I’ve been getting questions about working with a sensitivity reader on Yet We Sleep, We Dream. My experience was by no means universal, but I figured it could still be helpful to other writers who find themselves in the position I was in after completing my first draft.

Background: Yet We Sleep, We Dream recasts Shakespeare’s theatrical Nick Bottom as Nick Button, an intelligent engineering student of Noongar Aboriginal heritage. I’m not Indigenous Australian, and there’s heaps about Noongar culture I don’t know. While my novel doesn’t lean heavily into cultural themes, culture still informs who we are as people, and I wanted Nick to portray an authentic character.

What a sensitivity reader is

According to MasterClass, "a sensitivity reader is someone who reads a book before it is complete and looks for cultural representation problems, biases, stereotypes, tropes, and language that a reader could consider problematic."

They are considered a specialised book critiquer or beta reader, though it can also help to think of them informally as cultural consultants, subject matter consultants, or lived-experience consultants. Typically, authors and publishers would hire a sensitivity reader at some point during the writing process — the earlier the better, but not so early that the characters and events could change in a way that would require another sensitivity read.

What a sensitivity reader isn't

Sensitivity readers aren’t editors or fact-checkers (though some might also offer that service), and they’re also not manuscript doctors or writing coaches. If they spot something amiss, they’re more likely to point out what didn’t work for them than to give you a dissertation on exactly what to fix. You’ll still have to do your own research for your story, characters and worldbuilding.

Sensitivity readers won’t take over your book, won’t rewrite your story, and won’t try to control how your characters behave. Depending on what you’re hiring them to review, you might not even need to send them your whole book, just the parts covering their area of specialisation. A sensitivity reader’s primary (if not sole) focus is advising on misrepresentation and insensitivity. The final decision about what to include in your book is still up to you as the author.

Finally, a sensitivity reader isn’t an elected representative for a whole group. Each reader brings different lived experience and different expertise, and provides one reasonably informed perspective on the matters in question. Likewise, a sensitivity reader familiar with one type of lived experience won’t necessarily be able to speak on others unless they have experience in those areas as well.

Why you might want a sensitivity reader

Let’s skip the bit about not wanting to offend or trigger people, since it’s kind of obvious. A sensitivity reader can help you craft deeper, more authentic characters as well as plausible and more engaging storylines with details that hit closer to reality.

They can help with your characters’ “code switching” for more believable dialogue and character relationships. Depending on their expertise, some can even help with ensuring historical accuracy and crafting magic systems based on real-life beliefs and folklore.

Something not often covered in advice about hiring a sensitivity reader is the impact it can have beyond the confines of your book. People with lived experience and specialised niche knowledge are often forced to pay the toll that comes with things like minority status, disability and marginalisation. As an author, your need for a sensitivity reader creates an opportunity for income that may otherwise be hard to come by, just like how your audience’s need for entertainment creates an opportunity for your creative output to put food on your table.

Additionally, more authentic and relatable characters and storylines can help normalise greater diversity in the real world. This in turn contributes to a larger cultural conversation whereby wealth and power become more evenly distributed throughout society — a rising tide that lifts all ships.

Finding a sensitivity reader for my book

It took me months to find a sensitivity reader with the specialty I needed. Web searches turned up mostly results United States covering mainly Black, LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent knowledge areas. But my need for someone who could read for a twenty-year-old Noongar Aboriginal man meant I should be looking more locally.

So the next thing I tried was reaching out to a couple of local writing organisations in my city, which could make sense for broader subject areas, but it turned out my niche was still too niche. Interestingly, the smaller organisation got back to me within a couple of days with helpful suggestions, but I never heard from the bigger one at all.

From there, I contacted Romance Writers of Australia’s diversity team and heard back from both their president and team leader. They gave me a couple of leads in the academic space (university lecturers and such) plus a couple of authors who might be open to questions. The academics were very sympathetic but broadly unable to help, save for one professor who gave me the name of a well-known local journalist who was his former student, along with the publisher who worked with her on a book covering related sensitivity reader expertise. Unfortunately, although I managed to get in contact with her, I hit another dead end very quickly.

Just as I was about to call it quits, I stumbled upon the top-dog organisation for supporting writers and illustrators in Australia. I don’t have a background or connections in the arts, and being an introverted self-made writer courtesy of the internet, I’m not particularly “out there” enough that I’d naturally come upon this organisation. These guys are probably as close as you’d get to a union, as they do a lot of rights advocacy and re-shaping of the industry to be fairer on creative people.

I joined, emailed their member services team, and received the details of one sensitivity reader in my state who reads with Noongar Aboriginal expertise: Bill Bennell of Kooyar Wongi. All up, it took me eight months to find him. He gave my book the thumbs up in a matter of weeks.

My advice to writers looking for a sensitivity reader

No one can tell you whether you must or must not have a sensitivity reader look over your book. If your research is tight enough, and any test readers with experience in potentially sensitive subject matter are comfortable with what you’ve written, you might be just fine without one. The choice is always yours.

But you’re obviously reading this to learn more about approaching your search, so here we go:

1. Start looking in your immediate network, as some people may have worked with similar subject areas, worked with sensitivity readers, or offer some level of sensitivity reading themselves.

2. Contact writing hubs and professional associations, especially if any of them are known to facilitate any kind of diversity education either within their organisation or externally. Check any industry guides they publish and maintain, as this could easily lead you to sensitivity readers who already have experience reviewing your type of story.

3. Depending on the subject area and nature of your book, it might also be worth reaching out to the university humanities or arts faculties. Academics tend to be super busy, but they may have people in their network who’d be willing to help.

4. Treat everyone with respect — yes, even if they were rude to you first. Everyone is busy and no one owes you their time and knowledge.

5. Don’t argue with your sensitivity reader. Remember they’re not there to debate your book or your skills, only to share their perspective based on their personal experience. What you do with their feedback is up to you.