{"id":3271,"date":"2021-04-22T10:12:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T14:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=3271"},"modified":"2022-09-15T01:42:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T05:42:27","slug":"ultimate-guide-to-beta-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=3271","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to Working with Beta Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is there a better feeling in the world than writing \u201cThe End\u201d in your manuscript? It\u2019s a moment to be celebrated: you\u2019ve done it. You\u2019ve written and completed an entire book. Not everyone can say they have.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But you\u2019re not finished. No, not even after you wrap up your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/use-hemingways-advice-to-rewrite-like-a-pro\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">self-edits<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s time to pass your manuscript off to beta readers \u2014 volunteers who provide feedback on your book. If you\u2019re thinking about skipping this stage and just hitting \u201cPublish,\u201d you might want to reconsider.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>The ultimate guide to working with beta readers<\/h2>\n<p>In this guide, we&#8217;ll explain what a beta reader is, and why you need beta readers to make your work-in-progress stronger.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What is a beta reader? (And why do you need one?)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Software companies release beta, or test, versions of their programs to work out kinks and bugs before releasing to the general public. Businesses offer beta versions of their courses so they can tweak the content to ensure it serves the needs of their students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Authors need beta readers to understand how people read their book and, like software companies and businesses, to identify confusing or irrelevant spots. Every author has weaknesses. You do too \u2014 but you\u2019re blind to them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beta readers won\u2019t be. And soliciting feedback from beta readers is your chance to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/7-clever-tricks-to-help-you-edit-your-ebook\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">address the weak spots<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of your manuscript before you publish and share it with the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Who do you want as a beta reader?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As easy as it is to get them to help, best friends, significant others and family members are the worst beta readers. They know and love you, so they\u2019re predisposed to loving whatever you write \u2014 no matter how good it is. While you might enjoy their glowing comments on your work, it won\u2019t be the feedback you need to improve your manuscript.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s who you want to enlist:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>An acquaintance or a friend of a friend.<\/strong> People close to you can muddle through confusing sections or sentences to guess what you meant. That won\u2019t give you useful feedback. Pick someone who doesn\u2019t know you well enough to figure out your meaning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>A member of your target audience.<\/strong> If your book doesn\u2019t resonate with your readers, you\u2019re not going to sell copies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Someone who\u2019s not afraid to be honest.<\/strong> You need positive <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">constructive feedback.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Someone who\u2019s reliable.<\/strong> This seems obvious, but people can overcommit. Be conscientious of your betas\u2019 time and priorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need more than one beta reader. There\u2019s no set number, but three to five is a good start. If you\u2019re bootstrapping your book, find even more betas: good beta readers can mean forgoing the cost of a developmental editor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might send your first beta reader draft to two or three people. Then you\u2019ll implement their feedback and send the next draft out to the following group two or three people. Do this a few times depending on how much work the book needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason we don\u2019t recommend sending out your manuscript to all your beta readers at once is because even after the first batch of feedback comes through, there might still be kinks to catch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, let\u2019s say you rearrange scenes, add an epilogue or rewrite some parts of the book. You\u2019ll want to get feedback on the new version, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After you have an idea of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you want, it\u2019s time to find them. Look at your network. Reach out to people already in your community who fit the criteria. Consider posting in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/join-writing-group\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">writing groups<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or on your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/why-writers-should-love-twitter-hint-its-not-just-about-selling-books\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social media channels<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can even hire betas on Fiverr, or join <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/facebook-groups-for-writers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/group\/show_tag\/beta-readers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Goodreads<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> groups. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask. Many people will be honored you want their help.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why should you always work with new beta readers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As beta readers become more familiar and comfortable with your writing, it can be difficult for them to see the flaws.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Try to add a few new people to your team each time, preferably one or two who have never read your work before so you get fresh eyes on your work.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You can connect with new people by asking your current beta readers for suggestions. They probably know a friend or two who\u2019s willing to help out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For people you stop working with in the beta reader stage, consider moving them to your Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) team. They\u2019ll still get a free copy of your book, but it will be closer to finished, and won\u2019t need the same in-depth feedback. Instead, your ARC readers will help you <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/group\/show_tag\/beta-readers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gather reviews<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for release day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The beta reading stage can be long and sometimes difficult if you don\u2019t already have a team in place. That said, it\u2019s definitely worth it, and your beta readers can do wonders for your story.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How do you prepare your manuscript for a beta reader?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even though betas help you edit, that doesn\u2019t mean you can skip the self-editing step. Your betas can only raise the quality of your manuscript, not perfect it. That means you need to hit all types of editing (developmental, copy and proofreading) before handing it off to them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you edit, create a \u201cneeds-to-be-fixed\u201d list. It might be something like \u201cadd character\u201d or \u201cmove section to a different chapter\u201d or \u201cadd description to opening scene.\u201d Ask your betas to pay close attention to these items because they\u2019ll be able to determine whether you\u2019re on the right track \u2014 or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you get ready to hand your manuscript over, ask your betas which format they prefer. Microsoft Word lends itself best to receiving feedback because it\u2019s easy to add and delete comments, and most people have access to the program. Even if you <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/microsoft-word-just-say-no\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">prefer not to write in Word<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, converting to .doc from Scrivener or Google docs is simple. Some readers may prefer a hard copy, especially if your manuscript is long. Make it easy for them \u2014 they <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> donating their time to help you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you send Word documents, create and save a document for each person. Give it a specific name, like ManucriptNameBetaReader\u2019sName.doc. You can <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Merge-Documents-in-Microsoft-Word\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">merge these documents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into one, but when you start incorporating edits and throwing everything together, it\u2019s easy to accidentally delete a comment you need. If you preserve the originals with comments individually as well, you\u2019ll be able to recover any lost feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What do you want from your beta readers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feedback, yes. But don\u2019t be vague: give your betas clear instructions about what feedback you need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that \u201cneeds-to-be-fixed\u201d list you created during self-edits? Use that to guide what you need from your betas. Here\u2019s a basic formula for instructions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have betas comment with their thoughts or take notes as they read, even if it\u2019s to say, \u201cOoh, I like this\u201d or to make predictions about what will happen next. This shows you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">people read your book. It also helps you pinpoint where changes need to be made and gives you a feel for how they reacted while reading.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specify what kind of feedback you\u2019re looking for. My betas looked for:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Areas they felt were missing something or weren\u2019t developed enough<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sections or scenes superfluous to the story<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any part of the story, dialogue, or narrative they didn\u2019t understand or found confusing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The flow and pace of the chapters<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask them to focus on certain aspects of your book. My manuscript had weak <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/worldbuilding\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">worldbuilding<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so I had them pay close attention to it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tell them to supply \u201cwhys,\u201d not \u201cshoulds.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m confused here because\u2026\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t like this because\u2026\u201d will be more helpful than \u201cYou should do\u2026\u201d statements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set a due date. But build in cushion \u2014 if you want it back in three weeks, tell them you need it in two.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another idea is to send your beta readers a list of questions. Since beta readers aren\u2019t professionals, they don\u2019t always know what to look for in your manuscript. Ask them questions to help guide their experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those who have beta read before \u2014 either for you or another author \u2014 will have a good idea, but if they\u2019re new to beta reading, <\/span><b>asking smart questions helps to give them some guidance.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some generic questions you might ask include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did the opening scene capture your attention? Why or why not?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you notice any inconsistencies in setting, timeline or characters? If so, where?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did the dialogue keep your interest and sound natural to you?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Was the ending satisfying and believable?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have specific concerns about your story, be sure to ask about that, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I suggest keeping your list of questions short (about 15 or less). Too many questions might turn some people off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember, your readers are doing this for free. I never <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">require<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> anyone to answer my questions or take notes, but making the suggestion helps guide them and improves the type of feedback you receive.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How do you deal with feedback from a beta reader (without freaking out)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s both exhilarating and terrifying to share something you\u2019ve poured effort into. What if they hate it? The trick to dealing with feedback without freaking out is your mindset. Here\u2019s what you need to remember:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your goal is to make your book better, and you can\u2019t do that without constructive criticism.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your betas are nice people who want to help you write a better book, not tear you down.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having something to fix doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re a bad writer or that your book isn\u2019t worth publishing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t have to accept every piece of advice you get.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dealing with beta feedback is where many writers give up. Don\u2019t be one of them. Sorting through feedback \u2014 especially if it\u2019s conflicting advice \u2014 gets overwhelming quickly. I had more than 500 beta comments on my novel. Cue the panic!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you feel that panic and overwhelm \u2014 and you will \u2014 stop and take a deep breath. Remember: this isn\u2019t about you; it\u2019s about your book. They\u2019re not the same. Pull your ego out of the equation and focus on writing the best book possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if that means deleting 7,000 words from the end of your book and rewriting it, gird your fingers and hit the delete key. That\u2019s what happened to me, and look: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I survived<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3534\" src=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Amanda-Shofner.jpg\" alt=\"Image: Beta Feedback\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Amanda-Shofner.jpg 400w, https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Amanda-Shofner-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Amanda-Shofner-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How do you implement beta reader feedback?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve beaten the inevitable freakout, you have to evaluate each piece of feedback to decide what to revise. Think critically about what your betas said and how it fits into what your book, characters or plot needs to accomplish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your book is about how you started your business, for example, and your beta says, \u201cI want to know about your childhood,\u201d but your childhood has nothing to do with the beginning of your business, you can ignore the comment. Yes, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ignore<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. As the author, you have the power to accept or reject feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because I asked my betas to comment as they read, I created a new Word document with all 531 comments. New documents are important: If you decide your original wording is better, you want to be able to revert back. Tracking changes and creating new files makes this easy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But before I changed <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anything<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in my manuscript, I went through each comment and made one decision: keep or delete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comment #1: \u201cI like the disjointedness of the beginning.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Delete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comment #5: \u201cYou\u2019ve used \u2018eyes\u2019 three times in two sentences.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Keep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comment #7: \u201cThe others didn\u2019t notice the door?\u201d Comment #8: \u201cShe\u2019s been there how long, and she\u2019s just now going through the door?\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Keep. Keep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comment #13: \u201cAt what point does frostbite become an issue?\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Though this is a good question, only one beta pointed it out, and she\u2019s never experienced cold weather. Delete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once I\u2019d gone through the entire document and deleted comments, the remaining ones became my new \u201cneeds-to-be-fixed\u201d list. These items can range from tasks like copyediting (comment #5) to adding information (comments #7 and #8) to rewriting entire chapters (the last 7,000 words).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t take feedback at face value \u2014 dig deeper. Notice how two comments expressed disbelief at the door. That\u2019s a red flag. But it\u2019s not just about answering their questions \u2014 it\u2019s about understanding the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/write-better-stories-by-asking-these-questions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">missing story elements<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From their comments, I knew I had to flesh out the setting (why the door is hard to notice) and how the setting affects my characters (why one girl would wait to go through the door and why the others didn\u2019t notice it). Confusion means you\u2019re missing something, and it\u2019s up to you to figure out what it is and how to fix it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you implement feedback, get in touch with your author gut. Your instincts will tell you what needs to be fixed and what\u2019s fine as is. Listen to it. Not sure what a beta meant by a particular comment? Don\u2019t be afraid to follow up with them to ask for clarification.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve incorporated your beta feedback, you\u2019re one step closer to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/5-reasons-youre-ready-self-publish-book\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hitting \u201cPublish<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d Congratulations \u2014 and best of luck with the final stages of the process!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Don&#8217;t forget to thank your beta readers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, remember to thank your beta readers. Unless you paid them, your betas volunteered their time and effort to help you produce a better, stronger manuscript, so make sure to show your appreciation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve found that all the beta readers I\u2019ve worked with have been more than happy to simply receive a book for free, even if that means they have to leave feedback on it. Most are surprised and excited when I tell them they\u2019ll also be receiving a print copy of the book when it\u2019s finalized.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t have to send out print books, but do make sure your beta readers feel appreciated for the time they put into helping you. If your betas are writers as well, you could even offer to be a beta for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">their<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> future writing projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you worked with beta readers \u2014 or been one?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they\u2019re useful for our readers.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Photo via Impact Photography \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/photos&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1570808098155000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFoTPX37ObhsOOqLdTC6Rq8mfU9WQ\">Shutterstock<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These volunteer readers can tell you what works &#8212; and what you need to fix &#8212; before you publish your book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":38203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[54,14,26,27,28,13],"class_list":["post-3271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craft","tag-editing","tag-fiction","tag-getting-published","tag-self-publishing-2","tag-traditional-publishing","tag-writing-a-book"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}