My good writing friend Shannon wrote a post recently that really resonated with me and what I see aspiring writers struggling with. Her post is good and I recommend you click the link and have a read before carrying on. There’s a great quote she uses from a superb writer and generally very nice man, Neil Gaiman:

“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

It’s spot on advice.

I have a few extra words to say about the matter.

Feedback is really important. You should not miss out on the opportunity to get people to read your manuscript and give you their thoughts before you send it to an agent or publisher or publish it yourself. A book that has gone out into the world without revision feedback is never going to be the best it can be.

But just as you wouldn’t invite anybody to come into your house and make decorating suggestions (possibly the fastest way to end a friendship?), nor should you ask just anyone to critically review your book. Especially not friends.

You absolutely need to make sure those you ask for feedback are trusted. By that, I don’t mean your friends – though they might be – I mean people you trust to communicate valid writing points with you. Usually, they will be writers themselves. They might be someone who reads a lot and is used to giving critiques. You need to value their advice and be certain they are not going to talk nonsense.

Too often, I’ve had clients who have had books ‘trashed’ because they let a friend read it and they hated it, only for it to transpire that the friend didn’t like that kind of genre. I really don’t like murder mysteries. I’m very unlikely to enjoy reading one. Likewise, sometimes they’ve had friends – or fellow writers – who are just a bit jealous of their book and become super critical maliciously. It is remarkable how many ‘friends’ do that. They delight in putting you ‘back in your place’ when otherwise they’re perfectly lovely human beings! This is the heart of Gaiman’s advice. Feedback tells you more about the reader than it does about your manuscript. Everyone comes with baggage. But, of course, your book has got to speak to readers too. So how do you deal with the conundrum?

There’s two ways to get around this – paradoxically quite opposite to each other.

1. Get a load of beta readers to read your manuscript and offer their thoughts. This opposes what I’ve said above but you do it with the view of getting a lot of feedback and looking at the common threads. You ignore the rest. Just look for what people keep saying.
2. Get an editor. I’ve said it many times before and yes, I know I am an editor and it is easy to think I’m just selling my services. Trust me, I don’t need to. I’m fully booked for most of the time. Plus you’re probably not coming to me anyway. But get an editor. It’s what we do, without axes to grind, regardless of genre. We look at how manuscripts could be improved. If you get a good editor, your book will be so much better. Believe me.

As a writer, I can tell you I do both of these things. I have at least two editors (one of whom is on my payroll and works for me daily) and I release new books to beta readers I trust to give good advice.

But there’s something more important here and it is related to Gaiman’s quote above, which is this:

Treat every bit of advice with a pinch of salt but remember if one person says it, a portion of your readers will also think it.

This is a real paradox to deal with. Don’t let advice get under your skin. Don’t let it get to you, depress you, upset you. But do think to yourself: ‘even if this opinion is wrong or unfair, some of my readers will feel the same way’. Readers may come with baggage, but some baggage is common to many. It’s worth being aware of that.

What you then do is make a choice: Either do a rewrite to solve that issue if you think it is going to affect the enjoyment of your readers; or decide it is worth irritating a small number of readers to stay true to what you believe the rest will love. It’s ok to lose some potential readers. Your book just wasn’t for them. But ignore all advice and you risk losing a lot of your potential readers. That’s never good. So make a call.

For instance, one writer was telling recently how an agent had killed their book deal because there was ‘too much world-building’ at the beginning. But that writer had followed an editor’s advice that the book needed more world-building! Did the editor get it wrong? No way to tell; but the writer should have decided at the advice stage whether or not their ideal reader would want more world-building or would find it stalls the action for them. If they decided that, yes, the book needed more, then it was the agent who wasn’t right for them. If not, then they shouldn’t have followed the advice.

It’s a difficult call to make and sometimes you might find you make the wrong decision. You follow (or don’t follow) the advice and the book still doesn’t get picked up. In which case, go back to the manuscript and re-edit it to go the opposite way, then try again. There’s no reason why you might not have multiple versions for different editors or publishers. As long as you’ve got sound advice along the way, sooner or later the book should get picked up. And, of course, that agent or publisher will almost certainly want more changes so the book fits more of their idea of what will sell. The editing game doesn’t end until that thing is in print!

So, choose who gives you the feedback carefully; take note of the advice but don’t necessarily believe it; make a call whether your ideal readers would agree or disagree overall; then act on it.

Social Entrepreneur, educationalist, bestselling author and journalist, D K Powell is the author of the bestselling collection of literary short stories “The Old Man on the Beach“. His first book, ‘Sonali’ is a photo-memoir journal of life in Bangladesh and has been highly praised by the Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide. Students learning the Bengali language have also valued the English/Bengali translations on every page. His third book is ‘Try not to Laugh’ and is a guide to memorising, revising and passing exams for students.

Both ‘The Old Man on the Beach’ and ‘Sonali’ are available on Amazon for kindle and paperback. Published by Shopno Sriti Media. The novel,’The Pukur’, was published by Histria Books in 2022.

D K Powell is available to speak at events (see his TEDx talk here) and can be contacted at dkpowell.contact@gmail.com. Alternatively, he is available for one-to-one mentoring and runs a course on the psychology of writing. Listen to his life story in interview with the BBC here.

Ken writes for a number of publications around the world. Past reviewer for Paste magazine, The Doughnut, E2D and United Airways and Lancashire Life magazine. Currently reviews for Northern Arts Review. His reviews have been read more than 6.9 million times.