While we don’t anticipate that the schedule for beta reading will become nearly as full as our ARC program, we still recommend that you place your order as soon as possible to ensure you get the date you’re looking for.  During our initial rollout we will be limiting the number of beta books to only one or two per week maximum, but eventually we expect to allow daily bookings.  However, we do not anticipate allowing more than one beta booking per day.

In terms of when an author should ideally have their book beta read, typically you would do so after completion of your manuscript – and often even closer to a final draft.  There is little point in having beta readers comment on an early first draft that you already know needs a lot of changes.  It makes more sense to get their feedback when you think your product is almost ready and you want to make sure that readers feel the same way about your story as you do.  While this may mean you find problems late in the game and have to edit a manuscript you thought was just about done, this is usually a better scenario than publishing a book that has major issues and putting your release at risk for bad reviews or poor sales.

Ultimately, though, it is up to the individual author.  Hidden Gems has no firm rules in regards to at which point in your manuscript lifecycle it can be sent to beta readers.  However, if you are sending something that is in some sort of early or awkward state, you should consider making that clear in your blurb/description.  Especially if there are specific issues you want readers to ignore or pay close attention to.