I recently finished a novel and passed it on to three beta readers. One loved it and had comments. One liked it and had comments. One got bored and stopped halfway through. The one who liked it and had comments focused heavily on the midpoint—probably the same place my third beta reader died of boredom and put the book down. It was a time travel romp, and I thought it was good fun, so clearly, I missed the mark.
One of my beta readers has read other works of mine. She stated unequivocally that it was not my best piece… I had been super proud and thought it was my best.
So, the obvious question pertaining to editing is—now what? Whose opinion do you take? When do you take it, and what do you do about it? Let’s get more specific and talk about some details:
1) One reader didn’t buy the relationship structure between my main character and his girlfriend. One loved it. One didn’t comment.
2) One reader wanted more details about how the time travel worked, a second wanted the same, and a third said nothing.
3) One reader wanted more details about the atmosphere of the story—the setting in very specific ways. The other two had no similar comments.
What is my decision metric for where to go from here? Let’s go backward:
Adding additional details when two said nothing and one wants more—if you have room (word count)—is not a problem. If you are still within your genre norms, go ahead and add it. I already have plans to do so—no harm, no foul.
Number two is more or less the same answer. In this case, I have two readers who want the same thing, and the worst thing to have in a science fiction or fantasy tale is a reader who doesn’t understand the rules in a bad way. Both readers gave very explicit questions like, “Why does XYZ happen?” They know exactly what feels wrong and want to know more. This is a bad gap in knowledge—not a gap that lets them feel suspense or curiosity to press onward. I have to make the change.
Item one is harder. What happens when you have a difference of opinion on a key point? The main character’s relationship with his girlfriend is central to the story. Pulling out that thread and changing it would be a major overhaul. Now, everyone is reticent to make big changes to a piece that took months and months to write, of course—but we can’t let that anchor us in place, afraid to make a needed change. The one who wanted the change gave dozens of reasoned explanations for why she didn’t like the relationship and how it made her feel about the main character. To her, it made him very unlikable. The one who loved it liked the tension and thought it showed the main character’s growth—from childish to more adult over time—something that was the intent in the first place.
I could go with my initial gut, keep it the same, and say 50% sided with me. But that was a less articulate 50%. So, now what?
I’ve weighed other factors too. The change would make the story shorter, and I’m already tight on word count. That means it might free up 5,000 words to add more of the requested descriptions. And shorter—if it serves the purpose of better storytelling—is always right.
These are examples, but what I’m trying to say is that knowing what advice to take and what to leave is hard. Beta readers who give reasons are magical. Pay close attention. Can you refute their points logically? Can their concerns be fixed with small tweaks, or are there larger errors that you, as the author, missed because you’re too close to the work?
I also belong to a writer’s group, and they critique smaller pieces of books. I’ve found that I ask myself these types of questions to help me determine what to keep and what to leave:
Consider the Source – Is the reader familiar with your genre? Ideally, they should be, but writers are beggars and can’t always be choosers! Are they your target audience, a fellow writer, or someone with a corner-case perspective? Advice from your ideal reader should carry more weight.
Frequency of the Same Feedback – Pay attention to repetition. If multiple beta readers mention the same issue (e.g., pacing feels slow, a character’s motivation is unclear, “I don’t like this person for XYZ reasons…”), it likely warrants revision.
Alignment with Your Theme – Weigh feedback against your core vision for the story. If a suggestion changes the heart of your narrative or characters, perhaps they are not your audience—and that’s okay. Not everyone needs to agree on everything.
Emotional Reaction – If feedback sparks a strong emotional response (like defensiveness), reflect on why. This reaction often reveals areas where your gut knows something needs attention—but it’s a lot of work you don’t want to do.
Clarity vs. Taste – Distinguish between issues of clarity (confusing world-building) and matters of taste (preference for more action). Prioritize fixing areas where readers are confused over changing personal stylistic preferences.
Test Changes Carefully – Implement small changes first or experiment with revisions. If a suggestion feels risky, try it out in a scene or chapter to gauge its impact before overhauling larger sections. NEVER delete the former drafts!
Most importantly—say thank you. Beta readers are rare. Good ones are worth their weight in gold.
Great stuff!