What did the editor think of my book?!?

A long-expected writing update

Apr 19, 2025

Hi fellow travelers!

*Straightens green wizard hat*

We’ve spent the past several weeks exploring far-flung adventures in both real life and books, as well as looking far ahead to the horizons of where we might travel together in the future.

But today, we’re back from the wilds and into more familiar territory because I… *taps leather backpack* have received a long-awaited message.

Before I reveal the contents of that message, though, I’ve got a question for you:

And because one question is never enough (always two there are):

This is my first post in a while that’s NOT a video. Since my writing updates in the past have always been emails only, I figured I’d stick with tradition for now. (It’s hard to teach an old wizard new tricks.)

However, if you want my writing updates to be videos, I’m sure I can use my magic to make that happen.

Thank you guys so much for your votes on past polls, by the way, and for sticking with me over these past couple of months. I promise there won’t always be this much housekeeping in my posts and videos. It’s just that we’re still getting adjusted to the Substack Realm!

Ok.

*Pulls scroll out of backpack*

Time for that writing update.

Why has it been so long since the last writing update?

One reason: I haven’t had any updates to give.

Since last summer, I’ve been working on a teen fantasy adventure novel with the working title of The Henchgirl and the Hero.

But six weeks ago, I sent off my novel to a professional editor. Not an editor with a publishing house—I’m not at that stage yet. But a very high-quality editor that I hired to help me make my book stronger so I’ll be ready to pitch literary agents (hopefully) later this year.

The editor’s name is Lauren Hildebrand, and she was also one of my instructors before I graduated from the Author Conservatory.

I’m planning to feature her book, The Weeping Knight, in an upcoming video. But you can go ahead and check it out for yourself on Amazon now!

Well, professional edits of this variety always take several weeks. So, after sending my book off to Lauren, I waited.

And waited.

*Cue montage of Jandalf the Green wandering around in a field, staring at the ceiling, banging her head on her desk, and stretching her arms out in the wind, all with a soundtrack of moody music*

I know five weeks isn’t really that long, but it sure felt like forever! Jandalf only has about 3.5 weeks’ worth of patience in her!

To be clear, though, I didn’t spend all this time doing nothing. Actually, it was a very productive and exciting month and you’ll see the fruits of that waiting emerge in due time.

Still, it was like sending my child in for a check-up and having to wait five weeks to find out if she had a serious disease or not.

Then, as waiting always does, the wait ended.

What did the editor say???

*Unfurls scroll*

Now, I’m not going to share the whole fourteen-page edit letter with you here. That would utterly violate Jandalf’s Principles of Wizardly Mystery.

But I CAN tell you that, when I finished reading the edit letter, I felt extremely encouraged and excited.

Lauren did a great job of pointing out areas for growth while also highlighting areas where the story is already working well.

I certainly have my work cut out for me to get this story ready to pitch to literary agents by September like I’ve been hoping to do. And I’m holding that goal loosely because I don’t want to rush the story.

However, this is by far the most positive professional assessment of a draft I’ve ever received.

I was prepared to be told I needed to change huge pieces of the story.

Instead, it’s more a matter of just cultivating and maturing what’s already present.

And the main pieces I need to work on are the pieces that barely feel like work for me at all. Over the coming months, I’ll be making the story funner and funnier and fantastical-er.

There are some quotes from the edit letter that are so good I couldn’t resist sharing them with you, and Lauren gave me permission to do so.

WITH the disclaimer, however, that these quotes don’t represent either endorsement or criticism of the book—just an evaluation of where the book currently stands and how well it achieves my vision. Let’s all be respectful of Lauren’s words and only take them as intended!

I love how she described the story as a

classic “good vs. evil” quest story with bold colors, a strong dose of humor, and a willingness to make fun of the tropes while honoring them[.]

That pretty much sums it up!

She also has a great description of the worldbuilding:

There are plenty of expected elements forming the base world with evil usurpers, creepy castles, and disturbing monsters over here, rolling fields, peaceful villages, and bold knights over there, and beyond it all stories of great and majestic mythical beings. The exaggerated elements create plenty of vivid imagery and space for humor, and there’s a unique and memorable worldbuilding piece in the way every mythical creature appears to be some form of lion. [emphasis mine]

My favorite quote of the letter is a fantastic thought on the story’s themes and moral questions:

But if there is a greater good behind the heroes—a good who chooses to work with and through them, but is neither damaged nor changed when they fall—then we have hope. This is why we can believe in heroes, not because they themselves are flawless, but because what they represent is. When our heroes align with the perfect, we celebrate and healing comes. When our heroes fail us, we mourn and there is a deeper wounding and brokenness caused because what should have been a messenger of light instead brought darkness. But the light itself has not failed us—only its representative. [emphasis mine again]

And lastly, an incredible encouragement:

The world needs more projects like this, filled with laughter, joy and hope. [emphasis still mine]

That’s definitely a thought I’m going to keep with me throughout the rest of this editing process.

So, if you couldn’t tell by now, editors are not as scary as they sound. A good editor is a kind collaborator who loves your artistic vision and is rooting for you to succeed.

Now, obviously, I’m quoting the positive parts rather than the negative parts. And that’s because, by the time you read this novel, hopefully all those negative parts will be taken care of and you’ll never have to know they existed. ;)

But, again, even the sections detailing the book’s weaknesses left me feeling motivated rather than crushed.

What now?

Editing.

And, I dunno, maybe some more editing?

I’ve already started using Lauren’s feedback to make a plan for my next editing pass.

Once I finish that pass, the next big step will be to send my book to my critique partners!

And sometime within the next few months, who knows? Maybe I’ll need some fearless readers to accept the quest of reading The Henchgirl and the Hero and letting me know what they think?

It should be an adventurous summer! I’ll keep you posted!

(I just realized that’s kind of a pun, cause I’ll keep you posted, but it’ll be through Substack posts…ok, ok, I’m done.)