joelbrigham.bsky.social
Developmental Editor, Writing Coach, #RevPit Editor, MG/YA Author, Educator, and Overall Very Friendly Person.
brighameditorial.com
brighameditorial.substack.com
698 posts
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On my favorites, too!
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1/3 I hope this doesn’t sound generic, but definitely focus on putting together the best submission pack you can—a QL that has clear stakes, hooky logline, and as strong of a manuscript as you can (strong ≠perfect—my QL and manuscript both got 100x better with @joelbrigham.bsky.social’s suggestions)
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#RevPit Prep Tips
1 Start with the editor spreadsheet www.reviseresub.com/annual-conte...
2 Carefully read each editor's page too. Do NOT skip this step reviseresub.com/editors
3 Use this checklist reviseresub.com/annual-conte...
4 Check time differences! www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/c...
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Am I interested? Or is the market interested?
Look, steamy time-travel romance will always have its place on bookshelves. The existence of "Outlander" is all the proof you need.
As for why you've hit a querying wall, it could be for any number of reasons. Good concept, though. Don't give up!
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I've been a K-Club member for a couple of years now. It's a fun show!
Had some friends who covered the W back in the day. Love seeing how far the league has come!
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MG romance is a tough sell. I'm not a no but it would need be very tactfully done to succeed.
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You've got some time before submissions open. Cut 5k words. You can do it! I believe in you!
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All in on this. I was a sports journalist for 12 years (covered the NBA), but after seeing how the sausage is made, my two favorite teams are my fantasy football squad and the Savannah Bananas.
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Girl, same. I affectionately refer to him as "Uncle Chris." He doesn't know that, but I like to think he'd be okay with it.
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Looks like that's all the questions for now, so thank you, everyone! I'll check back this evening to respond to any stragglers. In the meantime, my March newsletter went out today. It's free to subscribe!
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Characters with agency. I don't really care what kind of character it is, as long as they're the ones pulling the strings in their own story, for better or worse.
I guess I am kind of a sucker for the unwavering optimist, though.
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I've always been a Leonardo kind of guy, but I like them all. I'm a Comic Con guy and have plans to buy some artwork at C2E2 next month from TMNT comic artists. My collection of action figures is massive and ridiculous, but it brings me joy!
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"Celebrity Crush," by Christy Swift. She's one of my best writer friends in the whole world and I'm so proud of her success on this book. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should!
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Sounds interesting!
My grandmother got me into it when I was a kid. Then in college, I got super into it and was able to trace my lineage back to the Mayflower. Once you get that first hit of historical celebrity, there's no going back.
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Christopher Moore. He's made a career out of writing hilarious things, but he's a smart dude who also really "gets" literature. Also, John Green, who made me want to write YA. His heart, intelligence, and insight are unparalleled. That dude just gets it.
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Don't stress about comps for my sake. I hardly consider them at all. That said, your query SHOULD include them because that's the industry expectation. There are hoops to jump through, so make sure you jump through them!
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I can't imagine taking on a contemporary romance longer than 90k words, so consider that the top end. Ideally, you'd be under 85k.
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1. Efficiency (I like my submissions to be tight and precise)
2. Voice (It's the one thing I can't teach, so I like when authors already have it)
3. Unique Concept (My ADHD prefers things I've never seen before. I'm looking for something unique rather than cozy and familiar genre normality).
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1. I've got plenty of tricks in my bag to help a writer bulk up their manuscript.
2. None at all. Dual-POV is an extremely popular format across tons of genres right now.
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I like settings that either 1.) lend a certain romantic ambiance to the story, or 2.) give me opportunities to see the main character(s) thriving and/or failing in their personal and professional elements.
For tropes, I'm wide open. It's not about what I like; it's about making what YOU like work!
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It certainly COULD float my boat, though I'm not really sure I'd call that an unexpected hybrid. A lot of time travel books are thrillers, and plenty of thrillers include espionage. So while that's not what I'm looking for along THOSE lines, it still sounds like fun!
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Not at all. I mean, a LOT of contemporary romance is dual-POV, but this isn't a disqualifier by any means (for RevPit or the query trenches.)
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That means you cut the stuff you didn't need, though, which is great! I'm guessing what's left is The Scene, which is what matters. Nice work!
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Cutting prologues is something else entirely, and beyond that, I would NEVER come for someone's most beloved chapters. That said, it's my job to help you all assess those chapters. They don't call it killing your darlings for nothin' :)
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So when editors ask writers to consider cutting Chapter 1, we're asking whether it's there because you needed it to write the book, or whether it's there because you think the READER needs it to read the book. Often (or at least sometimes), it's the former, not the latter.
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What the reader NEEDS is to be engaged, and they are engaged through plot and character in the present, not through info-dumps and explanations of the past.
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- We also tend to think that because WE needed that information to get off on the right foot, our readers do, too. But they don't. They're going to get all of it in bits and pieces as the story goes on. (Or at least, they should).
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- Why does this happen? Because when we WRITE that first chapter, we don't know what our book is yet. We have to explore character histories and world-building elements as we write to get our own heads around the project. Usually by Chapter 2, we're ready to roll.
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Here's why CHAPTER ONE might be unnecessary:
- When it's all (or even largely) backstory, stage-setting, or info-dumping, the reader can't settle into the current storyline. They aren't able to stay there long enough without breaking off to explain something. This is bad for flow and engagement.
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While I've read some amazing prologues (recognize that epic fantasy does have genre expectations for slow, exposition-heavy prologues), there are very few that MUST stay as they are. Often, what the author is trying to accomplish in a prologue can be accomplished elsewhere in subtler, defter ways.
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- Enough prologues are unnecessary that an agent sees the word "Prologue" and immediately grows pessimistic over what they're about to read. It can set a negative tone with the gatekeeper, even if your prologue is necessary and awesome!
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- They often serve the purposes of world-building or info-dumping, which is so much clunkier than integrating those things smoothly into the main plotline.