When a new beta reader joins our service, they are assigned a unique, non-identifying ID.  The questionnaire results you are sent after your beta job is complete will include this ID next to each answer so that you know which answers came from which readers. 

You will then have the ability (via your dashboard) to rate the responses given by each reader.  This is just a simple 5-star rating and only takes a moment, but is vitally important to the continued usefulness of the program.  While Hidden Gems can also view the questionnaire answers given by readers, this rating provides us with an early warning sign that a beta reader may have stopped providing useful feedback. 

To help the beta reader rating, we just ask that you rate the reader in terms of how much detail and thought you think that they put into their questionnaire answers overall, not about whether you agreed or disagreed with their views.  

Ultimately it is up to Hidden Gems to decide whether any particular beta reader should be removed from the program, and while we will take these ratings into account, we will also use our own judgement of their responses and previous responses to other jobs (if applicable). 

But whether or not we remove a reader from the program, as an author you still have the ability to block that reader from participating in any future beta read jobs you might book.  Alternatively, if there is a particular reader that you thought gave you great feedback, you can also request that they be chosen for any future beta books you send out (assuming that they sign up for them).

There is one other very important case to mention.  Newly invited beta readers join the program on a trial basis, and they must complete one free book before being promoted to full, paid status.  Authors that book the beta reader service may, on occasion, have one (or more) trial readers added to their book (at no charge to them) which may lead to even more questionnaire answers than you paid for.  In these cases it is especially important that these new trial readers get rated to help us determine if we should promote those readers to full status.

You can rate, block or request any beta readers that have worked on your book via the My Beta Readers link on your dashboard.

Note: The rating you see next to the reader ID is the average rating you have given them across your beta books, but to actually rate them you must click the + sign next to their ID to expand to show the book that they worked on.  If a particular reader has read more than one of your beta books, you can rate their responses for each one.  You can also view their responses directly, if you need a reminder of what their answers were by clicking View Results.  Don’t forget to click Submit Rating once you’ve added their star rating for it to save.  Once submitted, that rating cannot be changed.