Raiders of the Lost ARC

See that?  That's me, with my ARC of Populazzi, All the dog-eared pages are the ones on which I found changes.  I don't know if you can tell, but there are very few pages that are not dog-eared.

And those are just my changes — my Fabulous Editor Extraordinaire, Samantha McFerrin, had changes too.

This, then, is a fascinating part of the process for an author… because the ARCs are out there.  People are reading them.  Lots of people — bloggers and reviewers whose opinions I respect very much.  They're reading the ARCs, and for many of them, the ARC will be their only journey through this book… and it's an imperfect journey.

Granted, it's not like most of the changes Sam and I made are cataclysmic.  Here's an example of a change I made:

p. 13, line 25, please REPLACE "insecure" with "self-conscious."  More accurate.

I take nothing away from the brilliance of my early readers when I say that this is a change they most likely wouldn't even notice.  The vast majority of the changes in this pass are similar to that — little tweaks for clarity, or to avoid word repetition.  If I were making notes on this paragraph, for example, I'd tweak it to avoid saying "change" two times so close to one another.

Still, those little tweaks matter.  They make a difference.  And in about two or three places, the changes kick up a notch, rewording a page-or-two-long segment.  Even then, it's not like the story changes — not even every word changes — but the tone and texture change in what to me is a very profound way.

That, of course, is the key.  "To me" every change is profound, and the version of the book that comes out in August will be significantly better than the ARC.  Yet while it's certainly true that the hardcover book will be more fine-tuned than the ARC… I'm not positive that any readers who did read both would actually recognize the changes when they saw them.

Or maybe they would.

Big picture, I can't stress about that.  I can't magically make all the new tweaks appear in the ARC.  People are going to read the book in its imperfect state.  That's okay.

One great thing about making all those ARC changes was getting to read the book again, start to finish… and it made me really, really happy.  Yes, the version that comes out in August will be even better, but the ARC is still a strong representative, and I'm excited it's out there.

So here's a question for you.  Writers, have you had this experience?  Have you sent out the ARC feeling like it's all but a finished product… then combed through and found all kinds of things to change?

As for bloggers and other ARC-readers, do you ever read the finished book of an ARC you've read?  When you do, do you notice the changes between the two drafts?

Happy Holidays, everyone!