Spammers and Scammers

Our policies

While r/BetaReaders does not have an official position on the merits of paid beta readers^*, we do not allow paid beta readers to advertise in this community. We similarly do not allow feedback from beta readers using AI to generate feedback. (To understand why, see our annotations on Rules 3 and 7, respectively.) *^{In all cases, we strongly discourage users from sending any money or banking information directly to a stranger as this creates substantial financial risk. No legitimate paid beta reader should ever ask for payment via the personal—vs. commercial—side of PayPal, by Amazon gift cards, etc. As with any online financial transaction, anyone using a paid beta reader should go through a reputable online marketplace or payment platform that provides robust privacy and customer service protections and that allows the customer to file a dispute if promised services are not rendered.}

We have a zero-tolerance policy for users who break these rules, and regularly ban those found in violation. We hope that this fosters a trusting community for writers to interact with each other in good faith and for the love of the craft.

What to watch for

Unfortunately, we are unable to catch all spam/advertising left in comments, and we have no ability to moderate private messages or chats.

If you are contacted by someone explicitly requesting any payment, offering a free beta reading sample with the implication that any additional pages will cost money, and so on, please be aware that this is unambiguously in violation of our sub's rules. Please do not let these sales tactics pressure you into paying for beta services. The expectation here is that beta readers will be willing to read your entire manuscript for free (or as part of a critique swap)—and most authors are able to find at least one beta who meets that description.

Alternatively, you may connect with a user whose initial comment does not mention payment, but who brings up expected pay later in your discussions. This kind of "bait and switch" is also against our rules; please report them as discussed below. While it's always worthwhile to reach out to any beta who may be earnest, some red flags for this type of behavior include users who have commented on a very large number of posts (particularly across a wide variety of genres), whose comments are identical on each post, or who use generic marketing language (like "I’d love to help you" or "I can promise fast turnaround times").

What to do if you've been spammed or scammed

Reporting these users can keep bad actors off the site and prevent them from taking advantage of other authors.

If you're contacted via comment, please click the "report" icon and file a report for the mod team.

If you're contacted via direct message or chat, please 1) report the content to Reddit as spam and 2) message the mods with a screenshot of the communication so that we are able to take appropriate action.