Activity

That’s generally how I do it. It’s the easiest method I’ve found. Most readers will comment; I’ve also had some who save up their thoughts and send me a comprehensive feedback list at the end in an email or separate document (I’ve gotten PDFs multiple times). Either way, though, Gdocs is a good means for them to read it.

I often ask my beta-readers beforehand if they’d prefer to share a document or if they want individual documents. A group document enables readers to bounce off of each other and you can get a better/quicker feel for what spots stood out to multiple people and which things get more varied responses, whereas individual docs eliminate the potential for readers to be influenced (or distracted) by others but they’re a bit more complicated on the author end when you’re compiling all of the comments and whatnot. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. In my experience, most of my readers have voted for a group document while only a couple have asked for individual documents, and it’s easy enough to accommodate both. (The “make a copy” feature in Google docs is your best friend in these situations.)

You can just post on SE with a blurb and any other relevant information and have people email you; you could set up a Google form to collect people’s email addresses (which would provide the flexibility to ask about their experience, what drew them to your book, etc. if you wanted); or you could send them to a mailing list landing page if that’s a tool you have in your arsenal. In any case, you want to make sure they have an idea of what the book is about, how long it is, what timeline you’re aiming for, and any content warnings that may be relevant.

I have a mailing list for my street team (people who read early drafts, help promote my stuff by word-of-mouth, etc.), so I generally put beta-readers on that list, whether sending them to my landing page or accumulating their email addresses (often through a Google form) to add them manually. If you don’t have a mailing list like that, you’ll just want to keep a list in a document or spreadsheet so you know who to send the book out to when the time comes.