Alpha and Beta Readers: Is It Worth It?

Oooh boy, that is great news! I was beginning to think I wouldn't have enough eyes to look at it. Poor manuscript has been sitting in the dark on a dusty corner of Google Docs for a while. Could you message me your email contact information so that I can add you to the mailing list?

@Elizabeth Wall-O’Brien I'm currently putting the rest of the rough draft together, but will be doing a call out for readers soon. I'll keep you in mind Elizabeth. Thank you for showing interest!

You're good bud! Coffee is nearly a requirement in the morning is it not? 😅 Thank you for the advice because it was very useful to know. Do you happen to still have the link to the site you found the NDA? I know this question is probably a long stretch, but if you don't have it I'll just Google up something.

Thank you Adam!

@Ken Merchant I actually don't but a quick google of NDA template should come up with results a plenty bud

I say leave it until the final hour because you can have too many voices, and if you and your editor haven’t worked through the collection until you know it word for word, and dont have that solid idea of what the collection is... having another 10 voices can easily throw you and the collection becomes a big wtf. Whereas if you’ve worked the manuscript to death and both know exactly what you’re going, it’s easier to be objective with beta feedback.

@Adam Gary you've confirmed exactly what I've been researching like a crazed mad man for the last couple of days. I knew it would be a good idea. However, I was uncertain when to use beta readers (I figured closed to the final draft) and how to cover my ass when it came to plagiarism. Last thing I want is someone to read my work and then share it with others without permission. The solution I came up with involves pre-screening the potential readers and having them sign an agreement form.

I've also encountered the problem of whether to pay or not? Some videos I watched said beta readers typically are unpaid, but compensation is sometimes given in other ways. Like offering a gift card or a copy of the book when it is released. Both of which sound like valid options to me, and quite frankly I would want to offer something anyways. I mean that is a lot of work to put in.

Then there comes the deadlines. Since I'm self-publishing this collection (opting to external resources for other means such as editing and printing) I don't really have a contract that I have to follow. Which makes this that much less stressful. However, would it be proper to give these beta readers a set timeline that needs to be met? I mean it only makes more sense to me.

Lastly, I'm planning on doing a limited print run through a small printing press. Mostly because I don't have the money to massively market this, and also because I'm not even sure how well it will sell given the limitations of self-publication. Print-on-demand options don't seem appropriate, but who knows. I just don't want to go through another Amazon.com CreateSpace fiasco like I did in the past. Basically they sold my book as a e-book without permission and essentially for free. Which was quite disturbing. Needless to say, I don't trust Amazon with my work.

As for the targeted audience for the book. I'm keeping that mostly generalized currently. Meaning anyone who likes poetry could read my work. Though there are many aspects of the poems that are mature in content. A lot of them revolve around life and death, romantic struggles, life experiences, and trauma. Though I did manage to mask these themes well with metaphor and simile in a rather fantasy-like manner. So there's that. All good starting points I think.

I've mapped out how I want the book to look like. As most of the work is reprinting my "failed experiments" of the past, with a slew of newly written poems thrown in there as well. Essentially I had one book I published through CreateSpace that flopped, and another chapbook that I never fully published but have a proof copy of. So I retyped everything into one manuscript, and I'm sectioning the collection off into three to four parts. The first and second parts are the two books I mentioned. The third part is all my new works, and the fourth part will be only in the limited print run (which includes poems that I am removing from the final book) kind of serving as "lost chapters."

I know this is a lot. I really appreciate all your feedback though!