Should Self-Published Authors Use Beta Readers and Sensitivity Readers?

Publish & Prosper

In this episode, Matt & Lauren help you maximize your book’s potential with early readers like beta readers, sensitivity readers, and industry reviewers. We take a look at how and when to engage with them, how they can help your book, and what to offer them in return.
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Dive Deeper

💡 Check These Resources

• The Editorial Freelancers Association Member Directory
• Lulu’s Partners Page
• Jane Friedman on Are Paid Book Reviews Worth It?
• Blog | 7 Online Writing Communities for Authors
• Webinar | PR for Authors: Building Buzz Around Your Book
  

💡 Listen to These Episodes

• Episode #13 | Earning Free Promotion for Your Book
• Episode #26 | Do Book Reviews Help You Sell More Books?
• Episode #30 | Finding Your Place in Author & Reader Communities
  
  

Sound Bites From This Episode

🎙️ [21:12] “I think out of everything in this episode, we've probably referenced [beta readers] the most in the past. They are a great way to connect with other people in your industry, with other authors, with other peers in your specific genre that you're working on. It's a great way to create those relationships with people. And a great reason to definitely do that."

🎙️ [31:45] “A good editor… will point those things out to you, but it's not their job to make sure that you've done your due diligence. It's always on the author.”

🎙️ [38:19] “Most people that you ask for promotional reviews, testimonials, whatever, they will not provide a negative one. So you'll either get a positive one or you won't get one. If they don't have anything good to say about your book, they're just not going to talk about it.”

🎙️ [46:39] “The point is: connect with people. Share your book with readers before your actual readers get their hands on it. You don't have to reach out to all of the people that we've talked about in this episode. But none of them are going to hurt your content. They can only help. So why not?”

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