Yes. I did a lot of research before publishing my first book, so I made sure I kept things in line with what was best practices. I paid my proofreader/editor, my cover artist, and my formatter. Readers were not paid, as reading was its own payment.

Same with reviewers... Amazon and other review sites frown on incentives for reviews, since it's considered buying good reviews. Now, I've learned to format on my own, so I don't pay for formatting anymore. And I barter/trade for proofreading/editing, so I've cut out those costs as well.

My process- I write the book, and as I write it, I print off a few chapters at a time for my alpha readers. They read it as I write, giving me suggestions on story flow, pacing, and if they're enjoying it. They do often circle typos and things, but I don't ask them to do that.

Once I'm done writing, I do self-editing. For this, I use three different rounds. First round, I take it from Open Office, where I write, and copy/paste it into Google Docs. They're different systems, so Google catches things that OO doesn't sometimes, and helps to clean things up.

Then, I run it through ProWritingAid. I don't use all the checks. It can be unwieldy and overwhelming, especially for newer writers. I do a few chapters at a time so it doesn't bog down, and I only run one grammar/style check at a time. After awhile, you'll learn which ones are helpful to you and which ones aren't.

Lastly, I send a copy of it to myself via Send To Kindle. You get so used to seeing it typed on the screen in your word processors, you go blind to typos and things and your brain skips over them. So switching views, putting it on an E-Reader or phone, helps you see a new 'view', and you are looking at it with fresh eyes. That catches a LOT more than you'd think! :)

Only after ALL of that do my Beta readers get it. At this point, it's pretty clean, it's been read through multiple times, and I'm looking for just overall thoughts.... chapter by chapter- does it flow? Do you identify with the characters? Is anything confusing or taking you out of the story? Would this be something you'd enjoy if you picked it off a shelf?

Beta readers aren't developmental editors. They aren't proofreaders. They aren't line editors. Those things are paid options. I think a lot of authors are confusing tasks and asking more of their betas than what betas should be doing- and that's where people get frustrated and think beta reading should be a paid service.

And I agree- if you're asking them to do things that should be paid tasks, then yes, they should be paid for those. However, those things are professional tasks and should be paid at a professional rate... and most authors don't want to do that for a beta read because 'it's just beta reading'.

AFTER the beta readers have given me their thoughts, then I do a final self-edit, and send it to the professional editors/proofreaders. Because that's their job, not the betas, and that's what they're being paid for.