Beta Reader Questionnaire

Send it with the manuscript. It sets the deadline and tells the reader what kind of feedback you want, which stops them from proofreading when you need a reaction.

Hi [Name],

Thank you for reading [Title]. It is a [genre] novel of about [word count] words, and this is a revised draft, not the final book.

What helps me most is your honest reaction as a reader: where you were gripped, bored, confused or unconvinced. You don't need to fix my sentences or point out typos.

Could you send your answers by [date]? The questions are below. Skip any that don't apply, and stop reading if you lose interest: that is useful to know too, so tell me where.

Thank you,
[Your name]

Say what stage the draft is at

readers comment differently on a first draft and a final one.

Give a date

a reader without a deadline often never finishes.

Permit them to stop

where a reader gives up is one of the most useful answers you can get.

Ask these once, at the end. They capture the reader's whole experience before the details blur it.

OVERALL
1. In one or two sentences, what is this book about?
2. Did you finish it? If not, where did you stop, and why?
3. Where did you most want to keep reading?
4. Where did your attention drift, or did you skim?
5. Was anything confusing? Where?
6. Would you recommend it to a friend who reads this genre? Why or why not?
7. What is the one thing you would change?

Question 1 tests the premise

if readers describe a different book from the one you meant to write, that is the first thing to look at.

Questions 3 and 4 map the pacing better than any direct question about pacing.

For readers willing to note their reaction as they go. Keep it to three questions so they actually do it.

AFTER EACH CHAPTER (a line or two is enough)
Chapter [number]:
- Engagement (1 = skimmed, 5 = could not stop): [ ]
- Anything confusing or hard to believe?
- What do you expect to happen next?

Engagement scores across chapters show where the book sags without asking anyone to diagnose why.

Predictions tell you whether your foreshadowing works, or gives the twist away.

Choose the questions about what you are unsure of. Name characters and chapters so the reader knows what you mean.

CHARACTERS
1. Which character did you care about most? Least?
2. Did [character]'s decision in chapter [number] make sense to you?
3. Was any character hard to tell apart from another?

PACING
4. Did the opening make you want to continue? When did the story start for you?
5. Was there a stretch that felt too long, or too rushed?

ENDING
6. Did the ending feel earned? Surprising? Satisfying?
7. Was anything left unresolved that you expected to see resolved?

Readers notice contradictions when they trip over them, but rarely write them down unless asked.

CONTINUITY
1. Did you notice a name, place or date that seemed to change?
2. Did the timeline ever confuse you (how much time had passed, how old someone was)?
3. Did any detail contradict something earlier in the book?
4. Did you ever lose track of where a scene was taking place?

Readers are not a reliable continuity check

attention fades over a whole novel. Check names, places, dates and timelines before you send the draft out, yourself with a style sheet or with the Book Manuscript Review ($50, paid once), so readers can spend their attention on the story.

One reader's comment is a data point; the same comment from several readers is a finding. Collect all the answers before you revise, group them by chapter and by question, and act first on what comes back more than once. When a reader tells you how to fix something, take the problem seriously and the fix as one suggestion among others.