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Keira Drake's debut young adult novel was already printed in hardcover and set to hit shelves in eight weeks when she decided to completely re-write it.

"The book was essentially gutted," the Utah author told As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner.

"The story was rewritten to tell the story I meant to tell, without the problematic content. I'm very proud of the revision."

Called The Continent, the novel centres around a young cartographer from a wealthy and war-free nation who becomes stranded on a foreign continent where two nations have been at war for 300 years.

As advanced copies started to make their way around, readers began to raise red flags about the story's use of racial stereotypes and tropes.

I sort of realized, oh my goodness, a lot of these criticisms are really valid and we need to address them. - Keira Drake

For example, the protagonist, Vaela, was a fair-skinned girl from a civilized society. But two other factions — described as "savage" and "primitive" — were perceived as reminiscent of Indigenous and Japanese cultures.

The Aven'ei had traditionally Japanese names, took on roles such as ninja, and were described as having "dark almond-shaped eyes that slope gently upward at the outer corners."

The Topi, meanwhile, "were portrayed with reddish skin and war paint and that sort of thing," Drake said. "I hadn't imagined them as Native American, but the description certainly looked that way."

​A year of revising

When the backlash hit, Drake said her first instinct was to push back against it.

"I was initially sort of wanting to defend myself, saying: 'No, no, no — this was not my intention,'" she said.

"As the day went on, I sort of realized, oh my goodness, a lot of these criticism are really valid and we need to address them."

She contacted her publisher, Harlequin Teen, and told them she wanted to revise the book — something unheard of this far into the publishing process. Harlequin agreed.

"I spent a year, you know, digging into the text and changing story elements, deleting scenes, changing things just to make it sort of more its own fantasy world," Drake said.

The Topi became the Xoe, to avoid comparisons with the Hopi Native American tribe. Their skin became snowy white and their hair silvery.

To skirt the "white saviour" trope, Vaela became a member of the Aven'ei, who were also revised to remove Japanese and Asian stereotypes.

A more detailed look at the changes can be found at the Washington Post, which compared the advanced copy to the revised edition.

"The revision was not superficial," Drake said.

"I not only had to reconstruct — culturally and physically — the two cultures on that continent, but to really address some story elements that led to the enactment of these certain tropes."

Sensitivity readers 'incredibly helpful'

She also worked closely with sensitivity readers — people from a wide range of backgrounds who read books and flag potentially problematic or offensive content.

The use of sensitivity readers is an increasingly common phenomenon in literature.

"A lot of people, I think, they hear the word sensitivity reader and they think censorship. For me, the experience was not like that at all," Drake said.

"It was incredibly helpful. We all have a worldview and it's limited."

Writers often reach out to people with subject-matter expertise for advice, she said, and this is no different.

"If you wanted to write something about airplane technology, you would not, if that was not your area of expertise, go ahead and write from your own understanding," she said.

"There's a difference to me between censorship and criticism. And in no way during this process was I censored or told what to write or told to do this or told to do that."

A newly revised version of The Continent hits shelves March 27. (Harlequin Teen)

In fact, she said she's happier with the book now than she ever was before.

But she said she's still facing criticism — both from readers who say she didn't make enough changes, ones who say she caved to a politically correct culture.

"I didn't pull the book for revision in order to just try and please everybody," she said.

"I wanted to change it. I wanted the book to be acceptable and accessible for all readers."

The Continent — the first in a three-part series — hits shelves March 27.

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Sarah Jackson.