Journey to Publish – Developmental Stages

As commissioning editor, it is my duty to oversee books from before they are even in the door right up until they are ready to publish. For the whole duration of that time, I work closely with the author and with the text.

When Holly pitched Dragon Outlaw, working title, to me as a potential first book for Asteria Press to publish, she got lost entirely in the lore and subplots and quirks of it all. From that alone, I knew we had to snap it up. She sent some rough chapters to me. I devoured them. The wait for the full manuscript was excruciating. But the wait is over.

Genre blending

You’re staring at your to be read pile. Maybe the top two are a fantasy and a cosy mystery. Are there a few slow burn romances shoved into the deck? There’s got to be at least one betrayal subplot among the pages. How can you possibly choose?

Well, I don’t have to.

Editing genre-blending fiction is always a challenge. In developmental editing, you’re already balancing the author’s intentions with the reader’s expectations. When genres start to blend, expectations do too.

One of my challenges has been to steep myself in the plot and pick apart which aspects are murder mystery and which are a heroic fantasy. What I want is for each of them to shine without diminishing the other.

World building

The world of Dragon Outlaw is vivid and vast. Every fresh developmental edit of a first book in a series means stepping into a completely new world. A good portion of the developmental edit is peering around the world created within the narrative, searching for the hidden nuances, the quirks of the setting and the characteristics of all the people in each location. With Dragon Outlaw, I have entered a world with political conflict. I get to push that to its limit, to test where it might impact the character’s and their plot. It is also a world with minute and beautiful details sprinkled throughout. I tell you, there’s nothing more thrilling than a spreadsheet tracking the magical and healing properties of foliage in an imagined world.

Characters

Characters are where all the fun is. Developmentally editing relationships can sometimes feel a little like stirring the pot. And that is definitely true here. Editing truly is the claymation of character development.

When I do my own writing, character interactions flow out like amateur marionette artistry. But editing is where we squat down in front of the tableau and make subtle and intentional tweaks. A raised eyebrow here. A sharp intake of breath there. A throwaway comment that we all know the narrating character is going to hold close to them to their grave.

In Dragon Outlaw, there are so many opportunities for this kind of meddling. There is no better an opportunity to build up to the most cutting statement than an argument between lifelong best friends. Creating long, lingering moments between love interests is a pastime for a whole afternoon.

With such a broad yet intimate cast, with so many competing motives, there are endless interactions to coax into shape.

And this is just a snippet of what developmentally editing Dragon Outlaw has been like so far. I’m hard at work and incredibly excited to see the end result when Holly gets all of my notes. And we’re both far too excited for the book to finally be in your hands.