I’m midway through my journey of writing my first book. As I finish up my first draft, I’m opening some chapters to a select few for feedback.

When I announced that I was doing this, many asked me why? Why do this if you already have an editor? 

I’m part of an online, global writing community called Write of Passage, and there I learned that getting multiple people to review your work is essential. No matter how many times you’ve reviewed your piece, you’ll be blind to several errors and gaffes. By getting other’s to review your work, you’ll be able to iron out those wrinkles and perfect your piece. At Write of Passage—my online writing community—each article get’s feedback from 4-5 other writers, which makes good writing GREAT.

I sent out a form on social media, and I got people from across 5 countries to sign up to provide feedback. If everything goes well, then I’d have gotten over 100 people from across the globe to give me feedback on my book draft before I send it to my editor. When I announced this, my writer friend Silvio Castelletti asked me whether I’d be able to handle all the collective feedback.

Since I’m working with an editor and publisher, I don’t want them to spend time correcting simple mistakes and errors. I’d rather have them focus on elevating the writing, and that’s only possible if the baseline is strong.

In a way, I’m outsourcing (for the lack of a better term) all the basic edits to the people who’ve signed up. James Clear, author of the best-selling book “Atomic Habits” used the same principle for his book. He probed his audience for feedback so that he could refine his content before he published it. 

A little bit of entrepreneurial thinking goes a long way.

So the answer to Silvio’s question is – Yes, I am making this much harder for myself. But I want to produce the best book I can (at this stage in my life), so I’m willing to put in the extra work.

I’m using this period as a beta test for my book—to see which stories land and which don’t. That way, I can adjust the chapters accordingly.

Many people say you shouldn’t get too hung up on your first book because it won’t win any awards. But that’s no excuse to produce a low-quality book. I will give it my best and then not think about the results.

PS: Having to coordinate book feedback for around 100 people is no joke. This is a whole other logistical challenge in itself. I finally had an excuse to properly learn how to use Google Sheets and make fancy spreadsheets. 

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