A manuscript exchange platform for writers to help them refine and finalise their work before publishing or pitching to a literary agent.
Coming to your desktop + mobile in 2027
Find writers and readers in your genres
The beta reader market is hopelessly fragmented. Writers and readers often search each other through social media groups, word of mouth, or freelance platforms that weren’t really designed for this.
Lizard Joe is a one-stop shop for writers and beta readers. Connect with your peers, easily find manuscripts in your preferred genres, and discover beta readers without the hassle. The feedback you receive comes directly from readers. There’s no place for AI-generated feedback on our platform.
Free with no ‘buts‘ and no asterisks
The platform is free for everyone, with no strings attached and no asterisk-marked exceptions hidden on the 192,736th page of the TOC, buried under a couple of small-print subsections written in ancient Sanskrit.
Every reader and writer can connect with one another and exchange feedback completely free of charge.
Make money with us
Professional beta readers who charge for their services can use Lizard Joe to increase their visibility, reach more writers, and get paid for their expertise. The whole process is designed to be simple, convenient and secure.
If money changes hands through our platform, we take a 5% commission from the transaction.
If money changes hands through our platform, we take a 5% commission from the transaction.
Beta readers who consistently receive the highest satisfaction ratings rise through the rankings and get recommended to more writers as Top Readers. Rankings are based entirely on user satisfaction — there’s no ‘pay for eyeballs’ option.
Standardised feedback
One of the biggest challenges for writers working with beta readers is knowing what to ask — and what kind of feedback to expect. Lizard Joe makes the process easier by breaking feedback down into useful categories such as characters, plot, dialogue, pacing and more.
The system is designed to be fun, useful and concise, helping writers focus on specific aspects of their work without getting bogged down by unnecessary details.
Feedback can be viewed as an aggregate across multiple readers, or explored reader by reader.
Detaied analytics
Lizard Joe turns feedback into easily-comprehensible insights, helping you identify patterns, strengths and weaknesses in specific areas that could use another look.
The colour coded summary lets you see everything at a glance and get a quick assessment of your manuscript.
Agents and publishers outreach
With your permission, we can connect and recommend well-received manuscripts to reputable literary agents and publishers. We don’t work with vanity publishers.
Coming soon: we’re working on an automated pitching system that packages your manuscript and supporting information according to each individual agent’s requirements and preferences.
All of this at no additional cost.
Copyright protection
Copyright protection is automatic in many jurisdictions from the moment an original work is created and fixed in a tangible form, including as a digital file.
That said, it’s always a good idea to have some form of independent record of when your work existed, particularly if a dispute ever arises. This is why many writers choose to register their manuscripts with a third party, such as the U.S. Copyright Office. The downside of this is a rather steep registration fee, starting at $45 as of 2026.
Every manuscript you upload to Lizard Joe creates a dated digital record that can serve as evidence of when the work was uploaded and existed on the platform. And no — we don’t charge you anything for it.
The platform's founding reptiles
Thomas Kast, PhD. UX/UI expert, 20+ years of experience as an art director: speciality in branding and UX/UI design. Intimate knowledge of the publishing industry (traditionally published author). Teaches design for scientists at ETH.
Mark Taylor, MBA. 20+ years of experience in software development, cloud computing, internet based technology and AI/ML. Founder of Ibex Automation: robotics company.