The Feedback Reality Check Guide
Time Estimates for Integrating 7 Common Pieces of Feedback

Download my free Feedback Reality Check Guide to estimate how much work the most common sweeping-sounding feedback actually requires (probably less than you think).

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You'll get the link to the spreadsheet with the most common pieces of feedback that feel BIG...but are actually easier to implement than you think. It'll give you peace of mind, I promise.

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Mary Adkins

Novelist + Founder of The Book Incubator

Mary Adkins is the author of the novels When You Read This (an Indie Next Pick and “Best Book of 2019” by Good Housekeeping), Privilege (a Today.com “Best Summer Read”), and Palm Beach (a New York Post “Best Book of 2021” and described by the Associated Press as “like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable”). Her memoir, You Might Feel a Little Pressure, was published in March 2025 by Third Rail Press.

In 2021, after years of navigating the world of novel-writing and publishing through random classes and trial-and-error, Mary founded The Book Incubator™, an MFA-alternative program that has helped hundreds of writers finish their books in just 12 months (with a 90% completion rate!) and continues to support them through publication—forever.

About the Guide

We all know the moment when someone gives you feedback like:

"I didn't relate to this character."
"I don't know what this book is about."
"You need to increase the stakes."

Suddenly you're convinced you need to spend the next three months doing a massive rewrite, but will it even be good then?! Because clearly you have no idea what you're doing! etc. Commence spiraling.

Here's the truth: addressing most "big" feedback—the kind that comes in the form of generalizations—often involves way less work than you think. Sometimes it's one paragraph. Or even one good sentence.

In this free guide, Mary breaks down 7 common pieces of feedback that feel overwhelming and offers an estimated time commitment for each one to recalibrate your expectations of horror.

Inside the guide, you'll find:

• 7 common pieces of "feels big" feedback (with translations of what they actually mean)

• Estimated time commitments (low end and high end) for addressing each type of feedback

• What the work actually looks like (so you know if you're adding a sentence or revising a chapter)

• When feedback really IS a big lift (and when it's not)

This free guide will help you:

Assess feedback without spiraling
Understand what's really required to fix the issue
Prioritize your revision work
Stop wasting time worrying and start actually fixing things