How To Write A Good Book Review – The Beta Report

In this series, we take you through the anatomy of a book review.

What does it take to write a book review? What are the different types and uses of book reviews? In this final installment, we look at Beta reviews.

A Beta Reader’s Report (or Review) is written by an experienced reader with a good understanding of story, grammar, and style. A Beta read should be carried out on the final edited version of your book just before you publish it for sale. A Beta report is not a review, but a private assessment of your work as a product on sale in the market of books.

What should I use a Beta Reader’s Report for?

A Beta read is used by an author to understand how the finished product, your book, will be reviewed by members of the public, i.e. your customers/readers, as well as critics writing book reviews for marketing purposes. You should NOT use it as a cheap editing tool, and should only be used after your book’s editing is finalized.

It is a private document to test the editing of your book and to check that you have achieved what you intended to when you wrote it.
It can help you define categories and genre, as readers will tell you if your book is scary, thrilling, or feel-good.
It will show plot holes or inconsistencies in your story from a reader’s perspective.

A Beta Read consists of :

An overview of how the book reads, summed up at the front of the report.
A more detailed comment about the story’s arc. Does the plot make sense, and is it satisfying to read?
Discussion of characters and motivation
Comments on the writing style and quality: is the book professionally edited?
Discussion of any problems with the layout of the book, factual errors, or questions about the book — this will flag any parts of the story you may not have conveyed to the reader successfully.