I was recently asked to be a book beta reader, only to discover that the author was actually recruiting volunteers for a launch or street team.

Not long after that, an email from another author showed that she was using “beta reader” and “launch team member” interchangeably.

But a beta reader and a launch/street team member aren’t the same thing. They serve different purposes.

Here’s what you need to know so you don’t confuse the people you recruit for the important tasks involved.

What’s a beta reader?

Beta readers, known collectively as a “beta group,” help improve the manuscript before the book is finished.

You typically ask beta readers to read the close-but-not-quite-there-yet manuscript for specific details.

For fiction, ask about specifics that concern you. Consider plot, character relatability, story plausibility, whether anything was confusing, and so on.

Nonfiction beta readers can serve different purposes, so they fall into two categories:

• Subject matter experts
• Target audience members

Subject matter experts read for content accuracy and to see if you’ve overlooked anything important. Depending on the book, you might recruit several expert beta readers, sending each only the table of contents and chapter(s) relevant to them.

Nonfiction target audience readers provide feedback on things like:

• Were they confused at any point?
• Did you go into enough depth in each chapter?
• Did they feel satisfied that they learned enough about the topic?
• Did they expect to see something that wasn’t in the book?

What’s a launch team?

A launch team, also known as a street team, writes reviews and shares information about the book online. Your launch team kicks in after the book is done, but before it’s released.

via GIPHY

You provide team members with a pre-publication copy of the final book as well as the team “rules.” They will read the book, write an honest review, and post that review on retail sites as close to publication date as possible.

You also ask them to help launch the book by sharing book announcement images and text that you provide. They can do that with email or on the social networks they use.

Depending on the situation and relationships, some of your beta readers might volunteer to be on the launch team, too.

One is a critic, the other, a reviewer

Beta readers critique early versions of the manuscript, helping you make it as good as possible. You might end up doing more than one round with beta readers.

Launch team members don’t see early versions of the book. Because they’re reviewing the manuscript after it’s been edited and proofread, they critique the book differently than beta readers will.

Beta readers read and comment for an audience of one: the author. Launch team members read and review with other book readers in mind. Their goal is to help readers decide if they will like the book.

Note, too, that while it might not be too late to fix an errant typo when you’re at the launch team stage, you’re past the point where you will re-structure the entire book based on a single team member’s feedback.

But if a few team members provide the same “this doesn’t work” feedback? Consider postponing your publication date so you have time to fix the problem.

Should you skip the beta readers?

Authors often ask if beta readers are really necessary.

The answer depends on a number of factors, including your writing experience and comfort level with the topic or genre. For example, if I wrote mysteries and was trying historical romance instead, I’d probably want beta readers.

A professor with in-depth knowledge on the nonfiction book’s topic might not need a content review, but could benefit from feedback on readability.

A professional writer with a subject specialty might feel confident skipping the beta reader process altogether.

Be honest with yourself when deciding

That said, be honest with yourself. If your pattern is to be overly confident (admitted no person ever . . .), factor beta readers into your schedule. If you’re unsure of your writing ability, positive feedback from a beta group will boost your confidence.

The last thing you want to do, though, is skip beta readers because you think they’ll slow down an arbitrary publishing schedule. Make time for anything – anything – that will help improve your book’s quality.

You want your book to be as good as you can make it. Beta readers can help with that. Launch/street team members can help share that good news with others.

If you’ve recruited beta readers or launch team members, please share your best recruiting tip in a comment. 

How to create a street team for your book

By Meagan Francis

I first started tossing around the idea of self-publishing an e-book years ago, but was always worried about whether I could effectively market a book on my own. When I heard about the concept of a “launch team” via writer Jeff Goins, I knew it was the perfect way to mobilize my community to help me spread the word about the book, and I began plans to write and publish Beyond Baby: Creating a life you love when your kids aren’t so little.

Here’s how a launch team works: The author solicits a number of people from his/her online community to formally support a book launch. By getting a select group of readers excited and invested in the book project, the author has exponentially increased the reach he or she could accomplish solo.

Of course, the process can seem overwhelming to somebody who is just starting to think about self-publishing. Here are a few of the questions I had when I started this process, and what I learned along the way:

Who should be on my launch team?

This depends a lot on what kind of built-in audience or community you already have. If you have a blog or social network with a solid readership, you can solicit your audience and it will soon become apparent who your “superfans” are. In my case, since the book was a spinoff of a free 20-week e-course, I approached first the list of students who had gone through the course.

How should I approach potential launch team members? 

Go where your network is strongest and most engaged. Since I had a solid mailing list of around 600 Beyond Baby students who were already familiar with the premise, I focused my efforts there. (Read the e-mail I sent to the list here.]

About 65 percent of the list opened the e-message, and I had 50 or so responses of “I’m in!” within 24 hours. I then posted the opportunity on my blog, and hit the launch team total limit of 100 people by that evening.

I made my application process inclusive and first-come, first-serve. Other authors are more exclusive with their launch teams, and may select members based on a variety of factors. It’s up to you and your goals. Oh, and that cap of 100? I just chose that because it felt like a solid number that wouldn’t be too hard to manage. Again, this part is highly individual.

What should I ask of my launch team members? 

I decided that my number-one goal was to have a solid number of Amazon reviews, so my only “requirement” to be part of the group was an agreement that they would post an honest review when the book came out. Any additional support they could provide – social sharing, etc. – was welcomed, but optional.

Via a private Facebook group just for the team, I solicited feedback on topics like:

• Book cover design, color schemes, fonts
• Pricing and sales
• Affiliate program interest
• Whether or not they think readers are more likely to download a PDF from the site or buy via Kindle/Nook

The launch team loved giving feedback, and those threads were very active.

But I didn’t want the launch team experience to be all about my asking for help, so I made sure to provide value, too. In addition to a free copy of the book, I offered tips and regular peeks “behind the scenes” at the process of writing it via regular informal videos I created just for team members.

Results and the big picture

Beyond Baby launched a little over a month ago with 20 reviews on Amazon (mostly 5-star) by the end of launch day and reviews on other sites like GoodReads.com as well. There was a nice sales spike in the first couple of days, and since then sales have been slow but steady. The proceeds have earned back all of my out-of-pocket costs, and I am now working on new ways to mobilize the launch team to help me with a “reboot” mini-launch in the fall.

My investment in the team and process was mostly just my time and attention, and as a result I’ve built create a greater connection with my most loyal readers, rewarded my “super fans” – those readers who really value what I do and will continue to support it and spread the word – and have built more goodwill and loyalty in my community.

I have seen steady traffic growth since book launch day, and my e-mail list (which you have to sign up for to download the free Beyond Baby workbook) is steadily growing, too.

Should you do this, too?

Is a launch team for you? I don’t think it’s a magic prescription for an out-of-the-box bestseller, but if you are planning to publish an e-book, it can’t possibly hurt.

As with a traditionally-published book, for today’s author, a self-published book is about more than just the paycheck, but also the credibility and connection it allows you to create with readers. The Launch Team experience definitely enriched that connection and credibility…and has led to a lot more sales than I could have gotten on my own. With their help, I expect those sales to continue.

What do you think of this idea? Would you give it a try?