Beta Reader Software Suggestions?

I'm working on publishing my first book and I'm trying to use beta readers. I've tried betabooks and betareader.io but neither is giving me what I'm looking for.

I want a format where readers can highlight and leave comments as they go, instead of just at the end (betabooks can't do that) and I want the option to let the betareaders see what each other wrote (betareader.io can't do that).

betareader.io also messes with all my formatting, changing the fonts, indentations, centering and the sizes of all the images.

Can anyone recommend software that works better than those two?

 

Why would you want the beta readers to see what the others write?

 

I actually took a paid seminar in which the self-publishing expert speaker told me it was a good idea. Said it often resulted in him seeing ideas he would not have thought to ask questions about.

 

That may be true in general, but for a specific book I think that may skew the feedback that is received. Unless, of course, the feedback is hidden for beta readers that haven't submitted their feedback yet.

 

um

is there a reason why Google Docs isn't the answer to this question? because it sure looks like the answer to me

 

^^ That. This sounds like what Google Docs was designed for.

 

Yeah, that had occurred to me, but it seemed like there was some kind of industry standard that you were supposed to use a service for this. Possibly because it made everything seem more official? I means it seems like hypothetically all the beta reader services could be replaced by Google Docs.

 

Ok, well that brings me back to my original question, do you know of a service that does that?

 

if you're handing in a manuscript to an agent or editor it probably needs to be a word document with certain simple formatting rules. other than that you can do whatever you like.

i use google docs and limited invitations to the document. some people just email a word document to the person giving the feedback. do whatever is convenient for you.

 

So, regarding his question, agents don't care what method you use to receive feedback from beta readers? Do they even care at all as long as the query says that responses from beta readers were positive or were considered when editing? Or is that a rather meaningless statement to include in a query letter?

 

i don't understand the reason for talking about the reactions of your beta readers. it's totally irrelevant unless one of your beta readers is a tradpubbed author of some note and they gave you permission to say that they will refer you. (if that is your situation make sure that you mention it early in the letter.)

 

I'm just speaking hypothetically and the broader question is in regards to the OPs question: do agents or anyone involved in the traditional publishing process even care how or if the book was beta read at all and instead just let the query letter and manuscript speak for itself.

The OP (at least to me) seemed to be suggesting that beta reading was a somewhat formal part of the first draft to submission process. I'm guessing as long as the query letter and sample pages are solid an agent wouldn't care.

 

Perhaps my idea of what beta readers are expected to do is skewed, but it seems to me that the OP is expecting beta readers to be editors.

 

oh no, i didn't get that impression at all. inline comments are great for noting down in the moment reactions like "i'm confused by this. why did it change so suddenly?" and, "i realized i started skimming, so i went back to find where i started skimming. (right here, btw.) i also marked where i found something that caught my attention again." and, "oh no. that's going to bite him on the ass later."

which are honestly the most useful comments anyone ever gives me. they're pure gold.

 

Just updating this thread. I've about reached my limit with betareader.io and I'm now experimenting with just sharing my manuscript using MS word. But my original question from my post remains. Can anyone recommend any SPECIFIC beta reader apps that they liked?

I feel like I can still see the advantage of using an app if I could find one with less bugs that offered inline commenting, and perhaps the ability for beta readers to see each others comments at least some of the time. Can anyone recommend a specific app that actually does those things well?

 

Alas, I cannot. I have never used such things, preferring to use google docs instead, and I'm not convinced that beta reader apps serve any useful need.

 

So far I have not published, however, I have sent manuscripts to beta readers. For me it was just Word documents in an email. I don't think I would want my beta readers to be able to see what others said. If all or most or some of my betas point to the same areas as sicking or breaking points, I know I need to fix it. But a blind read by multiple people will give you better feedback, in my opinion, than one of them seeing something and then the others reading that beta reader's comment and then they get side railed on single points. But again, this is just my opinion.

 

This gets my vote, or even a .pdf, because beta readers should be readers, not editors.

 

I don't know much about trad publishing, but I don't think they care at all. I don't see why they would, any more than they'd want to know what kinds of questions you asked on a message board like this one and what kind of answers you got. That kind of interaction and beta reading are for the author's benefit only, and while they affect the quality of the finished manuscript, nobody needs to know about them or probably wants to.

Submitting to publishers begins when the manuscript is complete. Everything that happened before that was messy and creative and personal and doesn't matter anymore.

Also, I was coming in here to rep Google Docs, but I see I'm far from the first to recommend it.