I’m getting excited, y’all! Since my last update, I not only finished the first round of edits for my next intended release, On the Flip Side, but have also started the next round. More to come on that in a second!

If you would like to recap on the previous Editing Diaries entries for On the Flip Side, you can read them here:

• Editing Diaries: On the Flip Side (Episode 1)
• Editing Diaries: On the Flip Side (Episode 2)

August 2025: Finishing Up the First Round’s Edits

In the last episode of Editing Diaries, I mentioned that my intention for the first round of edits was to be as brutal as possible, and now that I’m on the other side of that editing round, I can confirm it was brutal. XD

According to my planner, I started implementing edits for this round on July 19th and didn’t finish them until August 23rd! Now, this didn’t involve me editing continuously every day or anything like that. It actually took 4 days total, with each session lasting a few hours. The “brutal” part mostly involved making sure the quotation marks were all curved rather than straight, which happened because I was writing in a couple different word processing programs when drafting the book. Other than that, like with every first draft, there were a lot of typos, instances of missed punctuation, and places that needed stronger wording. As I mentioned in the last episode, I also wrote a new scene to add clarity for the B-story and the character that becomes part of the story then.

September 2025: The 3rd Read-Through and Second Round of Edits

I had originally planned to do the third read-through in October, but this past Saturday I had some free time and started listening to Word read On the Flip Side to me, editing along the way. I stopped after the first 10 chapters (17% through) to work on my Secret Project and didn’t find a lot that needed fixing other than some small, pesky things that were overlooked during the first round of edits.

I liked having a small goal of getting through 10 chapters (I only say small because the chapters are just a few pages each), so hopefully I can stick to it for future sessions. At this rate, I’m thinking it’ll take me 5 more sessions to get through, if time permits, being there are around 60 chapters total.

Am I sick of this book after diving back into editing so soon? Surprisingly, no! I’m still loving spending time with Kennedy and Katie and strengthening their story. Looking back on editing The Dream, I think the reason why I got so burnt out on editing was because my laptop was close to 8 years old and kept freezing when I used Word. Well, that, and I’m no longer editing the third book in a trilogy, so there’s no need to worry if I’ve forgotten to correct something that’s inconsistent with previous books. Thoughts like that literally kept me up at night this time last year. 😛

My hope is that I’ll get through this round by mid-October, but we’ll see! Check back here at the end of November (Lord willing) to see how the rest of this editing round goes. 🙂

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you’re a writer, what’s your go-to method for editing? If you’re a reader, I have some news just for you. After creating a tentative publishing timeline for On the Flip Side, I’m considering September 2026 for the book’s release! Hopefully, very close to a year from now, the book will finally be in your hands. 😀

Please know that this consideration is subject to change, though. Life can be hectic, and some changes may be on the horizon, so we’ll see what the Lord has planned for On the Flip Side. ❤

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀