Running a beta reader team for an indie book: assets & emails

Here’s what I created to recruit and run my 30-person team: the application, critique guidance, welcome email, and more!

In my last Substack post, I shared a deep dive on how I ran a 30-person beta reader team for my first self-published book with a 70% manuscript completion rate. After traditionally publishing four books, I can honestly say this has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding parts of my entire publishing journey so far.

But the process of running a big beta team can seem really overwhelming. Yes, it takes a lot of work, but in my experience it’s so worth it. I now have a stronger book (IMO!), a stamp of approval from my target audience, and fodder for promotional posts—plus, I rewarded my most loyal readers by welcoming them into my writing process. Seeing their gleeful replies to my emails has been INCREDIBLE. Just, lots of joy all around.

So to help make this process easier for any fellow authors who want to try this out, today I’m sharing the assets I created to run my team:

1. Application

2. Critique guidance

3. Final questionnaire

4. Welcome email

5. Follow-up email

6. Final reminder email

Keep in mind that these are not templates. I don’t recommend copy/pasting everything I did—for example, my emails are super casual and conversational, and your emails should be in your own unique voice! But I hope this will provide inspiration and a starting point for building a team of your own.