I am a writer with no money. I’ve talked about how much I’ve spent on my books in addition to what my publisher has done, and I’ve been pretty open about what has helped me, and what hasn’t, and how hard it’s been to come up with funds, and how expensive everything has been.

With my trilogy releasing faster than I expected, I don’t have enough time to save up the money for doing certain things. I was broke when I was writing The Step and the Walk and didn’t use beta readers for that manuscript. At first I was really scared that I was making a terrible decision, but I’ve sat with it for a while, and it didn’t turn out so badly for me. So now I’m questioning if I should try to save for them for Book Three in The Darkening Gate trilogy, The Fear and the Flame.

I saw this video a few weeks ago and the recommendation stuck out to me about not wasting money on beta readers:

The key takeaway is that if you’re looking for more comprehensive feedback, who you’re actually wanting to work with is an editor. And readers, I have an editor–Kim Ostrom of Oliver Heber Books.

Before I move ahead, let’s take a look back at my experiences with my books and beta reading thus far:

Son of the Siren

I spent $715 on beta readers for Son of the Siren. I used a total of five readers at different points in the drafting and revision stage. The first batch of readers (three) came from Independent Book Review, and the reviews were wildly different. The only consistent thing about them was that they scored my draft three out of five stars, which essentially means “mehh” or “average” to readers. I didn’t think this was good enough, so I kept rewriting the book until I felt it was at a four-star level. After I made many changes, I submitted the book to two more beta readers, people I went to graduate school with from Seton Hill University who are also published writers. They also had wildly different reviews, but they also gave the book three stars out of five.

I felt like I was going to go insane. I fell under the trap of trying to please everyone, and drafting and rewriting became this monster task that I didn’t think I was ever going to break out of. Because of how different the beta readers’ tastes were–pacing too slow, pacing too fast; romance is sweet, romance is underwhelming; etc.–I couldn’t figure out how to edit my book in a way that would please them as well as myself. Everybody’s comments seemed sound enough when they provided their reasoning, but I was so torn up by what everyone was telling me. It actually affected my mental health.

I did rewrite the book for the billionth time and felt like I had a four-star book and that I couldn’t afford–nor wanted to–hire more beta readers to go over the significant changes I had made. At that point I started submitting the book to agents, and I signed with Rick Lewis. The book was once more rewritten under his watchful eye, and then when I signed with Oliver Heber Books, the book was rewritten again with my editor Kim Ostrom. And the thing is, in hindsight, the only readers I felt “got” the book were my agent and editor.

The Name and the Key

I spent $450 on beta reading for The Name and the Key and only used two beta readers at the time because that was all I could afford. I went with different beta readers this time, but people I had worked with before and trusted. Once again, I had contradictory feedback, especially when I asked if there was enough romance in the book for it to be qualified as a romantasy. One reader said yes, definitely, and the other said no. This drove me nuts. I tried to edit based on their feedback, but let my own feelings take precedent when I rewrote the book. Again, what they told me seemed sound because they gave pretty good reasons behind their reactions, but their reactions were so different from each other!

Do you notice a trend here? I was learning that trying to cater to such wildly varying opinions was impossible. And that it’s not helpful to hear at the same time, “Your couple is so romantic!” along with “Where’s the romance, they’ve barely done anything beyond looks and holding hands?”

While I believed the beta reading provided helpful info, things didn’t really get fixed until my editor Kim Ostrom looked at the book. And I did such a substantial rewrite under her watch, too. She felt more attuned to the book somehow and noticed a lot of things that my beta readers just didn’t catch.

The Step and the Walk

The Step and the Walk was coming up quickly on deadline and I knew I’d be writing it up until the month it was due. There was literally no time for a beta read, and I had no money for one, either, because I’d spent all my money on the art and promotions for ARC readers for The Name and the Key. I was always told you needed beta readers before submitting a work, and I felt like I was committing a cardinal sin by not having them for The Step and the Walk, especially because I was going into darker territory with a lot of traumatic things happening to Andresh. It was also the first time I was writing from the viewpoint of a bisexual character. So, I was terrified to not have beta readers for this one.

Once again, the book went straight to Kim Ostrom, and while there were things I needed to look at with The Step and the Walk, it seemed like there weren’t a lot of issues with the book, and we moved through the editing process quickly with it.

The Fear and the Flame

I’m in the same situation as I was for The Step and the Walk. I have a very strong feeling I’ll be writing up to the last second of my deadline; plus, I have no money. I have to borrow some for the art campaign I’m doing for The Step and the Walk because my paychecks aren’t coming in for a while, and I might have to borrow money for The Fear and the Flame, too, depending on the timing of things. So, beta reading is definitely out. But…honestly…I don’t even know if I want to work with beta readers anymore. It always feels like my editor at OHB, Kim, gets to the heart of the book and tackles issues beta readers tend to overlook. And as Alyssa Matesic says in her YouTube video above, what I really seem to want is an editor, anyway.

Some helpful articles about the downsides to using beta readers

Author Gina Kammer writes in “Beta Reader Feedback is Failing You–Here’s Why,”

[…] you worked hard to get that beta feedback. You asked thoughtful questions, waited weeks—maybe longer—to hear back.

But now? You’re more confused than ever.

One beta reader says the pacing drags. Another loved that exact scene.
Someone says your main character isn’t likable—but can’t explain why.

You’re stuck. Because none of that feedback tells you what’s actually wrong—or how to fix it.

She says beta readers often misidentify the real issues of the work, and that such feedback can kill your momentum, send you in the wrong direction, or make you second-guess everything.

This is exactly what happened to me with Son of the Siren. The writing process, which was exciting at first, literally made me depressed and ill once I got involved with all that beta reader feedback because I second-guessed everything I was doing trying to please them.

In Edi Oak’s article “7 Reasons Not to Use Beta Readers,” the author reiterates a lot of what Kammer said in her article. Specifically,

If you’re a seasoned author with a clear vision for your book, you might find that beta readers add unnecessary noise to your process. Over-reliance on external feedback could lead to confusion, second-guessing, and endless revisions, which can be frustrating for any writer.

For instance, if you’re working on your third novel and feel confident that it meets all your expectations, skipping beta readers might help maintain the clarity and integrity of your story. Trusting your creative instincts can streamline the editing process and keep your narrative on track.

Many experienced writers choose to trust their instincts instead of seeking beta reader feedback.

I went completely instincts-in with The Step and the Walk despite wandering into unchartered territory. At least from the editorial standpoint and my personal opinion, that book is sound. If readers slam it and there’s a huge disconnect to how I feel about it versus how they feel about it, I might reconsider using beta readers for The Fear and the Flame, but for now, I think I want to write by instinct again with the third book.

In the last article I want to share with you, “Beware of Beta Readers” by Nick Macari, he mentions something else I didn’t consider: bias.

There are two specific biases we need to talk about.

First, the “everybody wins an award bias.”

Friends, family, or fans often don’t want to upset you. They may be too eager to please, or afraid to say anything negative. This can make it difficult for them to provide objective feedback. In turn, stifling their honest feedback for what they think will be most helpful to you–often this becomes an echo-chamber of praise.

Second, folks are biased based on their own preexisting likes and dislikes.

If you’re writing a sci-fi piece and one beta reader is a die-hard Star Trek fan and the other a Star Wars fan, you can expect some seriously different feedback. While seemingly harmless in nature, biases, especially biases you aren’t aware of, can really skew the perspective of the feedback.

You may have an element, character, or theme executed perfectly, but due to a beta reader’s bias, they hate it (or conversely, love an element that’s executed poorly, just because it connects to their bias).

Beta reader bias can send you for a real loop. And ultimately, waste a lot of time.

I remember way back when, I had a beta reader read my King Arthur prequel novel. I told this one dude it was a “hard fantasy,” quasi-historic in nature–King Arthur’s grandfather during the Roman times. His feedback in the end, “I don’t really like hard fantasy and didn’t enjoy it.”

Dude!? What the heck did you read it for if you were biased against hard fantasy in the first place?

Although I don’t know for certain what biases my beta readers have had while reading my manuscripts, there’s no denying that they have them, and that could have affected their feedback.

Final thoughts

For the final book in The Darkening Gate I’m going to hold off on beta readers again, unless reception for The Step and the Walk is catastrophic (but I doubt that it will be). Finances are playing a huge role in this–I simply can’t afford to pay for beta readers–but also, I think my experience with beta readers overall has been more frustrating than beneficial due to the contradictory nature of the feedback, which has not ever been helpful to me. Maybe the best lesson it’s taught me is that you can’t please everyone, nor should you try. But other than that, I think I should probably trust myself a little bit more and focus on working with my editor.