Beta Reading
An honest reader’s perspective. Detailed feedback. A clearer path forward.
See Your Story Through Your Reader’s Eyes
You’ve poured countless hours into your manuscript. Now you need to know what it’s actually like to read it.
My Beta Reading service gives you an honest, thoughtful reader’s perspective on your finished or nearly finished manuscript. I’ll read your story as a genuine reader while also bringing years of experience critiquing fiction to the table, giving you detailed feedback on what’s working, what pulls me out of the story, where I have questions, and what keeps me turning the pages.
Through my Stories in Layers approach, I look at both the individual reading experience and the bigger picture of your story — while keeping your voice and creative vision at the heart of my feedback.
This service will include:
• A genuine reader’s perspective on your manuscript’s strengths, weaknesses, emotional impact, and overall reading experience
• Detailed in-line comments showing my real-time reactions, questions, observations, and suggestions as I read
•A comprehensive reader report covering the elements that matter most to your story, from plot and characters to pacing, conflict, clarity, and genre expectations
What You Get
Type of Feedback
A Reader’s Perspective
I’ll read your manuscript as your intended audience would, paying attention to:
• What pulls me in — moments that grab my attention and make me want to keep reading
• What connects — characters, relationships, emotional moments, and story elements that resonate
• Where I get confused — unclear information, missing context, inconsistent details, or moments that interrupt my understanding
• Where my attention wanders — pacing issues, repetition, slow sections, or places where the story loses momentum
• What raises questions — both the intriguing questions that make me want answers and the questions that leave me wondering what the story is trying to accomplish
• What stays with me — the moments, characters, themes, and emotional beats that have the strongest impact
A Critical Eye Alongside the Reader’s Perspective
Because I’ve spent years reading and critiquing fiction, I won’t just tell you that something isn’t working. When appropriate, I’ll help you understand what may be causing the problem and offer suggestions for strengthening it.
Constant Contact & Support
Editing can feel intimidating — but you won’t be doing this alone.
• I will be available to you before, during, and after the edit to ensure 100% satisfaction.
• During typical business hours, I respond to emails within a few hours. Outside of business hours, I respond within 24 hours.
• I send out progress updates to clients every week to keep in touch & ensure comfort during the hard process of waiting for feedback.
Revision Resources, When Helpful
When your manuscript would benefit from additional guidance, I may include relevant resources or techniques to help you tackle a particular revision challenge.
Think of these as your “layer-building” toolkit for revisions!
Deliverables
• A copy of your document with marginal notes, questions, and suggestions
• A comprehensive reader report addressing plot, characters, worldbuilding, pacing, conflict, emotional impact, etc
(Most full-length manuscript evaluations result in a reader report of approximately 4-10 pages, depending on the manuscript and scope.)
*Note: The reader report may be shorter for smaller manuscripts such as children’s books.
Beta Read Pricing
| Manuscript Length | Price | Delivery Time |
| Up to 10,000 words | $35 | 7 days |
| 10,001-25,000 words | $75 | 10 days |
| 25,001-50,000 words | $125 | 14 days |
| 50,001-75,000 | $175 | 21 days |
| 75,001-100,000 | $225 | 30 days |
| 100,000+ | Custom | Custom |
Hear From Past Clients
”
Tessy was amazing! Her critiques were knowledgeable and helpful. She dedicated a lot of time and thought into both her extensive reader report and her detailed in-line notes.
— Meghan Rhine
”
What great feedback from Tessy. She really seemed to connect with the work which made me feel so comfortable listening to her input. The suggestions she made were fantastic.
— Shane Ryan
”
Tessy did an absolutely amazing job with my book. I knew there were things wrong with it but didn’t know why or how to fix them. She answered both those questions for me.