Sample Beta Reader Questions

• Did the story hold your interest from the beginning? If not, why?
• Were you bored at any point?
• Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is and where/when it’s taking place? If not, why?
• Could you relate to the main character(s)? Did you feel his her pain/excitement?
• Did the setting interested you? Did the descriptions seem vivid and real to you?
• Was there anything you didn’t understand?
• Were there any parts that confused you? Frustrated or annoyed you? Which parts, and why?
• Was there a point at which you felt the story started to lag or you became less than excited about finding out what was going to happen next? Where was this?
• Were the characters believable? Did their actions/dialogue fit their personalities?
• Were there any characters you felt could be more interesting or likable?
• Did you get confused about who’s who in the characters and/or the relationship of any of the characters to the main character?
• Were there too many characters to keep track of? Too few?
• Were any of the names of the characters too similar? Too difficult to pronounce?
• Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in time sequence, places, character details, or other details?
• Did the dialogue keep your interest?
• Did the dialogue move the story forward?
• Did the dialogue sound natural to you? If not, whose dialogue did you think sounded artificial, stilted, or not like that person would speak?
• Was there too much (or not enough) dialogue in any parts?
• Did you feel there was too much description or exposition (sometimes referred to as an “information dump”)?
• Did you feel enough description or exposition wasn’t given at any point?
• Was there enough conflict, tension, and intrigue to keep your interest?
• Was the ending satisfying? Believable? Was it a cliffhanger? If so, did it “fit” the story and resolve any conflicts?
• Did you think the writing style suited the genre? If not, why?
• Did you notice any obvious repeating grammatical, spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors? Can you provide examples?
• Which scenes/paragraphs/lines did you really like?
• Which parts did you dislike or not like as much, and why?
• Are there parts that made you want to skip ahead or put the book down?
• Which parts resonated with you and/or moved you emotionally?
• Which parts should be elaborated or brought more to life?
• Did any parts confuse you? What confused you?
• Which characters did you really connect to?
• Which characters need more development or focus?