Help & Support

Don’t want to finish reading a manuscript? You can mark it as Did Not Finish (DNF) to take it off of your shelf and make room for something new.

When you DNF a manuscript, you must submit feedback to the author telling them why you didn’t make it to the end. Remember, we’re beta readers. Telling a writer why you DNF’d helps them make the final product better!

Marking a manuscript DNF takes it off of your shelf and opens that space for a new manuscript.

You do not receive tips for DNF reads, even if you submit your DNF feedback before the manuscript expiration date.

Marking a manuscript as DNF shows up in your DNF rate in your reader profile. Authors prefer to work with readers who are most likely to read their entire manuscript and submit detailed feedback, so readers with a low DNF rate are more likely to earn higher tips.

As a reader, you always have the option to stop reading and submit DNF feedback. However, since tips are only available for completed reads, and because readers with low DNF rates get a better chance of earning larger tips, we recommend that you use the DNF option sparingly.

Every manuscript available on KeenReads has an expiration date, which you can see on the front of the manuscript card. You should finish reading and submit your feedback before the manuscript expires.

If a manuscript expires before you’re done reading, it will be removed from your shelf and that space will be open for a new manuscript. Any data from your partially completed read will be sent to the author anonymously.

Each time a manuscript on your shelf expires before you submit your final feedback, it is counted in your reader DNF rate.

Once a manuscript expires, it is no longer accessible to readers. You can see any comments you’ve submitted in your reading history, but you will no longer be able to access the content of those manuscripts. We do this to help protect an author’s intellectual property, and to help encourage beta readers like you to finish reading and submit your feedback before you lose access.

DNF stands for Did Not Finish. Your reader DNF rate shows the percentage of manuscripts that were added to your shelf, but you did not finish reading them and submit feedback to the author.

Manuscripts are marked DNF when you submit DNF feedback to the author, or when they expire before you have finished reading.

Since KeenReads is a beta reading app, our goal is to help authors collect detailed and honest feedback on their manuscripts that can help them publish the best possible final version. Readers with a low DNF rate are more appealing to authors since they are the most likely to read all the way through a manuscript and submit good feedback. The lower your DNF rate, the more likely you are to be offered opportunities to earn bigger tips.

KeenReads allows authors to publish content that is intended for an adult audience. We require those authors to flag sensitive or age-restricted content so that readers can choose appropriately.

If you come across any content that is not correctly flagged, content that goes against our terms of use, or any content that you reasonably believe should not be allowed on KeenReads, please use the reader menu to request administrator review. 

When you flag content as inappropriate, you may request to have the manuscript removed from your shelf without impacting your DNF rate.

When you complete a manuscript and submit your final feedback, you may opt in to share your contact information with the author. If you select that option, we’ll include your name and email address along with your feedback.

This is the same thing as opting in to receive marketing messages from that author. They may add your to their newsletter, let you know when their manuscript is ready for purchase, or even include you in the acknowledgements.

If you do not choose to share your contact information with the author, your feedback will be sent anonymously.

This feature is coming soon.

Authors have the option to choose how much they tip, and how many tips are available. Tips are paid on a first-come, first-served basis to readers who meet the requirements to earn a tip.

As a default, the requirements to earn a tip are that you must read the entire manuscript, and you must submit a total of at least 100 words of feedback. Some authors may customize these requirements — check the manuscript details to see how tips are earned.

If you skip some sections or do not meet the minimum feedback requirement, you will not receive a tip. Note that once you submit your final feedback to the author, you cannot return to the manuscript and read it again.

Adding a manuscript to your shelf does not reserve a tip for you. If other readers complete the requirements first, they will receive the available tips.

When you finish reading and submit your final feedback on a manuscript that does not have any available tips, the author will receive a notification that you completed a beta read without being tipped.

Authors have the option to send you a tip manually when you complete your read.

Tipping is not required, and there’s no guarantee that you will receive one.

Keep in mind that any manuscripts you add to your shelf, but do not complete, are counted in your DNF rate. You might choose to finish reading a manuscript with no available tips to keep your DNF rate low. Readers who complete their reads and submit great feedback get the first pick of highly tipped opportunities.

And, yes, there is a chance that you will receive a tip anyway.

Manuscripts may show 0 tips available because the author chose not to add tips, or because all available tips have already been earned by other readers.

You can still read these manuscripts, and some authors may still send you a tip manually if you submit quality feedback. However, the main benefits of reading untipped manuscripts is that you get to read great books for free, and every time you finish a read, you increase your reader score.

KeenReads offers highly scored readers the first pick of manuscripts with funded tips. We do this to make sure that authors who are paying for this service get the data and feedback they need to polish their manuscript.

You can increase your reader score by finishing more reads and submitting high quality feedback. The more often you read all the way to the end of a manuscript and submit lots of detailed, useful feedback, the higher your score becomes. This gives you earlier access and more opportunities to earn bigger tips.

After you have published a manuscript to the reader marketplace, you have the option to remove it from the library so that new readers do not discover it.

However, this does not remove your manuscript from readers’ shelves.

Readers commit to finishing when they add a manuscript to their shelves. Because they are scored for finishing their reads, and because they have limited space on their shelves, authors cannot take back a checked out manuscript before the expiration date.

Also note that if you have shared your direct link with anyone, they can still use that link to find your manuscript, even if you have removed it from the reader marketplace.

If there are extenuating circumstances and you must have your manuscript removed completely before the expiration date, please contact us directly. We will handle these requests on a case-by-case basis.

Tips are optional, but highly encouraged.

Beta readers are not just reading your work for fun. They’re taking the extra time and care to think deeply and give you the feedback you need to prepare your manuscript for a successful publishing launch.

While some readers are willing to do this for free, most beta readers expect to get a tip for their time and effort.

Adding tips up front greatly increases the likelihood that beta readers will finish your entire manuscript and send you detailed feedback. KeenReads does not guarantee that you will receive beta feedback from readers, especially if you do not pay tips.

Yes!

Once your manuscript is published on the KeenReads reader marketplace, you can share your direct link with friends, family, and other beta readers you know.

This is a great way to protect your intellectual property, incentivize your existing readers to get their feedback done in a timely manner, and get detailed analytics that you can’t get from a Google or Word document.

Manuscripts automatically expire in 45 days so that you get your feedback promptly.

At the Bronze level, you cannot change your manuscript’s expiration date. If you want to collect more feedback, you’ll need a new listing.

Silver and above listings give you more options to choose your expiration date.

At this time, you cannot extend your expiration date once your listing is already published, but that feature is under development.

KeenReads does not support images in manuscripts.

Two-way communication is only available in Silver or above listings.

For manuscripts published at the Silver level, you may reply to reader feedback. Please keep communications relevant and respectful, such as asking for clarification on a comment or answering a reader question.

Want to send a message to all of your active readers? This feature is under development.

Please note that this kind of communication is only available before the manuscript expires.

Some readers may opt in to share their contact information with you when they submit their final feedback. You may follow up with these readers individually or add them to your marketing email list.

By default, all reader feedback is submitted anonymously. Readers can choose to share their name and contact information when they submit final feedback. If they do not opt in to share their contact information, all of their feedback and data will remain anonymous.

Anonymity gives your beta readers the freedom to be honest, even if they know you personally.

Readers have the option to voluntarily share their contact information. If they do, you will receive their name and email address with their feedback.

If readers do not opt in to share their contact information, they will remain anonymous.

Sure! If you own the sole rights to your work, you’re welcome to list it on KeenReads to get feedback.

If you’ve previously published your work through an independent publishing house, please do check with them to make sure you own the appropriate rights to post your manuscript here.

The short answer is: not really.

KeenReads is intended to help you connect with beta readers. Their feedback and data can help you polish your manuscript to improve your odds of success when you publish.

We’re not here to help you sell your book, though.

Some readers might share their contact information so that you can market to them later, and having early feedback and reviews can be an awesome marketing tool.

In the future, we may even offer a KeenReads marketplace where you can sell the books you’ve beta tested here. However, for now, we’re not in that business.

Yes, we do.

If you’re a publisher who wants to use KeenReads for your authors, we offer extra features and hefty discounts.

Some publishers want to offer a discount code for their authors, while others prefer to buy bundles of credits that they can use to list manuscripts. Reach out to us directly by emailing kitty@keenreads.com and we’ll build a system that works for you.