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A Open Letter From Your Editor

Books Bans, Then and Now

How to Keep Writing After the New Year’s Glow Wears Off

Types of Editing: For New (Overwhelmed) Independent Authors

What Type of Editing Do I Need?: For New (Overwhelmed) Independent Authors

You Don't Have to Write a Book

Sigmon Editorial Interview

Where Do I Get Alpha/Beta Readers?: For New (Overwhelmed) Independent Authors

In case you missed it, here is the first article in this series, focusing on types of editing, and the second, about how to know what type you need.

Quick recap: What's the difference in an Alpha Reader and a Beta Reader?

When you have your second draft, it’s time for beta readers. While your editor will make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s later, beta readers will tell you how someone not necessarily professionally trained interprets your work. Beta readers range in the depth of their feedback. They might say things like “I found the main character boring,” or “I couldn’t keep track of who was who,” or “Why is he helping the president again, wasn’t he in cahoots with Goldenface?”

Early advance copies are another thing altogether.

So where to find alpha or beta readers?

Anywhere! An early reader, whether you need an alpha or a beta, is just a person who is familiar with the genre you’re writing in and will give you general feedback.

While it’s true that anyone can alpha/beta read, be aware that your grandma might not be the best choice. (Unless you have a brutally honest grandma, in which case, go for it!) You want readers that will be honest with you, who will tell you what they loved and what they hated. Anyone that you think would enjoy your story could early read—just ask!

Readers don’t have to be people you already know. Hundreds of Facebook groups and Reddit forums are dedicated to writers helping each other or finding early readers. These people are typically seasoned in early reading and will give you good feedback, often in exchange for you doing the same.

If you’re looking for a professional alpha/beta reader, freelancers are a great option. Consider making an account on a freelancing website and browsing beta readers. This service can be quite affordable, and all their previous reviews and work samples are available. These people are highly skilled in providing useful feedback while maintaining your unique voice, and your investment is protected by the website until you've approved the final product.

You’ll need at least one alpha reader, and then, after your changes, two beta readers, and you’ll get the best results by staggering their reads. If you do it all at once, you’ll have a mound of feedback and very few chances to test out the changes you’ve made before sending off to an editor.

When you identify your alpha reader, who, remember, is your story validator, make sure to ask them some questions beyond "did you like it?" Consider broad picture questions such as:

Is this what you'd expect from a fantasy/mystery/romance novel?

Does the storyline feel logical, or did you get confused?

Were you able to keep up with the number of characters?

Make sure to self-edit before sending off to an alpha reader!

When it's time for a beta reader, start with the most qualified reader. Maybe this is a freelancer who beta reads professionally, maybe it’s a friend who published a book, or it's maybe an old English teacher. Regardless, this person can communicate with you freely and will tell you if you have huge story problems.

When you get the notes back, make a separate version of your document to edit. Make the changes that make sense to you, and keep the rest of them for later.

Then send out your manuscript to your other beta readers. While these people might not give you the most specific feedback, they can tell you what they enjoyed and what they didn’t. Depending on how many betas you have, you might want to do this in waves. Multiple rounds can give you time to adjust and implement feedback.

Questions you might ask your betas include:

Did you ever get bored?

Could you tell the characters apart?

Was the ending fulfilling?

Be warned, inexperienced betas may respond with answers like “I liked it” or “It was good” if you don’t ask specific questions. While this isn’t a bad thing (we all want our work to be liked!) it isn’t always super helpful. There are many lists online of questions to ask your betas, but there’s no need to ask them all. As a general rule, don’t expect a beta reader to answer more than ten questions thoroughly. The more questions you ask, the more you’ll see a decrease in quality answers. Use your best judgment here to make sure you’re not overwhelming your readers, or yourself later when you have to sort through all of your betas’ feedback. Speaking of—

How many beta readers do I need?

You need two beta readers at the absolute least. With just one beta, you have nothing to compare their thoughts to. How can you know whether a beta is right about the plot going too quickly or if it’s just a personal preference? You have at least two betas! When you can compare and contrast feedback, it’s much easier to see the common threads.

On the flip side, you don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen. While there’s no hard and fast rule for how many beta readers is too many, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Each beta reader is another person to ask “Have you read the book yet? When will you have the feedback back to me?”

Each beta reader is another person to (potentially) swap feedback with, which can be a lengthy process.

Each beta reader is another stack of feedback to sort through and decide which parts are usable.

Each beta reader is another free copy of your book you’re giving away.

What about sorting through the feedback?

Start by gathering all your feedback in the same place and looking for patterns. (A spreadsheet is good for this!) If multiple people saw a problem with your main character's development or the order of your chapters, that’s probably worth editing (or at least noting for your editor). This is likely big-picture feedback, so remember to save a copy of your original manuscript before you change anything.

It’s also worth noting the outliers, the bits of feedback that only one or two people mentioned. This is trickier. Is it good feedback that only one person caught, or is 13-year-old cousin Ashton just not paying attention to the foreshadowing? As you look at each outlier piece of advice, ask yourself whether it would make your story better, if it fits with your style, and if it’s necessary. While reader feedback is important, trusting your own intuition and vision is vital to creating the most authentic story. (And you can always ask your editor or consultant for a second opinion if you're not sure whether something is good advice.)

In the coming articles, we’ll be addressing more of the most frequently asked editing questions from new (overwhelmed) independent authors.

How do I find an editor anyway?

I’m scared for people to read my work.

I can’t afford any of this!

What is an advance reader copy?

Can I format my own book?

~Allison of Sigmon Editorial

From idea to ISBN, Sigmon Editorial's got your back.

You Don't Have to Write a Book

First things first—writing is for everyone.

Some imagined pre-existing skill is not a prerequisite for creativity and passion. You do not need to be “good” at writing to explore it, and you’re probably not going to be until after you start. No amount of creative writing classes or poetry seminars are going to “make you a writer.” There is no magical endpoint, no standard to shoot for, no phrasing that will transition you from “bad writer” to “good writer.” There is just you, your words, your experiences, and your imagination, trying to create something bigger than yourself. No ifs, ands, or buts, writing is for you. If you write, you are a writer.

I published my first book when I was 18 years old. It’s a poetry collection, and it sold pretty well for a self-published, minimally-advertised first book. That was four years ago now, and for the last four years, I’ve found myself putting a lot of pressure on “the next one.” Almost subconsciously, everything I write is with “Am I comfortable with people reading this?” rattling around in my head. I hold up writing another book as a pinnacle of my authorship, as the obvious right move, without ever asking myself whether I want to write another book.

Many people who say, “I would love to write a book someday,” have a greatly idealized vision of the process. They imagine sitting in a home office, at a coffee shop, or in a library, for hours at a time, words flowing smoothly and perfectly, no planning or backtracking needed. Or maybe they don’t imagine the writing process at all, but only the results.

They imagine taking their work to their friends, their partner, their parents, and receiving stunned praise. They imagine sending their manuscript to a publisher who immediately accepts it. They imagine their books in stores around the world, where they get to travel for signings and meet-and-greets, and their inbox is full of praise and podcast invitations.

And why wouldn’t they—maybe you—imagine these things? We all want ease, prosperity, and recognition. That’s only human. But it’s not accurate to what writing a book looks like. Writing is hard, often isolating work. And for many people, writing is the dreaded part to slog through in order to reach the crown of “author” that comes with thundering applause.

But for most of us, authorship does not come with acclaim right away, if ever. Marketing can be more challenging than actually writing the book. Would you still want to write a book if it meant just that? Writing a book. If only your best friends read it, or your therapist read one chapter, or no one else ever laid eyes on it. If it was just for you. Do you enjoy the process of writing? Or is it a necessary evil of ending up with a product?

I am in no way arguing that writing is only pure-intentioned if it’s private, nor that it’s wrong to want to share it. On the contrary. Words are meant to be shared. Connection is a human need, and the written word its age-old facilitator. There is immense power in sharing your writing and in reading others’. But we have somehow taken this shared understanding of the importance of language and twisted it into a hierarchy.

Despite my own perception, I have done a lot of writing over the past four years. I journal religiously. I write poetry and zines to de-stress. I write short stories for fun. I write personal essays to reverse funnel and make sense of the world. I write blog posts. I copywrite for my business. I write reports for my clients. I write articles on Medium and LinkedIn. Man, I completed a bachelor’s degree, and that alone comes with more writing than I can begin to conceptualize.

But I’ve convinced myself I haven’t gotten any writing done because I’ve made very little progress on my book manuscripts. I, subconsciously, hold books as a “higher” form of writing than articles or journal entries or whatever else.

Late-stage capitalism has convinced us that our work must be within specific boundaries to “count” or be worthy of recognition as “work.” We’re taught from the ground up to monetize our hobbies. I couldn’t tell you how many side hustles I’ve had or how many business ideas I came up with as a teenager. It seems like every time I find something I love, someone tells me to sell it. This is largely what’s caused a writing hierarchy to evolve. Shared work is more valuable than private work, and monetized work is more valuable than shared work.

This isn’t a critique of individuals. This world is increasingly hard to live in, and people have to get by somehow. I myself monetize my writing when I can. Making money is not the issue. (But if you’re trying to make money, a book is probably not the way to do it.) The issue is when we start to dread what we once loved and constantly pressure ourselves to create more, new, better.

For a lot of people, writing can just be writing. You don’t actually have to write a book for your work to be fulfilling. You can write fanfiction and post it anonymously on Archive of Our Own, if you want. It still counts. You are still a writer.

If you want to write a book, please do. The world needs more creativity. We need new voices and new stories. I work with writers for a living, and I would never ever read someone’s work and tell them, “You shouldn’t be an author.” There is no gate. If you want to write a book, please trust there is someone who will need it. But ask yourself, “Why a book?” Not out of a desire to change your mind, but out of gentle curiosity. Where are you placing your current work in a hierarchy of possibilities? Where are you looking for your worth?

I might write another book one day. I’m not working on one right now. I am writing. All the time. And my best work are the pieces I wrote with no strong arm over the result.

Whether you write a novel or not, editing is for all forms of writing. It can help improve your confidence, self-efficacy, and teach you new skills. Check out Sigmon Editorial for affordable, personalized self-publishing support 📖🪶

What Type of Editing Do I Need?: For New (Overwhelmed) Independent Authors

If familiarizing yourself with types of editing is the first step in the editing process, knowing what type is right for your manuscript is the next. In case you missed it, here is the first article in this series, focusing on types of editing.

Self-Editing

When deciding what type of editing you need first, begin by flipping through your manuscript. Do you see lots of typos or confusing phrases at a glance? Maybe you wrote parts using speech-to-text, or have a tendency to forget quotation marks or paragraph indents. If this is you, your first step is to reread your own work to correct your spelling, phrasing, and formatting. Don’t worry about every intricacy, just make the text readable. Your editor(s) will have a difficult time assessing your story if they can’t focus on the words!

Alpha Reader

After yourself, your alpha readers are your first audience, the ones who will tell you whether your story is generally enjoyable, what genre they think it fits in, and if character arcs are believable. Think of this as story validation. You probably have an alpha reader, even if you don’t know it. If a fellow writer reads your manuscript before you send it off to an editor, or you send snippets to your partner, or your writing group helps you brainstorm to fix plot holes, that’s alpha reading. All manuscripts need alpha readers, whether formal or not, for the simple reason that writing is meant to be read. Without a fresh set of eyes, you can’t really know whether your idea is working or if it needs some work.

Manuscript Evaluation

A manuscript evaluation, story critique, manuscript assessment, or editorial assessment is a multi-page report on the reading experience and major story elements with specific advice and ideas. Where an alpha read might give you feedback like “The main character seemed flat, maybe their personality could be expressed more,” an evaluation might say, “To flesh out the main character, consider the characteristics they already have and how that might work in another environment. We know they’re kind, so maybe in X or Y scene, we see that kindness manifest as naivety.” If you’ve written a narrative, it’s usually a good idea to get an assessment. Because they don’t include in-line changes, you maintain a lot of control over the line-by-line verbiage while still refining your story, which can be a great warm-up to getting to know your characters and world.

Beta Readers

When you have your second draft, it’s time for beta readers. All manuscripts should go through beta readers to ensure a high quality reading experience for an average person. While your editor will make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s later, beta readers will tell you how someone not necessarily professionally trained interprets your work. Beta readers range in the depth of their feedback. They might say things like “I found the main character boring,” or “I couldn’t keep track of who was who,” or “Why is he helping the president again, wasn’t he in cahoots with Goldenface?” Some will leave it there, while others will write a whole manuscript evaluation. It’s always worth finding out what level of feedback you can expect, especially if you’re on a tight budget or timeline.

Developmental Edit

After you’ve gotten feedback from your beta readers, examine the common denominators. Did multiple people tell you the story moves too slowly? Did a few suggest big changes? Was there an overall consensus of confusion? And are these changes too big or too complex to reasonably make on your own? If so, you need a developmental edit. A developmental editor will make in-document changes for scene-level edits, and will also write a chapter-by-chapter report to make sure every part of the story is doing its job. After you receive feedback from your editor, your manuscript is back in your hands to make these important, big-scale changes. It may take multiple passes between you and your editor to have a manuscript you’re pleased with, and that’s okay.

Line Edit

Once you have a story that’s solid, it’s time for a line edit. It’s important not to jump the gun—don’t invest in a line edit until you’re happy with the story and not planning any more beta reads or developmental passes. Unless funds are really, really, really tight, you need a line edit. Where previous editing stages have made sure the story is engaging, line editing makes sure the writing itself is engaging. The story could be incredible, but if it's not fun to read, your audience will never find out.

Copy Edit

Copy editing is more technical than line editing, and looks to perfect your language and consistency. Making sure your manuscript uses either “toward” or “towards” the whole way through ensures your final product looks professional and worth a reader’s time. Some editors do copy/line editing in the same pass, which might be cheaper and faster than getting them done separately.

Proofreading

Proofreading is your final step, and all manuscripts need proofed. This makes sure that your work appears professional and adheres to standard language. These are the really pedantic changes, the ones that might have slipped through the cracks thus far, and they make all the difference in your readers' perception of you as an author.

To recap-

First, give yourself a read through to make sure the manuscript isn’t especially messy or hard to read.

An alpha reader is just someone who reads your first draft and validates that A) you’re telling the story you meant to tell, and B) it’s a story worth reading. You're ready for this when your first draft is clean.

An assessment or evaluation is very important, especially for long stories or stories that will be told in multiple installments. You're ready for this when you're confident you have the skeleton built.

Beta readers are essential, and you might get this done at the same time as the assessment. You're ready for this when you're on a second draft using others' feedback.

If your betas think your manuscript is confusing, you need a developmental edit.

A copy and line edit should be prioritized if at all possible. You're ready for this when you're done making story changes.

Proofreading is essential. You're ready for this when all other editing is done.

In the coming articles, we’ll be addressing more of the most frequently asked editing questions from new (overwhelmed) independent authors.

Where do I get alpha/beta readers?

How do I find an editor anyway?

I’m scared for people to read my work.

I can’t afford any of this!

~Allison of Sigmon Editorial

From idea to ISBN, Sigmon Editorial's got your back.

Types of Editing: For New (Overwhelmed) Independent Authors

Congratulations! Your hard work has resulted in a manuscript, and you’re ready to share it with the world. You probably fall into one of two camps right now.

You’re so excited that you’re done, and you’re ready to hit submit! You’ve been writing and researching for months, or even years, and you’re confident in your work. You give yourself five stars, and you can’t wait to see everyone you know agree.

You’re stressed that you’re done with the initial manuscript, because what do you do now? You’ve heard big words like “queries” and “copyrights,” and you’re pretty sure you’re supposed to hire an editor. You almost wish you were still writing; at least you know how to do that.

Either way, take a breath and celebrate your hard work so far. This is a huge accomplishment! There are lots of steps to go, but they’re not as difficult as you may be fearing. Second things second (the first was celebrating)—getting the necessary information so your upcoming decisions are informed.

You might associate the word “editing” with the phrase “kill your darlings,” or maybe you dread the price tag on a professional edit. You’re not alone. Many writers balk at editing and choose to either edit their work themselves or pay a bare minimum to their cousin’s nephew.

The good news is, editing is not for ripping your writing into pieces against your will, nor is it for draining your wallet. A good editor will cooperate with you to make your manuscript the best it can be while preserving your vision, and there are many ways to make the process more affordable.

There are many stages of editing. After evaluating the types of edits and your current manuscript, you will be better suited to choose what’s right for you.

Self-Editing

Self-editing comes before everything else. For readers to understand your story, some basic housekeeping needs to be done first. At minimum, make sure your spelling is (mostly) correct, you’ve used punctuation (including quotation marks around dialogue), everything is split into paragraphs (you need a new one every time someone new speaks!), and you’re consistently in past or present tense from the same character’s point of view. You’re not trying to cross every T, just making sure the writing is good enough that it doesn’t hinder the story.

Alpha Reader

An alpha reader is not an editor, but someone who reads your story very early in the writing process. They’re your first audience and will give you big-picture feedback on whether the story makes sense, if the characters are believable, and if anything is confusing. This is like story validation—your alpha reader will help you understand whether you’re telling the story you meant to tell and whether readers will enjoy it.

Manuscript Evaluation

Also called story critique, manuscript assessment, and editorial assessment, an evaluation is a multi-page report on major story elements like your plot, pacing, structuring, characters, dialogue, and more. It doesn’t include in-document changes, but is a separate developmental-level document to help you figure out what needs to be changed.

Beta Readers

A beta reader is not an editor, but represents an average reader who will tell you what they think worked and what didn’t. Much like an alpha reader, they’ll give big-picture feedback, but slightly more zoomed in. Where an alpha read assumes the story is going to change significantly, beta reading focuses on plot holes (etc.) that are still large-scale issues but won’t override the whole manuscript.

Developmental Edit

A developmental edit suggests changes in the structure and narrative of a manuscript. Your editor will look for genre conventions, story logic, organization and restructuring, character arcs, and emotional payoff. Changes will be made in-line for scene-level edits, as well as a chapter-by-chapter report that addresses pacing and flow, as well as plot and character development.

Line Edit

After the story is complete and solid, a line editor will help make sure your writing is effective, sharp, and clear. Your editor will work with word choice and syntax, tone, consistency, and reorganize phrases to make your manuscript smoother and more consistent. Where previous stages have made sure the story is engaging, line editing makes sure the writing is engaging.

Copy Edit

Copy editing works to perfect your language technically. In this stage, errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation will be corrected, along with stylistic consistency and tense usage. If you’ve used written numbers in some places and spelled them out in others, your copy editor will fix it.

Proofread

After all other editing, proofreaders focus on technicalities such as sentence fragments, comma splices, typos, and all other word-by-word edits that have thus far slipped through the cracks.

Whew! That seems like a lot, but not every manuscript needs every type of editing, and many editors offer multiple services in a single package. For example, copy and line editing are commonly done in the same pass. In the coming articles, we’ll be addressing some of the most frequently asked editing questions from new (overwhelmed) independent authors.

How do I know what type of editing I need?

Where do I get beta readers?

How do I find an editor anyway?

I’m scared for people to read my work.

I can’t afford any of this!

~Allison of Sigmon Editorial

From idea to ISBN, Sigmon Editorial's got your back.

How to Keep Writing After the New Year's Glow Wears Off

Tianna Mignogna

If your New Year’s resolution is to write consistently, you’ll need to avoid the easy trap that is losing steam after the New Year’s glow wears off. Sometimes you don’t notice you’re in a slump until you’re already there. Below are some tips to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Firstly, remind yourself that writing is a long game. Pacing is essential. You won’t get to perfection—or even a good draft—overnight, and you won’t knock out a polished novel in a month. Good stories take time; inspiration doesn’t come all at once. Setting attainable goals helps writing feel sustainable. If you set a daily minimum word count lower than what you think you may reach, you could meet your goal more easily and develop a sense of accomplishment. In this way, your output becomes a bonus rather than a burden.

But some initial speed can be a good way to get ahead and stay motivated. While you don’t want to become so focused on hitting a daily word count that you always favor quantity over quality, the habit of getting something on the page is an important first step to building focus and routine. Your time set aside for writing doesn’t always need to be spent knocking out thousands of words, but it can be a helpful way to start building foundational skills and getting everything on the page to then sift through for good bits later.

Writing is a marathon made up of manageable sprints. Especially if you’re coming from an intense challenge like Novella November, you may be familiar with the pitfall of losing steam over time. Writing in short, focused sprints can help you build habits that support consistency, whether you’re sprinting with others or setting a timer for yourself.

Community also matters. Working alongside other writers can help avoid isolation and spark creative ideas. If you don’t already have writer friends, consider spaces for connection such as online forums, Reddit, TikTok, or writers’ groups at bookstores and libraries.

When the story itself feels overwhelming, structure can help. Make an outline, or consider writing the ending first to give yourself a destination when the middle feels impossible. Above all, remember that only you can write this story in the exact way you can. Showing up to the page is an act of belief in your own voice.

Writing is often an isolating practice, but it doesn't have to be. Sigmon Editorial provides friendly, flexible support to independent authors. Message now for the encouragement you deserve.

Book Bans, Then and Now

Tianna Mignogna

Each year, pressure groups and administrators call for more and more book bans. Every fall since 1982, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week has reminded us that censorship is still in full swing. This themed week highlights books that society has deemed inappropriate, usually under the guise of protecting children.

To understand how we got here, we have to wind back the clock. One of the earliest documented accounts of censoring the written word began in 213 B.C.E., when the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, demanded that writings that didn’t serve him be turned in for burning. After two scholars disobeyed him, he buried at least 460 people alive. That was just one punishment for holding onto disagreeable books—others included execution and banishment.

Since then, people have banned scores of books, from King Lear in 1810 due to King George III’s illnesses to whole libraries burned by Nazis in 1930s Germany. These included works from Jewish authors as well as any work considered to be socialist, queer, or in alignment with another supposed immorality.

It’s tempting to think we’ve come a long way. After all, it’s hard to imagine such dire responses today to someone having a book in their possession. But what started as obfuscation of publishing or owning a book has turned into attacks on free, public access to diverse material.

In the late 20th century, governments, council members, and school boards frequently invoked book bans. The difference now is that it’s not as common for detractors to focus on one single book. 40% of calls for banned books in 2022 consisted of lists of over 100 books at a time. This “copycat challenging,” as Lesliediana Jones of the Harvard Law School Library put it, may account for the spike in banned books. From July 2023-July 2024, states and school districts reported over 10,000 instances of book banning, up from 3,362 the previous year.

In 2024, complaints about stories of LGBTQ+ people and people of color made up over half of book bans. This is a worrying reflection of our current culture in which trans people especially do not feel safe. While book bans and legislation restrictions took the place of burying people alive, one could argue that these more subtle ways of silencing minorities are the more insidious kind of censorship—the kind that gets more and more of us on board.

Sigmon Editorial is a proud member of Authors Against Book Bans. Along with 71% of US Americans, Sigmon Editorial opposes any attempt to limit the freedom to read. Sigmon Editorial and AABB stand against ALL books bans, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum. If your name has ever appeared in a book’s credits, consider joining.

An Open Letter From Your Editor

Dear Author,

I wonder if anyone has ever called you an author before, or if you think of yourself that way. I do. I refer to all of my clients as “my authors,” and I hope to one day have shelves with all of your books.

That would be a lot of books, of varying quality, because many of you are not good writers. Yet. I don’t say that to discourage you. On the contrary, I greatly admire you. Most people say they want to write a book, and a fraction of those do, and a fraction of those hire professional support, and a fraction of those actually publish.

I deeply respect your drive and am honored to be a part of your creative process, even when the manuscript is not fully baked. In truth, many of my favorite stories you’ve written are the ones full of both heart and grammatical errors. Commas can be fixed, but I can’t breathe soul into the pages for you. That’s your job, and that’s what you shine at.

The writing skills will come with time and practice, and I will read your third book and leave a comment in the margins to say, “This is the best chapter you’ve ever written! You have absolutely nailed the pacing and the tension, the dialogue sounds natural, and I only found one comma splice.”

That’s my favorite part of our working relationship. Over time, you learn to make your prose dance across the page. The clunkiness softens and your vocabulary grows. Your stories mature, growing deeper and more immersive. I make fewer technical edits in your second book, and the third one is nearly all stylistic suggestions. I learn your voice, and you learn mine.

Dear author, I know you are intimately familiar with your stories. I know you’ve spent months or years crafting your work before I ever enter the picture. Thank you for stepping back and trusting that I will care for your words, that I will see the sweat you’ve poured into the action and the tears you’ve leaked into your characters. Your vulnerability is not lost on me.

I, too, spend hours pouring over your manuscript, caring for the details and evaluating your characters. Sometimes these things run away from us. When they take on a life of their own, sometimes it takes us both to wrangle them back into the story or to broaden the story to encompass all of them. I am honored to craft worlds with you.

Sometimes you make me slam my head into the wall when you keep switching POVs or tenses, or use the words “highlights” and “underscores” six times each on every page (we both know you used ChatGPT, cut that out).

But nonetheless, I am grateful for your willingness to grow as a writer and take my thoughts into consideration. Practice and feedback are how we improve, and watching you grow is why I love my job. Even when you ignore my notes and make the same mistakes over and over, I respect your vision. I’m always on your team, rooting for you to create something fulfilling and create change in the world. Although I do wish you’d brush up on homonyms.

Thank you for your stories. The world needs more people who fearlessly (or perhaps fearfully but courageously) share what they can’t help but create in their minds. Thank you for taking the time, effort, and care to explore the worlds you dream up, and thank you for letting me rip them up and glue them back together. We make a great team.

~ Your Editor, Allison, of Sigmon Editorial

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