I often see posts in Facebook children’s writer groups for beta readers. The wonderful thing about the writing community, especially the kidlit writing community, is how willing people are to help each other out. Manuscript swaps, critique groups, beta readers…Wonderful, right?
Yeah…
The problem I’m seeing is that everyone seems to be forgetting the tiny humans in the midst of the frantic manuscript swapping, and I often wonder to himself: Why ask an adult to beta read your children’s book? Wouldn’t it better to ask children – your intended audience – what they think?
Before we go any further, let’s have a look at what a beta reader is.
Beta readers review finished manuscripts before they’re submitted to a freelance editor, agent, publisher, or are self-published.
What’s the point?
Beta readers give you feedback from a reader’s point of view. They’re very different from a critique partner who is also a writer – capable of giving feedback on the technical aspects of writing. Beta readers might also spot a plot hole or a glaring typo, but that’s not really their role.
You can have as many beta readers as you like read your book. The upside to this is that you’ll get more feedback from a diverse group, and a general consensus on a problematic area is always more helpful than feedback from just one person. The downside is that you can’t please everyone all the time, and too many varying opinions can be overwhelming.
As beta readers give feedback as a reader, it’s important to choose people who enjoy reading the genre of fiction you write. Someone who dislikes science-fiction is not going to enjoy tales of Graag from Planet Snjorg, are they? And this is why it’s important to get children to beta read your chapter book or middle-grade book. Who better than your intended audience to tell you if they enjoyed your book?
Just a word about children as beta readers…
Before asking a child to beta read for you, take into consideration that children are not always reliable. School, homework and extracurricular activities can get in the way of reading. In addition, a child’s feedback will never be as in-depth as an adult’s. But, children are more than capable of telling you if they liked your book or not, and why. And this is the most precious feedback you – as a children’s writer – could ever get.
Ready to alpha test a child beta reader? Download this worksheet: Ask a Child to Be Your Beta Reader which will help them give you feedback on your book.
