (mainly for YA and MG)
Audiobook accessibility to narrators and readers (if applicable)
No beta reader, especially an unpaid one, should be expected to give thorough and actionable feedback on all of the above! Even if an author had fifty or more beta readers who all finished and provided a solid response to the manuscript, a rate difficult to achieve for any author, the above topics would not be covered to the extent and in a way that could replace a full developmental edit.
It should also be noted that many line editors, myself included, will not take a manuscript that has foregone a developmental edit. To put it simply, line edits are difficult to do when the story is not solid and cohesive.
If an author receives negative reviews from ARC (advanced review/reader copy) readers or after publication, they may decide to make developmental changes in response. Large swaths of text may be cut or changed. They will then have wasted money on the first line edits, copy edits, formatting, and proofreading and have to pay for those services again. That’s big money wasted and spent instead of saved.
In summary…
What an author chooses to do with their manuscript is up to them. As long as an author makes an informed choice, I support their decision. I wrote this post to dispel the misinformation that beta readers and developmental editors are the same thing. If you have read this far, you know by now that they are not. Beta readers are definitely an important step of the editing process in order to gauge overall reader response to a given story. Developmental edits by a professional editor are pivotal to creating a strong, solid, and engaging novel your readers will enjoy.
If you are interested in hiring a developmental editor for your novel, you can contact me at JacksonDHollingsworth@gmail.com.
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