Once the first full draft of my 2024 debut was complete, I knew I needed betas. But I had no idea how to approach them. Seventeen years in the making, a lot had changed since I first started this manuscript. Facebook was one of them.

One of the FB groups I was in was for moms all giving birth in April of 2015. Funny since my first child was born in March of ’88. Four decades later, here I was. I asked my mom group, “Would anyone want to read this thing I wrote?” Much to my surprise about fifteen of them said, “Yes!”

I created a FB group for the book and dropped a chapter a week—Netflix style.

It was great because in real-time, they could comment and see each other’s comments. It created a community—all around my book. I was revising and writing on the go. As they commented, I revised. Some chapters materialized overnight based on their feedback.

When they read the last chapter, a storm ensued. “We want an epilogue!” I had no idea what to give them. I told my husband. He instantly knew what they wanted. I wrote it and that’s the current epilogue for my debut and it was perfect.

My point is, you do need betas. They will love your book hard. They’ll also give it tough love. Embrace it.

I encourage you to try the FB method. It worked for me!

Sometimes I can spend as long revising a manuscript as I spent writing it in the first place.

Margaret Haddix