When you are in the process of writing a book, you always hear that getting trusted people to read your draft is one of the first steps to success. Even Stephen King talks of their importance in his autobiography/writing bible, On Writing. When you’re done with your first round of revisions you just hand over your story to your closest friends and your family, right? No way. Let’s face it, your friends and family probably like you. They probably like you a whole lot. Perhaps they even love you (perhaps), and this affection for you may cloud their judgment. So when they read your 100,000 word steampunk-vampire-historical-fiction written completely in haikus, they may actually tell you it’s great. It’s not. So who then do you trust to give you the critique that you need?
You could pay to have a professional proofread and critique your work. One agent/critique-r (critiquee?) I found will read your work for 4 cents a word. Pennies!?! I have those! Wait, my story has 60,000 words…*counts fingers*…okay, I can’t afford that.
Where do you get your first readers? I Googled it and there are no first reader “dating” sites. I imagine a first reader social media site where you can meet with other writers who want to exchange manuscripts for critiques (or long walks on the beach-whatever you prefer). You should be able to search for people by location as well as genre. This way, you can establish a group of regulars who can read your work and develop a rapport with. Until that happens, I guess you should stick with those you know and hope that your family and friends don’t like you enough to tell you the truth.
How did you get first readers? Have you used any of the writing social media sites and how did you like them?
Megan Taraszkiewicz 
Critique.org. Wonderful online workshop. Have you heard of it?
I have not heard of it. I will definitely check it out-thanks!
Some friends and I started a Writers’ Group (as well as a literary journal) in college, and the friends I made there are still who I’ll turn to as first readers. They love me enough to actually take the time to read my stuff thoroughly and give a detailed response, but they are also writers with enough integrity in their craft to tell me the truth. I know they won’t let me get away with anything.
If I didn’t already have that support group, though, I’m not sure what I would do, besides giving it to my parents (which, in my case, isn’t as bad an idea as it sounds. They are both critical, creative people who won’t let me get away with much either). I think you *can* trust people who love you, but only if they are people who know the craft and understand that their constructive criticism is the greatest gift they can give you.
If you’re considering hiring a freelance editor, though, you may find this post from Ayesha Schroeder’s blog helpful: http://ayeshaschroeder.com/2012/08/16/i-bit-the-bullet-and-hired-a-freelance-editor/
She at least quotes a substantially lower sum than 4 cents a word!
Wow! It sounds like you have a great thing going there. I’m jealous because a lot of my college friends are into writing or are writing adjacent (ie English teacher) but we never started a group. My writing calling didn’t come to fruition until after college and now I feel like my friends might be too nice to me about it. Sometimes I do feel like it may be better to have “strangers” read your work because then you are not mixing business and pleasure, if you know what I mean. My parents….wouldn’t happen. I will check out that link because I am leaning towards a professional critique. Thank you for it and enjoy that writing group!!