What to expect in the first round of edits (trad pub debut author)

Let's talk about how I rewrote half of my book in less than 3 weeks because I'm insane...

If you’re new here, I’m Allie, and I write fantasy books with Ghibli-esque worlds, stabby FMCs, and MMCs who are obsessed with their messy women!

My rivals-to-lovers YA Fantasy debut BLOOD OF SILVER is pitched as Spirited Away meets One Dark Window:

A Vietnamese teen from London is thrust into a magical realm where she must learn to wield a rare magic and uncover dark secrets about her deceased mother’s royal past, while ravenous monsters seek to find their way in and a charming prince might want more than just her heart.

Scheduled for publication in Fall 2026 by Simon & Schuster 🌙🌞

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Two exciting things happened to me in June!

First, BLOOD OF SILVER is now on Goodreads!

Over 270 people have added it in a month, which is both amazing and a little terrifying. What do you mean strangers will be reading my book next year???

The current pub date is set for November but could shift depending on a few factors. Fingers crossed that with the pace I’m making on edits, we won’t be looking at a later date.

The second exciting update: I received my edit letter for the first round of developmental edits.

Developmental edits focus on the big-picture elements of a manuscript. This stage comes before line editing or copyediting and is all about shaping the story, not polishing sentences.

From the R&R that got me the book deal, my editor may have a bit too much faith in my speed. My deadline is July 1st, and I got her letter on June 6th, so that gives me just about three weeks.

The letter was six pages long and covered everything from plot and worldbuilding to characters, the magic system, and relationships. Before that, I’d already sent my editor a document with my thoughts and ideas for this round and she made sure to respond to all of them in her letter.

I’ve been told by my agent and editor that I’m really good at revising and I’m a speedy writer. However, when I first read the whole six pages, I felt extremely overwhelmed. These notes required some major changes, including a new ending.

After crashing out in the Powerpuff Girls group chat with my friends Nicole and Michelle, I decided to message a WhatsApp group I’m in with other 2026 UK debut authors to ask for advice. They were incredibly kind and supportive. They told me to talk to my editor about my ideas before starting the edits, and so my editor and I scheduled a call the following Tuesday, giving me the weekend to brainstorm.

One of the biggest issues I had with the old draft was the 100k word limit we had to stick to in order to go on submission. So some plot points felt rushed, and there wasn’t enough room to fully develop the story and characters. From what I understand, keeping the word count lower when you’re on sub gives potential editors room to request changes that align with their publisher’s vision. And when I signed with McElderry, I no longer had that constraint, which gave me the freedom to do basically what I want (with my editor’s approval of course lol).

Since this is a planned duology, we also reworked the ending to set up the events for book two. I can’t say too much yet, but I will say this: the new ending is the one I always wanted. The previous version had to wrap things up neatly to stand on its own, but this one feels truer to the story.

Another big change I made in this new draft was upping the tension and the pining between Elinh (ship name for Elior and Linh; credit to my friend Mar for coming up with it). If you follow me on social media, you might’ve already seen the message my editor sent about Elior, and I truly cannot wait for you all to fall in love with him like we have. Also I appreciate everyone who’s been spamming my inbox with text posts and memes about Elior 🤭

How I approached these edits

I began by brainstorming ideas for each point my editor raised in the edit letter and noting them down to discuss during our 1-hour call. It was super fun, almost like gossiping with your girl friend about real people and events, not just the fictional world and characters you created in your head. My editor’s enthusiasm reassured me that I was on the right track, making the revision process feel exciting rather than overwhelming.

Right after that, I dove into revisions, though to be honest, I’d already started the moment I received the edit letter. The beginning of the book didn’t require major changes, so I figured I’d get a head start. By the time we had our call, I was already a quarter of the way through the manuscript.

I know some authors track word count changes in a spreadsheet, but I’m honestly too lazy for that. I just edited as I reread, aiming to get through at least three chapters a day.

My book is divided into four parts, so after finishing edits on each one, I did a full read-through and made line edits before moving on to the next section. Once I’d gone through the entire manuscript, I did another full pass in the doc to catch any more errors or inconsistencies.

I like to upload the manuscript to my Kindle and read it from a reader’s perspective. Seeing the book in a different format helps me catch things I might’ve missed on my laptop screen. However, even on a recent reread, I still found a few more things to fix in the next round, so my advice is to step away from the manuscript for a few days if your deadline allows and come back with fresh eyes.

I’m hoping to get notes from my editor this month, and I can’t wait to hear her thoughts! Fingers crossed she loves the changes I’ve made and I won’t have to make too many more before we move to line/copyedits.

Third exciting update: I JUST GOT MY FIRST AUTHOR PAYMENT! It finally feels real—I’m getting paid to write.

Whenever imposter syndrome sneaks in (which happens a lot lately, especially during revisions), I try to remind myself that it took a lot of yeses to get here. I need to trust that I’ve earned this… unless, of course, I’ve somehow managed to trick an entire team of publishing professionals into backing my book.

Anyway, there’s even MORE good news, though I can’t share it just yet. It feels like 80% of traditional publishing is secret-keeping and 20% is actual writing. But the secret will be revealed ✨soon✨ (here we go again).

That’s it for this month’s newsletter. I’ll be back in August (Taylor Swift’s august playing), hopefully with more fun updates. In the meantime, I’m thrilled to introduce you to the BLOOD OF SILVER trio: