How to Send Your Manuscript to Beta Readers

Short answer: The easiest way to send your manuscript to beta readers is a private reading link for each reader, not an email attachment. Upload your manuscript to a beta reading platform like BetaShelf, create one link per reader, and send each person their own link with a short brief and a deadline. They read in their browser, leave comments as they go, and every note comes back to one dashboard. You can turn off any reader's link whenever you want.

Here is how to do it, step by step, and what to send along with the link so the feedback is worth having.

Why not just email the file?

Emailing a Word document or PDF is how most authors start, and it works for one or two trusted friends. It gets messy fast:

• You lose control of the file. Once it is in someone's inbox, it can be forwarded, saved, or uploaded anywhere, and you can't take it back.
• Feedback comes back in every format. One reader uses tracked changes, one sends a long email, one writes in the margins of a printout. You end up copying notes from five places into one.
• You can't tell who is reading. Did they start? Did they stop at chapter 6? With an attachment, you only find out if you ask.

A private link fixes all three.

How to send your manuscript with BetaShelf

1. Upload your manuscript. Add your book as a Word document (.docx), PDF or plain text file. BetaShelf finds the chapters from your headings, and you can rename, split or merge any chapter that comes out wrong.
2. Create a link for each reader. Give the link the reader's name. You can add their email, a short note just for them, and an end date if you want the link to stop working after 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days.
3. Choose your questions. Pick when readers answer your questions: after every chapter, once at the end, or never. With a Book Pass or Unlimited, you can write your own questions and assign them to specific chapters.
4. Send the link. Paste it into an email or a message. The reader opens it in any browser. They don't need to create an account.
5. Collect the feedback in one place. Inline comments, chapter ratings, suggested line edits and answers to your questions all land in your dashboard, private to you.

The free plan covers one manuscript and up to five beta readers, which is enough for most first rounds.

What to send with the link

The link is only half of it. The note you send with it decides what kind of feedback you get back.

• Say what kind of read you want. Big-picture story notes, or typos and wording? Asking for both at once usually gets you neither done well.
• Ask two or three specific questions. Where did you get bored? Which character didn't you care about? Did the ending surprise you? Specific questions get specific answers.
• Give a deadline. Two to three weeks is fair for a full novel. "Whenever you get to it" tends to mean never.
• Tell them it's a draft. Readers are kinder and more honest when they know the book can still change.

Keep track of who is reading

Beta readers drop off. It is normal, and it usually says more about their week than your book. The trick is knowing early so you can check in or invite someone else.

With a Book Pass or Unlimited, BetaShelf shows you who started, where each reader stopped, and who finished. On the free plan, you can see how many readers have opened the book. If a reader has gone quiet halfway through, a short, friendly check-in is usually all it takes. Our guide on why beta readers disappear covers the most common reasons and what to do about each.

Keep it private

Your book stays private on BetaShelf. Readers can only open it through the link you gave them, they read it inside BetaShelf rather than getting the original file, and your book is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. If you want more detail, see how to keep your manuscript private while sharing it with beta readers.

After the feedback comes in

Read everything once before you change anything. Look for patterns: if three readers flag the same slow chapter, it is real. One reader's strong opinion might just be taste. When you are ready to revise, you can apply readers' suggested line edits right in BetaShelf, then format the finished book for Kindle and print. See how to export your book to Kindle after beta feedback.

Ready to send your first link? Start free on BetaShelf.