An Interview with Emily Colin and Madeline Dyer, editors of UNBOUND--Stories of Transformation, Love and Monsters

www.karissalaurel.com

A few years ago I had the great fortune to be invited to contribute to a YA anthology called Wicked South: Secrets and Lies.  Emily Colin was one of the editors of that anthology, and I enjoyed working with her immensely. Luckily, she remembered me several years later and invited me to participate in her newest project, a YA anthology called Unbound, Stories of Transformation, Love, and Monsters, from Five Points Press.

I'm here today with New York Times bestselling author, Emily Colin and her SIBA Award Winning co-editor, Madeline Dyer, to get the details on this forthcoming anthology and find out more about their work on the book. Welcome Emily and Madeline!

When Emily approached me about the anthology, she said the stories should all be based on a theme of "transformation." But before she reached out, there had obviously been a lot of plotting and scheming going on behind the scenes. So, where did the idea to do a group anthology come from, and how did y'all settle on a theme?

 MD: I can’t specifically remember the occasion that we first thought of creating an anthology—it just seemed to be one of those ideas that had been bouncing around our group-chat for a little while—but it was during lockdown in 2020 when we really began to seriously think about it. The five of us in the group-chat (Emily, Lisa Amowitz, Sarah Anderson, Heidi Ayarbe, and I) thought that if we each wrote a novella/long short story, we’d have quite a good-sized anthology between us and also have all the skills we need to bring it to life, as while we’re all authors, between us we also have experience in all the other parts of publication—editing, cover design, interior art, marketing, etc. So, that’s where it started.

 And we settled on the theme of transformation pretty quickly really. We knew right away that we needed a theme that was flexible and could be adapted to a lot of different stories. That was really important as we didn’t want to be too prescriptive or controlling in what we were asking our writers to produce, and so themes that can be interpreted in many different ways (and across different genres too) are great.

Once we had the theme, we drew up a list of authors that we knew who we wanted to personally invite to submit work to our anthology before we put out general calls for submissions too.

EC: I feel like Madeline really said it all! I’ll add that the transformation theme also came from how challenging 2020 (and now, 2021) has been for all of us—that it’s changed every person I know in some ways, both big and small. We wanted to take that transformative energy and direct it into something creative. Our group has been a tremendous safe haven for us—even though between the five of us, we’re located in four different countries (the US, the UK, France, and Colombia), we chat multiple times every day—and we wanted to put some of that positive energy out into the world, during a time that we all need something to look forward to.

For me, there isn't a word better than "transformation" to exemplify the young adult experience, both in life and in literature. Young adulthood is literally the period of transformation between childhood and adulthood. There's so much change during that time, spawning so many experiences, and this anthology seems like a great expression of those various experiences. But having to choose just a few of those myriad stories seems like an overwhelming task! Can you tell me a little about what the process of putting together this anthology has been like from the Editors' point of view?

EC: Oh my gosh. It’s been fun, it’s been challenging, it’s been an adventure. We decided that out of the five of us, Lisa and Sarah would concentrate on design, Heidi would brainstorm marketing ideas, and Madeline and I—since we edit professionally—would take on that side of things. I’m in the US and Madeline’s in the UK, so sometimes coordinating stuff that we had to do in real time—such as having conversations with contributing authors—created a logistical quandary, but we figured it out!

Madeline talks a bit about how the details of the process worked, below, so I won’t go into that too much—but I will say that when you’re working with a diverse group of contributors, in terms of geography, background, styles, interests, experience, etc., it’s important to find a flow with each author. Madeline and I each worked with a select group of the contributors, but sometimes we’d collaborate to figure out the best approach for a given story. I loved this—editing can be a lonely process sometimes. It was lovely to have another editor to bounce ideas and thoughts off, and Madeline is brilliant. I felt spoiled!

MD: It’s been a lot of work! I definitely under-estimated how much work it would be. I write and edit full-time, and I thought at first that this would just be a nice, little side project! How wrong was I! Turns out co-editing an anthology is hard work and so, so time-consuming.

As stories came in, Emily and I read each one and voted on whether to include it (as well as getting Lisa, Heidi, and Sarah to vote too). We marked stories ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and began to think about how we’d work editorially on each story while also preserving individual voices and making the anthology into a cohesive whole. 

When we’d finalised which stories we wanted, Emily and I divided them between us, and we each worked with the authors on developmental, line, and copyedits. And of course Emily and I were each writing our own stories too—we were each other’s editors for those, so that was super fun.

How many stories will the anthology have and what kind of genres can readers expect to see?

MD: We’ve got 12 pieces in this YA anthology, including a thought-provoking contemporary story with an unreliable narrator, a beautifully poignant narrative poem, epic fantasy stories, and some dark and chilling speculative fiction. We’ve also got a number of #ownvoices stories in this collection too.

EC: Well, the anthology’s subtitle is Transformation, Love, and Monsters, so…I feel like that kind of says it all! One of the things I really adored about editing UNBOUND is that the theme ties all the stories together—but within that, there’s so much variety. As Madeline said, there are contemporary stories grounded in our reality, urban fantasy, dystopian fiction, love stories with a twist…the central theme is change, and that’s something that all of the characters in these stories do—for good or for ill! 

Among those 12 stories are the 3 that we've individually contributed as authors. I describe my story, "Of Marshmallows and Monsters", as a slightly fantastical, YA version of Pitbulls and Parolees--a girl seeks redemption for her gruesome past by rehabilitating monsters. Can you both give us a little hint of what your stories will be about?

MD: Sure! So, mine is called “Inside the Night,” and it’s a dark YA fantasy with a contemporary setting. It’s about a mysterious Power in the sky that turns people to stone, and it draws heavily on Greek mythology and the Medusa story, as well as taking a very feminist angle. It’s also #ownvoices for ace rep and chronic illness rep. 

EC: Oooh, yes! Mine is called “Smooth the Descent,” based on the quote, “Smooth the descent, easy is the way.” If you’re familiar with Virgil’s Aeneid, you might recognize that this references the descent into hell. ;) My short story is set in the universe of my YA trilogy, where people live—and die—by the laws of the Seven Deadly Sins. In it, a teenage librarian whose passionate curiosity far exceeds her restrictive society’s limits, and a medic whose desire to heal sends him in pursuit of forbidden knowledge, collide—and, despite the fact that lust is punishable by death, they fall in love. Hijinks ensue.

A little Easter egg—if you’ve read the first book or prequel novella in my Seven Sins series, you’ll recognize that the librarian and the medic in question are none other than my main character Ari’s parents. 

I've read both of the full-length novels in Emily's Seven Sins series (one of which is the soon-to-be-released sequel, Final Siege of the Seven Sins. It's awesome having connections and getting to read advanced copies!) and I'm super thrilled to get to read more set in that world. Along with introducing readers to your writing, what do you hope readers will get from this anthology?

MD: When I was editing the stories in this anthology, my favourite thing was the escapism it offered. These stories are all so different, and we’re covering many different genres while also examining the idea of transformation from so many different angles—the characters are engaging, the stories exciting, the plots surprising. One moment I’m on the moors of Scotland learning about folklore and monsters, the next I’m in an American museum where there’s a mummy on the loose. These stories really just grab you—and so I think (and hope) that escapism will be one of the big things that readers get. Especially in the current climate—escapism is what so many of us need.

EC: I couldn’t agree more! We created this anthology to give ourselves an escape from the crushing reality of recent events—and for me, at least, it delivered! I hope that readers will find that same sense of freedom in its pages—the sense of being transported to a world that exists alongside our own, where each story is a universe unto itself. 

Also, we were intentional, as Madeline mentions, about including a diverse group of authors. The writers in UNBOUND hail from Colombia, the UK, France, Cyprus, and the United States, and their stories represent their perspectives—including LGBTQIA+, chronic illness, and BIPOC representation. I hope that readers see themselves reflected in our characters, and find themselves spending time with kindred spirits as they read.

When, where, and how will the anthology be available to readers?

 Unbound releases on the 15th February, and it’ll be available as a free ebook download on Amazon and other ebook retailers. There will also be hard copies available to purchase from the usual sites and stores too.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me about Unbound and give us a glimpse at the hard behind-the-scenes work the editors have to put into such an undertaking. I'm so proud to be a part of this project, and can't wait to share it with our readers. Find out more about Emily and Madeline here:

Emily Colin's debut novel, The Memory Thief, was a New York Times bestseller and a Target Emerging Authors Pick. She is also the author of The Dream Keeper’s Daughter (Ballantine Books). Her young adult titles include the anthology Wicked South: Secrets and Lies and the Seven Sins series, including the upcoming Shadows of the Seven Sins (June 2021) and Siege of the Seven Sins (August 2021), from Blue Crow Publishing.

Emily's diverse life experience includes organizing a Coney Island tattoo and piercing show, hauling fish at a dolphin research center, roaming New York City as an itinerant teenage violinist, helping launch two small publishing companies, and working to facilitate community engagement in the arts. Originally from Brooklyn, Emily lives in coastal North Carolina with her family. She loves chocolate, is addicted to tiramisu, and dislikes anything containing beans.

Emily is represented by Felicia Eth Literary. You can find her at www.emilycolin.com.

Madeline Dyer is a SIBA-award winning author. She lives on a farm in the southwest of England, where she hangs out with her Shetland ponies and writes dark and twisty young adult books. She is pursuing her MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University, having obtained a BA honors degree in English from the University of Exeter. Madeline has a strong love for anything dystopian or ghostly, and she can frequently be found exploring wild places. At least one notebook is known to follow her wherever she goes.

 Her books include the Untamed series, the Dangerous Ones series, and Captive: A Poetry Collection on OCD, Psychosis, and Brain Inflammation.

Madeline is represented by Erin Clyburn at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. You can find her at www.madelinedyer.co.uk.

What’s a spelling-challenged Literary Engineer to do?

Have you ever seen this joke or a similar one?

If you’ve read any of my bios, you might recall that I’m a mechanical engineer by degree. While this joke is not accurate for many engineers (including my husband), I can tell you that it is accurate in my instance. I am horrible when it comes to spelling. Always have been, always will be.

And now I’m a self-proclaimed Literary Engineer.

Um . . . I think I have a problem.

Oh, wait—I’m an engineer. I can solve problems!

When I started to become serious about publishing my first book, I learned through my research that there are many readers who are passionate about an author’s ability to use proper grammar and spelling. That’s fair, after all. I can personally overlook a few errors in books (probably because I don’t notice them), but I have to admit to instances where an abundance of errors killed my enjoyment of the entire story. I knew I wouldn’t be in the camp of more errors than not for my own books, but I’m a big fan of eliminating distractions during the reading experience. I knew I had to pack my toolbox with some industrial grade spelling and grammar tools.

My aunt is a professional proofreader, so she does my final copy editing. It’s a huge relief to have a person I trust take a last crack at my books, but I still want to try to make the job a bit easier for her. I need to get better at catching my own mistakes. Because that’s the thing—in most cases I know what I’m supposed to write, but my fingers don’t always keep up with my brain. Except for spelling. When it comes to spelling, my brain is usually wrong.

I currently write almost everything in Word before I publish—be it a novel or a blog post—so the built-in spell checker is a huge help. However, it does not catch everything. For example, there are a few words I always seem to mix up, even though I know there is a difference and what that difference is.

• quite and quiet
• breath and breathe
• choose and chose
• heel and heal

These are just a few of the words always I seem to always mix up, so after I finish my manuscript I do a search for these words and correct any I have wrong.

Up next are the words that have multiple variations and different meanings depending on how you use them. For example:

• someday and some day
• awhile and a while
• anyone and any one

Then there are words I didn’t have to use often in my job prior to writing, so I have difficulty remembering the rules. Sometimes I inherently know which to use, but I’ve never stopped to think about why. Writing novels has forced me to slow down and consider proper usage of words like:

• farther vs further
• burned vs burnt
• blonde vs blond
• were vs was

Most of the time I do a Google search of grammar sites when I need help, but there is one other tool I’ve come to depend on: Grammarly. You can install a plug-in for Word that will catch the errors spell check won’t, but I never was able to get that working properly on my end. But no worries, because I can copy and paste into my Grammarly account.

Most of all, I love that it installs (for FREE) on Chrome. This means I have a powerful tool checking my spelling and grammar for everything I do online: blog posts, comments, Facebook posts, Tweets, etc. There is a green circle in the bottom right-hand corner of text boxes which changes to red with the number of possible errors found.

This has saved my bacon many times! I want to look just as professional in my online endeavors as I do in my novels, but I can’t pay my aunt to proof everything I type (nor is it possible for her to do so). As a result, Grammarly has become a very important tool for me.

I realize perfection can’t be achieved, but I’m hoping these tools will correct enough of my errors to keep the grammar police off my back :) Just please don’t expect me to ever learn when to use whom rather than who. Seriously.

Feel free to share any tools or sites you’ve come to depend on in your writing—I’m always on the lookout for additional tools I can use! And, I highly recommend giving Grammarly a shot if you haven’t already.

~Carrie

Revisions Checklist

A post by Mary Fan

Writing is hard. There's a lot of advice out there about how to buckle down and just get that damn book written. Can't edit a blank page, first draft is supposed to be crappy, don't worry about it and just get it done, etc. etc. etc. Which is all true. But what do you do once you have your SFD (that's Shitty First Draft) banged out? How do you de-shittify it into something you can be proud of, something you can have confidence in? (Step one: remove made-up words like de-shittify).

This is where revisions come in. No one gets their book right on the first try, but it can be hard to see the way forward after emerging bleary-eyed from the Fog of First Drafts. So, to help you out a bit, I've created a handy dandy Revisions Checklist!

[✓] Make a list of things that are bugging you about your book

Sometimes, even as you're writing a book, you know there are things you're going to want to change later. Placeholder dialogue. Awkward transitions. Skeletal descriptions. I know an author who admits that her first drafts are little more than detailed outlines, and who goes back and fleshes out entire scenes, dialogues, descriptions, etc immediately after finishing Draft 1 (she's a pantser, so she's doing in her first draft what a lot of plotters do when outlining).

Sometimes, in the frenzy to just get that damn thing written, you'll cut corners. And that's perfectly fine! Just keep a list (or mark with comments) spots that you know you're going to want to fix up later.

If you didn't do this while writing (which is understandable, since it can break up your flow), then do it right after you finish the first draft. Give the whole thing a quick once-over and mark down which bits bug you.

[✓]  Incorporate the easy changes

Just a little trim here and there :-)

Sometimes, the things that bug you about your own book are relatively easy fixes, like "I don't like the dialogue between these two characters when they first meet" or "this action scene probably happens too quickly/easily." Sometimes, they're more complicated, like "I'm not sure if my villain's motivations make sense" or "I'm not sure if this sequence of events makes sense."

The things that bug you about your own book will be somewhere on a scale from "Oh, that's just a matter of find/replace, no problem" to "Dammit, that thing doesn't work and therefore this whole book needs to be rewritten!" Where any given problem falls on that scale can be measured in how many curse words spin through your head when you think about it (ranging from "*shrug* no need to curse, that one's easy" to your entire arsenal of F-bombs and assorted forms).

Go ahead and incorporate the little things, the quick fixes. But resist the temptation to start ripping your book apart at the seams to make the bigger edits right away. You're still in the First Draft Fog, so it can be hard to tell the good ideas from the bad, the changes that make sense from the changes that are just different. Write down your Big Picture Changes so you don't forget them, but don't worry about it just yet.

[✓]  Step away from the book

Let it goooooooo...

Different people have different reactions to having a Shiny New Manuscript in hand. Some are convinced the whole thing is perfect-perfect-perfect and others are sure that the whole thing is worthless and can't be saved. Most fall somewhere in the middle (or flicker between the two, depending on mood and caffeine intake). Those on either extreme are probably wrong.

In order to revise well, you need perspective, and the only thing that can give you perspective is time. Your manuscript is never going to be perfect, so at a certain point, just put the damn thing down and leave it alone for a spell.

[✓] Enlist beta readers

Hopefully, your beta reader will be as focused as this cat

One of the best ways to get yourself to stop futzing is to make it so that the manuscript is out of your hands. Plus, feedback is crucial to making a manuscript good. It's easy to get caught up in your own story, and what you write isn't always what gets read (something that might make perfect sense to you might confuse a reader who is Not You, or a dialogue you find funny might seem merely awkward to Other Person).

This is where beta readers come in! Beta readers don't have to be professional editors or anything... all you're looking for at this point is a fellow human being to read your book and give their gut reaction. So this could be your mom, your friend, your local critique group... anyone! If you don't already have a critique group or partner, or personal contacts willing to give your book a go, offer up a beta swap--you beta read my book, I'll beta read yours. Put the call out on social media or an author forum--you'll likely find plenty of fellow writers willing to trade perspective for perspective. Try to find a beta reader in your own genre if possible, since they'll have more of a sense of what you're going for. For instance, asking a women's fiction writer who has a hard time relating to speculative fiction to beta read your out-of-this-world science fantasy novel probably isn't a good idea. Neither is asking an epic adventure-loving science fantasy author to beta read a quiet, literary women's fiction novel.

Once the book is in your beta reader's (or readers') hands, DO NOT TOUCH. Resist the urge to change one thing, then email your beta going, "Actually, read this version. No wait... Fixed one thing. Use this version. No wait..."

It's hard to say how many beta readers is a good number. If you have a really great critique partner, maybe one is all you need. If you're a member of a local writers group, you could have literally dozens of eyes on your manuscript. In any case, it's not a numbers game.

If you have Big Picture things that are bugging you about your book, ask your betas to focus on those and see what they think.

[✓] Read over the comments, but don't incorporate them immediately

What receiving feedback can feel like

Receiving feedback can feel overwhelming, especially if you have numerous beta readers (not all of whom agree). And it can often feel like a huge wave of criticism-criticism-criticism burying you and your book into the crushing depths.

Here's the thing, though: Most readers only point out the stuff that bugs them. When they're reading stuff that works for them, they're into the story and don't notice the pages flipping. When something bugs them, they'll flag it and say "hey, you might want to fix this bit that doesn't make sense." So just because you see piles and piles of comments doesn't mean there's nothing good about the book. In fact, everything not commented on is probably just fine.

Read over the comments, but don't incorporate them right away. Because once again, you need perspective, and being on the receiving end of a barrage of comments will send you into Criticisms Shock (which is similar to the First Draft Fog, but not as fun). Your gut reaction will range from "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY VISION, YOU FOOL!" to "Holy crap, you're right, and my book is completely unsalvageable!" You will likely go through the phases of grief... Denial (no, there's nothing wrong with my book!), Anger (how dare you say there's something wrong with my book!), Bargaining (but if I just explained it to you, you'd see it my way!), Depression (ugh, my book is awful and nothing can fix it), and then, finally, Acceptance (okay, you may have a point).


[✓] Consolidate the comments into a list

Depending on who your beta readers are, they might have a million suggestions for how to fix the issues they identified, or they might just say "this isn't working for me." Either way, only you can be the judge of the best way to incorporate their comments. Sometimes, the beta reader will be right to flag something, but their suggestion for how to fix it doesn't feel right. And then it's up to you to find a way that fixes the problem and works for your book.

Consolidate these comments--as well as the Big Picture items that were bugging you when you finished your first draft--into a list. This is the part where you decide what comments to take and what comments to disregard (Sometimes, if you fix one part of a manuscript, then a reader's comment on a later part won't be relevant. Or your betas will disagree, and it's up to you to decide which one, if either, to listen to). And this will help you keep track of all the stuff you want to do and see how the changes work in relation to each other (and make sure that one change doesn't contradict another).

Think of it as a To Do list for your manuscript.

Jotting down all those Things To Do

[✓] Start with the small stuff

Start by revising the things that are easy to fix--the nitpicky details your betas flagged (typos, small inconsistencies, etc). That'll help ease you into the revising groove. Jump around and get these things done first--and cross them off your list.

Just a few more trims...

[✓] Tackle the big picture stuff in chronological order

Now, you're ready to take on the heavy lifting. This is the part where you rearrange entire chapters, add or subtract characters, modify worldbuilding, etc. These Big Picture items are best done in chronological order, since what you change toward the beginning will probably affect the way a later scene turns out.

Keep in mind that sometimes, a comment that seems like it'll take a huge rewrite can be solved more easily than it seems (for instance, a few sentences of back story and/or internal dialogue can clear up a character's motivations, rather than you having to rewrite the entire character)

Mine that SFD for the gems!

[✓] Step away from the revised book

At this point, you have a whole new draft, which may feel like a whole new book that's worlds away from what you started with. And it probably feels a bit like you've got a Frankenbook on your hands--that is, a creature made up of bits and piece of other creatures that somehow developed a life of its own. All that chopping and sewing has probably put you in the Revisions Daze, which can be even more confusing than both the First Draft Fog and Criticisms Shock because you'll probably have bits of both lingering in your system in addition to this new stupor (rereading your own words can sometimes send you back into the First Draft Fog even after you've been away from the manuscript the first time, and Criticisms Shock can be triggered anew when you come across a particularly sticky issue you have to address).

So step away again. Give yourself a bit of time and distance from this new draft.

Hopefully your new draft will feel more like this...

...than like this

[✓] Read through the whole book

Come back and look at the new draft with fresh eyes. You'll probably notice a few vestiges from the old draft hanging out... a mention of a character you cut, a line of dialogue that mades no sense with the new scene, etc. Maybe a few nitpicky spots that could use some smoothing out. This is the part where you fix those little things, but otherwise, you're golden! For now, at least...

There's no way to tell when a book is DONE done (really, it never is). But at this point, if you've edited the book to your satisfaction and incorporated outsider feedback, you're probably well on your way.

May you feel this satisfied reading over your revised draft

The Law of Diminishing Returns

I recently finished my manuscript for my third novel, Shattered Angel, and I’m in edit mode. I think this part of the process stresses me out more than actually writing the novel because there is no definitive end. I could edit and edit and edit... and still my perfectionist brain would want to edit more (and more and more and more...)

Enter the Law of Diminishing Returns.

This law is not just for business processes. If you are not familiar with this law, here’s the definition from Wikipedia.org:

In economics, diminishing returns (also called law of diminishing returns, law of variable proportions, principle of diminishing marginal productivity, or diminishing marginal returns) is the decrease in the marginal (incremental) output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is incrementally increased, while the amounts of all other factors of production stay constant.

The law of diminishing returns states that in all productive processes, adding more of one factor of production, while holding all others constant ("ceteris paribus"), will at some point yield lower incremental per-unit returns. The law of diminishing returns does not imply that adding more of a factor will decrease the total production, a condition known as negative returns, though in fact this is common.

Having now self-published two books, I believe this law is one of the most important concepts to implement during the editing process—I'm talking about all the edits that take place from the moment I type the final word in my first draft to the moment when I send my manuscript to my proof-reader. Using the definition above for the Law of Diminishing Returns, the two variables in my process are:

Output (return): reader enjoyment

Factor of Production: edits

I know that I could read and revise my manuscript forever. Literally—forever. This is because nothing in life is perfect, and there would be no end to revisions if I didn’t put some sort of arbitrary end date out there. To help keep myself out of the endless abyss of editing, I’ve grouped my editing process into three separate phases:

Phase 1: Quick review

I do this right after I finish the book. I look for obvious errors, inconsistencies, and wording changes. The return in this phase is still relatively high due to the importance. It’s hard for someone to enjoy a book that’s filled with typos and silly mistakes. For example, in my second novel I had realized that the name of one of my secondary characters changed half way through the book. Oops. This is something that’s insignificant in the grand scheme of the entire novel, but it can turn a reader off quickly. The feeling is that if I don’t care about my characters enough to get their names right, why should the reader care about them either?

Phase 2: Beta reader edits

As a self-published author, I can define my own process. Instead of paying for one person to edit my book and receive only one perspective, I like to have several volunteer beta readers. I’m talking in the range of 10-15 people from my target reading audience. If there is a specific topic that requires an expert for validation, I include them in the beta read. I’m also a part of my beta read—this is where I read it on my Kindle and try to become the ‘reader’.

My beta readers tell me exactly what they think—words that annoy them, little things they love, errors, plot inconsistencies, characters they hate/love, how they felt when reading certain parts, etc. I also follow up with some very specific questions on areas that I’m debating on changing. The reason I have so many beta readers is because they all read with a different perspective. One person my love my main character while another may hate him. Seeing the story from so many different angles helps me to determine if there are any perceptions I wish to eliminate, or at least lessen. For example, if someone hates my main character and my goal is for the reader to love him, then I might want to make some tweaks based on that reader’s feedback. The many different perceptions also help me establish patterns—if a vast majority of the beta readers are confused by a certain part then I know I need to change something.

With my second book I started using a tiered process that I think works great. I designate a certain time period for my beta reads—for example the month of December. I then ask my beta readers to sign up for a week with the requirement that they read and send me comments by the end of that week. I give myself some time between the weeks to make any changes/corrections. I started doing this because I found that during the edits on my first book, I’d make changes based on feedback but then didn’t have anyone who could read the updated version. I had to resend certain parts to see what the beta readers thought. With my new process, there is always someone to read the new content. I also let the prior beta readers know about significant content changes I’ve made in case they are interested.

I don’t skimp on this phase of the editing process because it really is where I reach the peak of my returns. Remember, my return is ‘reader enjoyment’ so there’s no better way to affect that then to use feedback from readers in my target group. I don’t change things based on all the feedback, but I’m confident that I’m able to capture the important changes that will affect the reading enjoyment for the majority of my target group.

Really, my beta readers are awesome.

Phase 3: Endless tweaks

This is where the return on edits drops significantly. Without a deadline from a publisher forcing me to cut it off, this phase could go on forever. I could adjust the way a sentence is worded or add/remove content until the day I die. However, changes in this phase won’t significantly alter the reading experience, positively or negatively. At least it won’t for the majority of the reading population in my target audience. Remembering the Law of Diminishing Returns helps keep me from remaining in Phase 3 too long.

So when you start to edit your manuscript think about the Law of Diminishing Returns, and don’t get caught in the endless abyss of Phase 3. It will save you a lot of stress, headaches, and time.

Let us know in the comments how you avoid the pitfall of Phase 3!

~ Carrie