Without alpha readers, editors, and beta readers, authors risk missing mistakes that taint the reader experience.

Writers confuse the roles that alpha readers, editors, and beta readers do to get their book published.

• Alpha reader- the first person who reads your book for grammatical and developmental mistakes while it's in the first draft.

• Editor- a person who provides revisions based on the grammatical and development needs of the story.

• Beta reader- a person who reads the final product before publication and lets the author know their likes and dislikes from a reader's point of view.

Without using these types of readers before publication, authors run the risk of ruining the reader experience.

No matter how hard we try, mistakes get missed.

But, when you use these important readers, you decrease the chance of missing mistakes that a reader will find. Mistakes that could potentially ruin the story experience for the reader.

When the reader experience is tarnished, the chance they tell others about your book decreases.

Finding these three types of readers is easier than you think.

• Alpha readers- these can be found in family, friends, other writers, or people within your genre you connect with in critique groups.

• Editors- found on platforms such as Upwork, Reedsy, Manuscript Wishlist, and Fivver.

• Beta readers- you can ask trusted friends and family or critique group members.

Giving these readers direction is important to obtaining the right feedback.

Each set of readers has a different job, which has different roles to fill.

Alpha's and Editors are looking for plot holes and grammar mistakes. Beta readers need more direction, so provide questions so they know what to look for. Ask them what they didn't like about the story.

What they didn't like is the most important.