Get your book in front of real readers before you publish.
Honest feedback from everyday readers who love books. Share your manuscript privately and see what they think, chapter by chapter.
- Already have readers?
- Send them a private link. They never make an account.
- Need readers?Beta
- Our reader community is just opening. Post what your book needs and we will connect you as readers join.
The Quiet Orchard
Mae Okafor
The Last Good Summer
Dana Reyes
Nine Small Hours
J. Whitlow
Where the Gulls Sleep
Ana Ferreira
Beta reading without the spreadsheets,
email chains, and scattered notes.
Three steps, start to finish. Most authors send their first link the day they sign up.
Upload your manuscript
Upload your DOCX, PDF, or TXT file. BetaShelf reads your headings to find the chapters, and turns the book into a private reading experience your readers can open on any device. If a chapter comes out wrong you can rename, split or merge it in a click.
Invite your readers, or find new ones
Already have beta readers? Give each of them their own private link and they start reading without creating an account, on any device, with nothing to download. Need readers? The reader community is opening now, in beta.
You're invited to beta read
Tap the book to read the back
The Lantern Keeper’s Daughter
by Elara Nightingale
Fantasy4 chapters · ~10 min read
Watch the feedback come in
Highlights, margin comments, chapter ratings, and answers to your questions all land in one dashboard, private to you.
What comes back
See your book through
your readers’ eyes.
Not another writing app. BetaShelf is built for what happens after you have a draft.
Margin comments
Readers respond to specific lines and passages while they are reading, not from memory afterwards.
Chapter ratings
See how readers rate pacing, characters, dialogue, and impact, chapter by chapter through the whole book.
Reader progress
With a Book Pass, see who started, where they stopped, and who finished.
Reader questions
Ask the questions you actually need answered before your next revision.
Private reading
Your manuscript is never publicly listed. Only readers you invite can open it.
Reader community
BetaDon’t have beta
readers yet?
BetaShelf is building a community of readers who want to discover indie books before they are published. It is new and growing, so tell us the genre and length you need, and we will connect you as readers join.
For readers
Discover books before they’re published.
Tell us the genres you love, what you enjoy reading, and how quickly you usually read. Authors looking for readers like you can invite you to beta read their manuscripts. Free for readers.
Join the reader communityAlready beta reading for an author? You do not need an account to read their manuscript. Just open their link.
The whole arc
Beta reading is only
the beginning.
When your manuscript is ready, keep moving without starting over somewhere else.
Beta Reading
Collect private feedback while you are still revising.
ARC Campaigns
Give advance readers a polished copy before launch day.
Reviews
Point finished readers at the platforms where a review helps you most.
Publish
Export a publication-ready EPUB or print PDF for KDP.
One book. One workspace. From beta draft to publication.
“Built by a writer who needed this tool herself.”
Every feature exists because she needed it for her own manuscripts, or because a writer like you asked for it. Read her story
Built to keep your manuscript private
We built this for writers who are
protective of their work.
Private by default
Your manuscript is only accessible through a private share link that you generate. No one can find or access your work unless you explicitly send them the link. Revoke it anytime.
You own everything you upload
We never claim rights to your manuscripts, your feedback data, or any content you create on BetaShelf. Full stop.
We never train AI on your book
BetaShelf never uses your manuscripts to train AI. We never sell them or share them with anyone for their own use. Your words stay yours.
No data selling. Ever.
We don’t sell or rent your personal information or manuscripts, or share them with anyone for their own use. Our business model is subscriptions, not your data.
Delete means delete
Remove a manuscript and it’s gone from BetaShelf right away. Delete your account and your books, links and profile go with it. Our database backups expire on their own after 7 days.
Encrypted in transit and at rest
Your manuscripts are stored on encrypted infrastructure. All data is protected with TLS encryption in transit and AES-256 encryption at rest.
Read our full Privacy Policy , Terms of Service, and Refund Policy.
Questions
Frequently asked
questions.
Start free. Upgrade
when you need more.
Beta reading, your author page, and selling your book direct are free forever.
Free
$0
forever
- 1 manuscript
- Up to 5 beta readers
- Margin comments and ratings
- Author page and book page
- Sell a digital copy and get paid your way (PayPal, Venmo, Gumroad...)
Book Pass
$29
once
one book, yours for good
- Unlimited beta readers
- Review campaigns & analytics
- Subscriber collection
- KDP Export (EPUB and PDF)
- Read aloud with text-to-speech
- Writing tools: pacing, repetition, show vs tell, and more
Unlimited
$10
/mo
or $99/year · save 17%
- Everything in the Book Pass, on every book
- Unlimited manuscripts
- Every writing tool, on every book
All prices are in US dollars.
Start with your first
five readers. Free.
Upload your manuscript, invite your readers, and start collecting feedback today. No credit card required.
Your manuscripts stay private. You keep all rights. Always.