Just wrote a note for a romance author that the two romantic leads need "to kiss earlier and more often, and probably engage in the horizontal polka." At least no one will ever accuse me of editing with ChatGPT. A.I. *wishes* its sense of humor was as bad as mine.

The best manuscripts I edit are the ones where the main character has a clear want, strength, and weakness. Then the plot is geared toward exploiting that specific weakness, neutralizing that specific strength, and blocking that specific want with worst-case-scenario antagonistic forces.

My office today:

Tip for world-building to avoid info-dumps: Imagine your reader has been dropped into your world with no warning, no notes, no maps... nothing. How would they learn about this world, its landscapes, its magic, its laws, etc? By observing, living, making mistakes, and learning. (1/2, cont'd)

Get yourself a copy editor like Joel who fixes ALL your mistakes and makes your sentences flow without changing your voice… and also cheers for zombie rules by chopping heads 😂 (I think there is a Sir Gawain reference somewhere in that 👀) @joelbrigham.bsky.social

Also huge thanks to Joel Brigham (@joelbrigham.bsky.social), whose newsletter alerted me to the existence of this contest! Yay, @reviseresub.bsky.social!

Query re-writes are hard, but I'm thankful for @joelbrigham.bsky.social's keen eye on my query package to identify why it's not working in the trenches! If you're only getting form rejections, consider booking a critique with him. He'll find the problems & give you tools to fix them. #amquerying

I was hoping you'd see the shout-out!!!

Been a busy, busy month. But the latest newsletter is live: open.substack.com/pub/brighame...

Clearly @rebeccawilcox.bsky.social is a talent unmatched in our day and time. Look at this adorable artwork!

Here's a little hack for your opening pages: make the first physical description of your main character anything other eye color, hair color, skin tone, height, weight, or clothing. "What's left?" you're asking. That's up to you, but you can bet it'll be unique.

From the logline, I knew this was going to be one I would love. The book lived up to expectations, and plenty of potential yet to tap into. Can't wait to work with Kirra!

Well, since #RevPit winners have to be submitted to the board by tomorrow, I figure now is as good a time as any to run another #10Queries. If you were mentioned in this one OR my first batch a few weeks ago, I'll send an email after the winners are announced! Alright. Let's party, Dear Revelers:

Closing in on my #RevPit winner. It's down to two manuscripts but I'm leaning more and more heavily toward one...

Hey Revelers! Been a busy week, but here's a #RevPitTeaser for ya: I'm down to four books under consideration. Oddly, two are the exact same age group and genre, and the other two are also the exact same age group and genre. I'll narrow it down further this weekend. I'm closing in!

Just bought a ticket for Chicago. I've wanted to meet Chris for years. "Lamb" changed my life!!!

Welcome back, authors, for my third and final #RevPit #10Queries All good things must come to an end. Like my PTO, which ends today, so my holiday of hanging out with my submissions is over. We’re going out with a bang. Other editors have different schedules and may be coming up soon – patience!

Well, Revelers, I did a LOT of reading and evaluating over the weekend, which means I've narrowed my list even further. About 12% of my submissions are still under consideration (down from 29% my last go-round), but I'll be down to 5-7% in the next day or two. Exciting! And nerve-wracking!

✨ Find your people ✨ 👉 RevPit feed bsky.app/profile/jeni... 👉 2025 RevPit Editors bsky.app/profile/jeni... 👉 2025 participating authors bsky.app/profile/jeni... lmk if you need to be added to the list

#RevPit update ✨ Editors - reading submissions! ✨ Editor updates on #10Queries + #RevPitTeaser / #RevPitTeasers ✨ #RevPitWaiting games @reviseresub.bsky.social + @ambucsaru.bsky.social

my Pie Chart Colleagues are absolutely killin' it with these visuals!

#RevPitWaiting day 15! With #revpit 10queries starting to pop up, this is a great chance to give a shoutout to someone who helped you with your QP or MS! Did anyone post their query on r/pubtips? Do you have any great beta readers or critique partners? Resources to share?

For those of you who missed my #RevPit #10queries session yesterday:

I just finished my second round of #RevPit submission read-throughs, and I think this is a good time for a good, old-fashioned #10queries, where I provide general (anonymous) feedback about ten random submission packages. "Q" = query, and "P" = pages. See if you can find yourself in these!

Beloved Revelers, I'm noticing this strange trend in my submissions where authors seem to be collecting comps like Pokémon. I read one this morning with FIVE (5) comp titles. The very next one I read had four! Aim for two. At least one should be a book. More tips for choosing comp titles below:

I would never have gotten my agent or book deal without @joelbrigham.bsky.social and @reviseresub.bsky.social. Joel’s revisions were so succinct and on-point, whoever he chooses this year as his #RevPit winner is a lucky writer!

One year ago, I chose @azchengwrites.bsky.social as my RevPit winner. Today, she's got a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster. My heart beams. Congrats, Angelica!!!

I love that my "Query Red Flags" post is making the rounds, but don't forget to consider the "Query GREEN Flags," too! bsky.app/profile/joel...

In thinking a little more about some of the reasons I might've passed on a #RevPit submission, I remember that I did a whole dang thread of pretty much this exact thing:

I might, but my focus is going to be on the writer I select. Definitely not marking the "ready to publish" manuscripts with an eye toward informing those people.

Yesterday, I explained that I would move through #RevPit submissions like a beachcomber in search of only the prettiest of shells. I went through all of my submissions yesterday. All of 'em. (I work fast), and here's where we are:

I didn't see the email until this morning, but rest a-damn-sured I spent my entire day going through every single one of my #RevPit submissions.

I can tell a lot! 1. Does the writer have a general sense of story beats? 2. Is this a pantsed or a plotted manuscript (yes, I can usually tell!)? 3. Are things happening TO the character, or is the character making things happen? 4. Is there momentum? Do the stakes raise? (And so on...)

This is my 3rd year doing #RevPit (I was a PitchWars mentor before that). I do these contests for many reasons, but one of the most notable is that they help me get a feel for the agent experience when they sit down to root through queries. I can judge my attention span vs. agents' attention spans.

I spent 15 years building a community of writers on Twitter, and I'm struggling with having left that behind for larger, ideological reasons. I'm struggling to find the heart to start over after putting all that time, love, and energy into people who didn't all follow me here. (1/2)

Yesterday, Captain America* and I answered all your #RevPit questions. Did you miss it? Everything's loaded into the thread below. Go catch up! *Captain America did not actually endorse this thread. I lied to get your attention.

My past two winners have had: 1.) A unique concept 2.) Believable, relatable writing voices that made me fall in love with the character right away I can't change your concept. I can't teach voice. Everything else we can fix!

As with all things: can be effective in moderation, but there's really no general advice for this. Depends entirely on what, when, where, and how!

Depends if it's pantsed or plotted. Pantsed manuscripts are going to need cutting, shifting, and rewriting. Putting that puzzle together is fun, but challenging. Plotted manuscripts often need more work on character. The plot's in great shape! The characters need some juice.

It's time, ladies and gentlemen! Give me all your questions, and I'll quote-tweet answers in the thread below!

This is me! I'm battling a wicked cold, but eager to chat with you all about book stuff!

Today! More #AskEditor sessions to help pass #RevPitWaiting and answer your burning questions 👇🏻 #RevPit @joelbrigham.bsky.social @hannaneier.bsky.social @fromcarly.bsky.social @meganrecords.bsky.social

Good morning, dear Revelers! I'm the first #AskEditor session this morning (at 11:00 a.m. EST) for #RevPit, so please drop any questions you've got about writing, revising, querying, etc. (Note: This is not a thread to ask what I'm interested in for RevPit. General writer stuff only, please!)

What's the most uplifting novel you've ever read? I could use a shot of inspiration. (Looking for FICTION, gang!)

We are in the final hours before #RevPit2025 submissions close Don't miss your chance to win a free 8-week #DevelopmentalEdit for your #genre #fiction #manuscripts with one of our amazing #editors Enter your #MG #YA and #Adult #stories now reviseresub.com/annual-conte... #Writers #Authors

Last few hours! Submit, submit, submit!

Gang, we are LITERALLY giving away free developmental edits over here. It costs zero dollars to apply!

I forgot that in my first year of #RevPit I called the esteemed group of authors who submitted to me #TeamLittleMonsters, and I honestly don't remember why. But I apparently made a logo for it, which is very on-brand for me.

Rumor has it #RevPit is barely hanging on emotionally without you.

Waiting for #RevPit stuff is brutal. Let's play a game. If you could hire one music artist or band to make the soundtrack for your manuscript, who would it be?