What are alpha, beta and ARC readers and why should I bother with them?

Alpha readers

Alphas read your work as you write it, or as soon as the first draft is finished. Often authors will ask other authors in their genre to alpha read for them and give feedback on the overall plot and characters, as well as whether the story is keeping them engaged. Essentially, they help you nail down the fundamentals and if they're good at what they do, they can help minimise or avoid the need for costly developmental edits.

Beta readers

Betas read your work once the main story has been crafted, and give you feedback purely from a reader's point of view. Ideally, beta readers should be people who regularly read and enjoy books in your genre, so that they know what conventions and clichés they're looking for in your work. Plus, of course, having a horror fan give you feedback on a sweet romance is probably just going to end up with them telling you they're bored a lot and asking when someone will be decapitated. They can help you point out plot holes and consistency issues, as well as give you a better idea of what aspects of your story and characters your readers will like, and whether the story is coming across in the way you want it to. Some beta readers may also point out typos and grammatical errors, but be wary of taking this as absolute truth unless your beta readers have some relevant experience or qualifications.

ARC readers

An ARC is an Advance Reader Copy, and many authors will distribute some for free shortly before their book is published. The aim of ARCs is to generate a buzz and hopefully have some reviews lined up for your release day. In some cases authors will provide an ARC and request that readers contact them directly with and errors they find. This can be a good way to get an extra set of eyes or two over your finished product before release, but as with beta readers, it's as well to be cautious and make sure that the 'errors' being reported actually are errors before you change them, especially if your editor or proofreader has okayed them. With ARCs, bear in mind that on most book distribution sites, such as Amazon, it's against their terms of service to allow paid reviews, so if someone is asking for payment, keep walking!

How can I find these people?

As mentioned, alphas are often other authors, and reaching out directly to ask whether they have the interest and capacity often works well. For beta readers, this can be done as a paid service, or you can canvas for readers of your work or similar works. Social media is a good tool for both of these, because you can find genre-based reader groups, and the author profiles of others writing in your genre. For ARC readers, there are some paid services such as Booksprout, Netgalley and, for MM romance, Gay Romance Reviews, which will offer your book out and take care of making sure it can't be reproduced from the version provided. Alternatively, you can offer them out again through social media, but take care to make sure you choose a method that can't then be passed on, as there have been incidents of authors ARCs ending up on pirate websites.