Paid Beta Readers Are Not a Scam

I've noticed some heated discussions in writer groups on Facebook about paid beta readers. Sometimes you'll see a person asking about hiring one and a flood of comments will come in saying things like, "I don't pay for beta readers," and "Run, it's a scam." 

Can a paid beta reader scam you? Yes! So can an editor, a formatter, or a book cover designer, but it doesn't make them any less legit as a business model. 

What is a beta reader?
A beta reader is a person who reads your book after alpha readers but before ARC readers. Beta reading a book requires labor, and like any labor it can be volunteer or paid. 

Here is a good post by Sarah Kuiken on the Draft2Digital blog about the differences in alpha, beta, and ARC readers. That article leans heavily on the example of volunteer beta readers as the default and doesn't mention paid readers, so I want to cover why you might want a paid beta reader.

Volunteer Beta Readers, Advantages & Disadvantages
Volunteer beta readers are sometimes a friend, or somebody from a Facebook group who enjoys beta reading. They could be part of an author's "street team" who are excited about seeing a not-yet-released version of the book, or they could be somebody who loves the particular genre the author writes in and like being part of the process.

The advantages of having a volunteer beta reader include knowing the person is excited to read the book, they are free, they might want to read your ARC and will leave you a review. Also, if a volunteer beta reader has a big platform and really loves your book, they might hype it a bit.

The disadvantages of  having a volunteer beta reader include not being able to ask them to stick to a deadline because you're asking them to do free labor. Not knowing their ability to catch problems in a full work. If they are not known to you personally, sending an unpublished work is risky.

There are many lovely, trustworthy, skillful beta readers out there who can't wait to help you, but finding them isn't always easy. Fortunately there are groups and other resources to help you.

Paid Beta Readers, Advantages & Disadvantages
The biggest advantages to having a paid beta readers:

• You can vet their background and not feel weird about it
• You can have a checklist or even a form, or they may have a form that covers specifically what they will be checking for
• You can have a contractual and enforceable agreement that they will not leak your book
• You can have timeline expectations as to when they will have the work completed by
• If your content is private or material you are keeping under a pen name due to the subject matter, you have more privacy security
  
  

The only disadvantage is having to pay them! 

Two years ago TWWBF had a video interview with a professional beta reader, so that video is being included here. 

So, if you see people saying that paying a beta reader is a scam, try to normalize paid beta reading as a legitimate profession. Still, know as much as you can about your beta readers either way!