How do I use Virtual Beta Reader?

With Virtual Beta Reader, you get detailed insights on your entire story from a reader’s perspective. Virtual Beta Reader allows you to see your story through the eyes of your reader, focusing on their reading experience, their emotions, and their engagement throughout the story.

Once you have Virtual Beta Reader Credits in your account, watch the video or follow the steps below to run the Virtual Beta Reader on your document:

Purchasing Manuscript Analysis Credits

To use Virtual Beta Reader, you will need credits. Virtual Beta Reader uses the same credits as Manuscript Analysis.

You can buy individual Manuscript Analysis Credits or bundles of 3 or 10 credits here.

You don’t need a Premium or Premium Pro license to purchase credits. However, if you have an active Premium or Premium Pro license, you will receive a discount depending on your subscription. For example, Premium Pro users pay less for credits and bundles than Premium and Free users, and Premium users will pay less than Free users.

Manuscript Analysis Credits are nonrefundable, but they can be used with Virtual Beta Reader and Manuscript Analysis, and they don’t expire. You can purchase a bundle, run Virtual Beta Reader, and then run Manuscript Analysis, or use the remaining credits at a later date.

Preparing your manuscript for best results

To ensure that you make the most of Virtual Beta Reader, there are some steps you can follow to prepare your manuscript:

1. Ensure that your manuscript is on a single document.
2. Check that your manuscript is between 4,000 and 300,000 words.
3. Separate your chapters clearly. You’ll get the best results if you number your chapter titles (for example: “Chapter 4”).

This article details how to prepare your manuscript to get the best results when using Virtual Beta Reader.

Running Virtual Beta Reader

1. If you use the Web Editor or Scrivener, make sure that you’re on a full document view before running Virtual Beta Reader. This step is necessary if your manuscript is divided into chapters or sections to ensure Virtual Beta Reader runs on your entire manuscript.
   • On the Web Editor, click on Full Document if your document is divided into chapters.
   • If you use Scrivener, read this article.

2. In the Web Editor, Virtual Beta Reader appears under the Critique button in the toolbar that appears at the top of your document.

   

   When using Desktop Everywhere and our browser extensions, Virtual Beta Reader will appear when you click the Critique button after clicking the ProWritingAid icon.

   

   If you use our Word Add-In (Windows only), Virtual Beta Reader appears under the Critique button in the toolbar at the top of your Word document.

   

   Virtual Beta Reader will also appear under the Critique button when you open the ProWritingAid tab in Word.

   

3. Click on the Virtual Beta Reader button to run the report on your document.

4. The analysis will take a few minutes to run depending on the total word count of your manuscript.

   You will see a notification with the approximate waiting time for your results. In the meantime, you can keep using any other feature as normal.

   When the analysis is ready, you will be notified that the report is ready to review. It will appear in the Feedback History section (under the Critique menu) where the Virtual Beta Reader report will be automatically saved.

   

The report you see works a lot like our Summary and Chapter Critique reports. You can click through all the headings on the left to see specific feedback about your document.

For example, if you want to spend some time working on first impressions within your story, you can click on the Reading Experience heading to see what Virtual Beta Reader says about what is working and what needs improvement.

Working with Virtual Beta Reader

Each section of the report gives you detailed insights on your entire story from a reader's perspective, which you can use to improve your story.

In this article, we’ve provided a detailed breakdown of what the headings mean and the kind of feedback you can expect.

Once the report is ready, you can read it while you edit your document, allowing you to make changes in your manuscript as you read the report.

To do so:

1. Press the minimize icon (see below):

   

2. Your Manuscript Analysis results will then appear in your integration’s sidebar.

   

   
   

Saving your Virtual Beta Reader

Every time you run a Virtual Beta Reader, we will save it automatically to your Feedback History. From there, you will be able to rename it to a memorable name.

Your saved Virtual Beta Reader reports synchronize across all our integrations. You can read more in this article.

Have you tried Desktop Everywhere? Download for Windows or Mac to get editing suggestions and advanced analysis directly in Word, Scrivener, and all your favorite writing apps.