With most services, the price is either a fixed amount or based on a single factor (like number of ARC readers) making it easy to simply display an amount or give a chart to show what prices would be under certain scenarios.

However, with the beta reader service there are a number of factors that go into calculating the cost, which makes it more difficult.  For instance, we’re paying the beta readers that are answering your questionnaire but it wouldn’t be fair to give them the same amount for a book that has 40,000 words and 10 questions as they would get for a book that has 120,000 words and 25 questions.  If we ran it that way, we’d likely find that no one would sign up for those bigger books, so what we pay them is dependent on the elements of your order that make the job take longer or require them to work faster or harder.

So since the price is dependent on these factors, we’ve created a calculator you can use to find out what the price would be for your specific order details.  Below are a list of the factors that affect the price, and then the calculator tool you can use to figure out what your order would cost (or model different scenarios to find something in your budget).

Factors that make up/affect final price.

Base price: A fixed amount is charged per book that includes payment towards running the service.

Number of words in your book: Not only do longer books ask more of a time commitment on the part of the beta reader, but as readers cannot sign up for new books until they have completed the last one, bigger books also prevent them from starting new jobs for longer. So part of your final price includes a per word charge so that readers are compensated based on length of book. Note that to make the payout worth it to the reader, all books will be charged at a minimum of 20,000 words.  That means that it’s fine if you submit a book with less than 20k words as long as you are aware it will be charged as if it were 20k words. Books longer than 20,000 words will be charged as normal based on their word count.

Number of questions in your questionnaire: Similar to number of words, the more questions you are asking a beta reader to answer affects your final price. Note, however, that 10 questions are included as part of the base price so you can/should include at least 10 questions. An extra charge per question will only be applied to the number of questions beyond those initial 10.

Number of days given to read: We’ve found that most readers tend to be able to read a book in about 7-10 days, so we recommend that you give readers at least that long before requiring them to submit their questionnaires.  You can absolutely give them longer if you’re not in a rush, as that may entice more readers to sign up (and generally they will submit their questionnaire as soon as they’re done, they don’t have to wait until the last day).  However, if you are in a rush, you can reduce the number of days to as little as 4 (although that may lead to less sign ups).  There will be a charge for each day less than 7 that you set.

Number of Beta Readers: As we pay each beta reader for each book that they complete on time, your final price is dependent on how many readers you’re looking for.  Further, all of the above price factors (except the base price) are multiplied by the number of readers you’re looking for.  For example, let’s say you want to ask 12 questions to 3 beta readers.  10 questions are included, so we’re charging an extra fee for the additional 2 questions, but that fee is multiplied by 3 because it will then be distributed between those 3 readers. There is a 2 beta reader minimum, but more are recommended. (Use the calculator below to see how the number of readers will affect your price, but also note that if less sign up you’ll only be charged for those that do even if it is less than you ordered.)

Booking Deposit: As with ARC orders, a $20 deposit will be charged upon booking your order that will be applied to your final balance. However, this deposit is also used to secure your booking date (preventing others from booking it) and is thus non-refundable if you decide to cancel (or if the service is automatically cancelled because you have not completed your order form and attached the files before your deadline).  So please only schedule a beta reader service that you are sure you wish to run.

Pricing Calculator

This tool always uses our current pricing model, so the price you see would be the price you would be charged if you were to then go and book the service immediately.  However, prices are subject to change – especially now that this service has just launched and we may need to make adjustments as we go.  So it is always a good idea to use this calculator before booking, but even if you don’t, your final price will also be shown at the bottom of your order before you have to pay your deposit. That price will be honored even if the price increases after you’ve booked but before your service runs.