I Really Don't Care About Your "Beta-Readers"

It is almost a certainty that I will receive at least one submission each week with a reference to the "beta-readers" for that writer's new story. This ranges everything from random quotations, to quotes from people with supposed "professional ties" to the industry. I know this may sound cold and heartless, but frankly, I don't care who read your stories. Those comments mean nothing to me. O.K. let me back that off a bit. If someone tells me an established author that I know said they loved the book, and that author sent me a private email telling me it is amazing, I might do something.

The point is simple. Those reader comments mean nothing when it comes down to the business of writing and submitting to an agent. When we see a project, we look at:

1. Do we personally feel attached to the project?
2. Is this something that we market?
3. Is there some marketablity to the project?
4. Is this something we feel we could sell?
5. The professionalism of the writer.

One of the biggest reasons for ignoring those comments stems from something I have said here on the blog in the past when we deal with "critics." In a book that I love called THE POCKET MUSE the author mentions that every author needs to have two critics. Someone who thinks everything you do is amazing and someone who will tell you the truth. Too often, the people we have read our stories early on are the people from that first group. Family members, friends, critique partners and the like will often tell you only good things. Even those authors that use those online writing groups where you can post your stories to get feedback fall into this group. The people reading those stories are folliowing you because there is something they like about you.

As far as we are concerned on this end, seeing those additional comments really doesn't sway us one way or another. Just write a dang good story and sell it to me!

Scott