Web fiction
Beta reader
A test reader of an unreleased work who gives the author feedback from the perspective of an ordinary reader, before the work is published.
A beta reader is "a test reader of an unreleased work of writing, typically literature, who gives feedback to the author," from the perspective of an ordinary reader. The name was borrowed from software, where beta testers try an unreleased product to find problems before release. Betas comment on plot, pacing and consistency, and act as a sounding board for whether the work achieves its intended effect on its target audience.
The role sits between neighbors: an alpha reader sees the unrevised draft; a proofreader is a paid professional focused on grammar and spelling; a critique partner is a trained writer reading from the author's perspective, while a beta reads as a typical reader. For web serial writers a beta pass is the last check before a chapter enters the advance chapter buffer, since published chapters cannot be quietly revised afterward.