beta readers

How Talking to Colleagues Can Change Your Perspective on What You’re Writing

November 6, 2025 by Lisa Tener Leave a Comment

In a recent Get Your Writing Done session, Louisa Willcox shared how a conversation with a colleague woke her up to a perspective she hadn’t considered in the book she’s been writing about protecting Grizzly Bears.

Louisa’s Book Insights

The conversation had led her to do some research, and she realized that for fifty years, the preservation of wild country outside Parks and Wilderness in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho has been achieved primarily through litigation to protect Grizzly Bears. That, she realized, is a terrible, non-strategic way to conserve wild land and puts Grizzlies in the crosshairs between conservationists, government, developers and other interests.

This led to a whole new chapter she is now working on, as well as information, data, and perspective to weave throughout the book. She hopes that this insight, along with the alternative approaches she describes, will transform how readers think about and pursue conservation at a time when threats to the nation’s largest remaining wild ecosystems are mounting.

How to Broaden Your Perspective on Your Subject

The secret ingredients for this potentially game-changing idea are:

Talk to colleagues.
Be open to “aha moments.”
Return to the data for further insights.
Be willing to rework your book as such insights arise, using them to spark new, actionable ideas, especially in the final chapters!

As you work on your book, are you discussing the subject with colleagues? Open to seeing the problems your book addresses from new perspectives and angles?

While it’s important to discuss your book with people you trust and be mindful about whom you share it with, it’s also incredibly helpful to develop your book in community: through conversations, feedback from beta readers, research, and possibly holding one or more focus groups.

When you discuss the issues, be open to new perspectives, especially when someone disagrees with you. What does that disagreement tell you? Is there a third way to view things that their perspective can open you up to? Or can you do some research to see what the data might be saying?

Please share any ideas this post has sparked, or any reactions to this post! Thank you!

And if you’re interested in hearing more about Louisa and colleagues’ work protecting Grizzly Bears, check out The Grizzly Times. You can click on the drop-down menu to sign up for the free newsletter.

Genre Decisions: Memoir? Fiction? Self-Help? Hybrid?

January 28, 2025 by Lisa Tener Leave a Comment

I often receive emails from writers who feel they’ve hit a genre decision roadblock: memoir, fiction, memoir/self-help hybrid, effectively saying, “Help! I don’t know what my book genre should be anymore.”

In Maria DiElsi’s case, the retired art historian has been working hard on her literary memoir, including receiving consistent feedback from a savvy group of writers. Her memoir explores her experiences of a sense of déjà vu connected to past lives. She also wants to share lucid dream experiences that tie her to the past.

She wrote, “I thought if I wrote a memoir, I’d be able to encourage others to explore these phenomena. Some readers have struggled with the idea of past life experiences hinted at by déjà vu or my lucid dreaming. So I have relented, which doesn’t make me happy, and have started rewriting my introduction/ prologue/ memoir and cloaking it in the guise of fiction. ”

Gut vs. Book Critique Group vs. Beta Readers

Clearly, turning the book into fiction had taken the joy out of her experience, which seemed to be a clear enough indication that switching to fiction was not the right path for her.

writing retreat — photo by Emily Homonoff

Who were these beta readers anyway? Well, they might not even be called beta readers. They were her book critique group—strong writers and excellent with feedback on writing and style, but were they her target audience?

Your critique group is not necessarily your target audience. While past lives and lucid dreams might be outside the group’s comfort zone, this book was clearly for people who are curious about those things. Perhaps some share similar experiences. Some have read about past lives and/or lucid dreams and wish to know more (or even tap into such knowledge).

Your beta readers should be people in your target market. So, test this with your target audience, not your critique group, unless they are that audience.

Ask Your Creative Muse to Help Clarify Genre Decisions

I am a big fan of asking the creative Muse for guidance, so I suggested Maria listen to my free Meet-Your-Muse guided visualization and ask her Muse what genre would best serve her book.

She got back to me the next day with the response she’s permitted me to share with you:

Photo by Maria DiElsi
“Took your advice—meditation and connecting with my spirit guide/muse is familiar to me. As soon as I started I was right there where I’ve been before, in the woods at the edge of a meadow standing at the foot of one of my grandpop trees, an ancient white pine—literally. This describes a corner of a piece of land where my gardens grow and my partner and I are building a house, each of us hammer-in-hand. Here is what I wrote after the meditation:

“Reciprocity: Sitting under the ancient white pine, my Muse, I look up and my spirit rises along the trunk and out in all directions, in every direction flowing out from the tips of every pine needle and flowing back to me. I’m receiving energy and creative guidance. I put out both hands, palms facing the sky, asking, “Memoir or fiction?” The hands of my Muse touched both hands and replied, ‘Memoir, and you’re not finished writing.’

“…Many thanks for reminding me that my spirit guide is always there for me, and, yes, I am so grateful for the well of creativity that resides in my spirit.”

Other Factors in Genre Decision

Of course, a variety of factors can influence your genre decision:

Your vision for how you’ll reach readers
Your goals for book sales
Various aspects of your vision and goals for the impact of your book—what it will do in your world, for your business, etc.
Whether you would like more freedom than nonfiction affords: consider what genre the book lends itself to.
Whether you feel strongly about trying a traditional book deal
What kind of platform you have
What type of readers you currently reach

You might be able to add some bullet points to what I’ve listed. Just be clear that when you consider feedback from others, those people are part of your target market before changing your genre based on their advice or reaction. Again, here’s where your Muse (or a coach) can help you gain clarity.

If you’re curious about past lives and lucid dreaming, check out Maria’s website, Radiant Realm.

When is it Time to Share My Writing? When to Hire an Editor?

September 1, 2021 by Lisa Tener 3 Comments

It’s important to know when to hire an editor and when to share writing. You can wait too long or you can also share too soon!

Sometimes people feel nervous when it comes time to share writing with me. They want to polish or perfect it before sending. And they wait and wait and wait.

writing a book — Photo by Kat Stokes on Unsplash

There are benefits to sending your rough work, whether to an editor or a beta reader:

Benefits to Showing Your Writing to An Editor or Beta Reader

You’ll feel a freedom in having it not be perfect.
You’ll get feedback that can help inform your future writing.
It will help you keep moving forward with the writing.
You’ll likely feel empowered and buoyed when you read feedback about what’s working and excited to add the editor or reader’s suggested additions.

Here’s what I heard the other day from a participant in my Bring Your Book to Life(R) Program who sent writing:

“Thank you for the quick turnaround. Great feedback. You answered a couple of questions I had when I was writing it.”

On the other hand, getting feedback too soon from an editor may not be that helpful. You may need to experiment and explore, develop the tone and voice of the book, and then reach out. The structure may be in flux and, while a developmental edit can help with that, you may just need to sit with it on your own first.

Or maybe you really do need some early feedback from people in your target market to know where you’re on the right track and where your writing may not be serving their needs. Getting their feedback before that of a freelance editor will save you time. Ask them:

Is it too academic?
Not scientific enough?
Not accessible?
Confusing in the organization?

Waiting too long for feedback could waste valuable time. So, How do you know when to show your work to beta readers, when to hire an editor?

When to Show Writing to Beta Readers

If you’re not sure about something critical to the writing of the book, you can share your writing as early as having one chapter drafted. Of course, fix your punctuation and grammar before sending to readers and do a couple of self-edits on your own. You want to be mindful of your readers’ time.

If this is a prescriptive book (how-to, self-help or business, for example), sharing a representative chapter can help you clarify a structure you can use consistently in each chapter. For example. each chapter may begin with a story; offer some teaching, framework or principle; provide additional examples; offer science sidebars and tips sprinkled within, and end with a summary or exercise(s). Find out how that format works for your beta readers and get feedback on one or two chapters to make it even better.

Likewise, if you have questions about tone, voice or other aspects, the sooner you get feedback on what works for your readers, the more time you’ll save.

I wouldn’t necessarily ask too many people. The more people, the more feedback you have to sift through and it can become confusing. Instead, choose two to six readers from your target market to begin with.

You can read more on how to choose beta readers and questions to ask.

When to Hire an Editor

A freelance editor or book coach can help you in the early developmental stage. You can even hire someone before you start writing, in order to clarify your book concept and structure with a professional who can help you craft a book that people will buy and read!

Some people like to work with a book coach or editor throughout the process for accountability, to save time and to make sure they’re on track. Often, this works well. The pitfall can be that your book morphs over time. If you’ve been doing detailed line editing, you may have material you end up not using in the book. Perhaps you can repurpose it for a blog post.

You can also work on early drafts, get feedback from beta readers, do some self-editing and then hire an editor for a developmental edit. A developmental edit focuses on big picture issues and structure, versus line-by-line editing. By waiting to hire an editor until after you’ve done some polishing, you’ll save money.

After one or more rounds of developmental editing, it’s time for line editing. This can also take more than one round. The more rounds of editing, the more nuanced and polished a book becomes. Those who do one round of developmental editing and one round of line editing often have not given the book as much attention as required to write a high quality book. For narrative nonfiction (as compared to prescriptive) this is particularly important. Here’s a post on how to dig deeper after a developmental edit.

Here’s more on how to choose an editor. If you are looking for an editor, feel free to check out my Editorial Referral Program.

What questions do you have about editing? Ask away as a comment below…or share your editing experiences.

How to Get Inside a Reader’s Head (and Write a Book Readers Will Buy)

May 26, 2021 by Lisa Tener Leave a Comment

Most of my clients write prescriptive books–self-help, how-to, business…books that help people acheive goals, create transformation or solve problems. For these types of books, its especially important to understand your readers–who they are, what they think and feel and want, how to connect with them. How do you get inside a reader’s head to understand what they think and desire?

How do you get inside a reader’s head? Here are 5 quick tips to do just that.

1. ASK THEM What They Want

Consider a free survey on Survey Monkey or a similar platform. Keep it short, 3-5 questions max. And ask your readers about their most pressing pain points in the arena of your book, or the particular problem your book will solve, or goal your book will help them reach. Possible questions include:

What’s the most challenging part of x?
What do you wish you would find in a book on x?
What’s lacking in most information surrounding x?
[add one or two more specific questions if you like but keep it simple.]

How do you get the survey into the virtual hands of your readers? If you have an email list, consider an email invitation, mention in your newsletter or a blog post that invites your readers to take the short survey. Or look for a Facebook group that is made up of your audience (one Bring Your Book to Life® Program participant sent a survey to a group of women doctors in a Facebook group and got over 200 responses! Ask on social media. If your own following is modest, ask a colleague who works with the same audience as your readership to put a mention in their newsletter and on their social channels.

2. Read Amazon Reviews

Read reviews of books on your subject that are written for the same readership as your book. What do readers like about the books? What don’t they like? Look for what they found missing or lacking in other books? This can give you hints for what to include or not include in your book. And you’ll also discover the wording your readers use.

3. Publisher Rocket

This inexpensive program gives you insights into what keywords readers are using when they search on Amazon for similar books/search terms. While Publisher Rocket is very helpful for choosing your title, subtitle, Amazon description and more, it can also give you insights into the words readers use when they think about the issues your book addresses. So, it’s never too early to check this resource out!

4. Talk to Your Readers

While surveys are great for getting lots of responses, you may want to have more in depth conversations with a few selected readers. In addition to one-on-one conversations, you can create a focus group on Zoom. Ideally, have a professional facilitate the conversation so you can focus on listening. Invite 5-8 people from your target market to join you. Ask similar questions to those above, but dive deeper with open ended questions like, if they say “x,” respond with, “Tell me more about x.” You can also ask more questions in a focus group. Consider some nice swag bags for the people who spent time answering your questions. What can you do for them that would be meaningful?

a book coach to get inside a reader's head — One on one or a focus group can help you get inside your reader’s head.

5. Invite Beta Readers

All the up front work mentioned earlier will help you create your book concept, including title, content, features, tone, voice and structure. But don’t stop there. Once you’re writing, it’s helpful to hear back from readers about what you wrote. Beta readers can let you know what’s working in your initial chapters, where they get bored, where they get confused and what they want more of. They can also give you great ideas for additional content, features or other aspects of your book. Always make sure beta readers are from your target market! This post will teach you how to find beta readers and what questions to ask.

Do you have any other ideas for getting inside a reader’s head (or for selling more books, for that matter)? Share your ideas (or questions) below.

Beta Readers: How to Find Them & Questions to Ask

February 27, 2018 by Lisa Tener 7 Comments

Book Coach Lisa Tener gives advice on beta readers — Book Coach Lisa Tener with today’s advice on Beta Readers

Beta readers, also known as pre-readers, are a writer’s best friend—or can be.

What are Beta Readers?

Beta readers are people who will read a sample chapter (or the whole book) and give you feedback, while you are in the writing or editing phases of your book.

When to Look for Beta Readers

Generally, you want to have a fairly strong draft to send to your readers. That way, you make the best use of their time and will get the most benefit. However, if you feel stuck and feel you need feedback before your chapter is polished, that’s fine. Perhaps you are in the early stages and trying to figure out what content to include or what tone to strike.

In that case, you may even want to meet with the beta reader to ask them questions. Another option is to have the pre-reader read out loud to you. That’s a good way to hear when the reader is not interpreting a sentence the way you intended— identifying the need for a comma, clarification or restructuring of a sentence, for example.

Who Makes a Good Pre-Reader?

baby beta reader — Not your average beta reader

Your most important beta readers are people in your target market. They will have a similar orientation to the majority of your readers and can most easily catch issues of tone, structure, confusion, what’s missing, etc. They understand your readers because they are them.

It can also be helpful to have a trusted colleague read and provide feedback on any professional issues. I’ve had clients say that their colleagues were very helpful in pointing out additional information that would enhance the book, for instance.

An editor is not a beta reader. Their job is as a professional who can edit your writing for style, clarity, punctuation, tone and plain old improving the writing. Editors can also teach you to write better.

It’s important to choose pre-readers who will give you constructive feedback. Obviously, someone who is just going to tell you how good your book is because they don’t want to hurt your feelings is not going to make a good beta reader. However, equally important is not to ask someone overly critical. They are likely to just make you feel badly and often the super-critic is not even terribly objective. Instead they are the master of the put-down. Stay away from these folks. You want constructive critique, not trauma!

Where to Find Beta Readers [bctt tweet=”Where to Find Beta Readers” username=”LisaTener”]

Clients, consistent readers of your blog (especially those who comment and engage frequently), friends of friends can all be beta readers. It is important to make sure you trust the person. After all, you are giving them unpublished work that you want them to keep confidential. If something feels a little off, trust your instincts. Don’t ever feel desperate.

Questions to Ask Your Readers

checklist for beta readers — Give your beta readers a checklist

You don’t want to overwhelm them, ask just a few questions. Start with something positive to set the tone.

I suggest giving readers one chapter at a time, maybe 2 if short, because people can get overwhelmed with a whole book and end up not giving you any feedback. If you know you can depend on a particular reader to read the whole book, that’s fine, too.

Here are questions to ask:

What do you like?
What do you want more of?
What’s missing?
Where do you get bored?
Where do you get confused?
Any feedback on the structure or way it’s organized?
Anything else you want me to know?

Feel free to shorten this list of questions if you want to keep it even simpler. If you have very specific questions you want to answer you can add them, but remember that if you have too many questions, you can overwhelm your readers.

Be sure to write a nice thank you note to beta readers and acknowledge them in the acknowledgements section of your book.

For additional tips to please your readers, read this post to help you Connect with Your Readers and Avoid These 3 Phrases That Push Readers Away.

Share your questions as a comment below! Also feel free to add suggestions or other comments.