Joel Brigham (Brigham Editorial)
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joelbrigham.bsky.social
Joel Brigham (Brigham Editorial)
@joelbrigham.bsky.social
1.2K followers 400 following 860 posts
Developmental Editor, Writing Coach, #RevPit Editor, MG/YA Author, Educator, and Overall Very Friendly Person. brighameditorial.com brighameditorial.substack.com
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If you hire Brigham Editorial, you'll get the following:

1. Detailed, actionable feedback that meets you exactly where you are as a writer.
2. Positivity and pep talks.
3. Fast communication and quick turnarounds.

Need an editor? Why not me? :)

brighameditorial.com/contact
Laszlo Krasznahorkai has won the 2025 Nobel Prize for Literature for his novel, "Herscht 07769." It's a book about a graffiti cleaner in Germany who writes letters to Chancellor Angela Merkel to alert her to the world’s impending destruction.

It features ONE period in 400 pages.
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.
Info-dumps are cheat sheets. They are notes and maps and guidebooks. Don't make it so easy on your reader! Make them LIVE in the world to figure it out!

"But they'll be confused!"

Yup. And they'll keep reading to get un-confused. Use disorientation and discovery to your advantage!

(2/2)
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)
Reposted by Joel Brigham (Brigham Editorial)
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
a man with a tree face and a beard is holding a large axe
Alt: a man with a tree face and a beard is holding a large axe from The Green Knight
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Joel Brigham (Brigham Editorial)
Also huge thanks to Joel Brigham (@joelbrigham.bsky.social), whose newsletter alerted me to the existence of this contest!

Yay, @reviseresub.bsky.social!
Reposted by Joel Brigham (Brigham Editorial)
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
Being a delight is literally my only goal in life. Appreciate the boost!
I was hoping you'd see the shout-out!!!
I worked with the insanely rad @joelbrigham.bsky.social on a few rounds of dev edits that reshaped and shined up THE KEEPERS before its eventual acceptance with @quillsandcosmos.bsky.social and the shoutout in today's Brigham Editorial newsletter has me 🥹🥹😭😭😭

#WriterSky
Clearly @rebeccawilcox.bsky.social is a talent unmatched in our day and time. Look at this adorable artwork!
Hi Campers!
A huge shoutout to the talented Rebecca @rebeccawilcox.bsky.social , who keeps #CampRevPit looking extra adorable! We're totally smitten with this year's charming bug buddies—aren't they the sweetest? Let's all give a big thank-you to Rebecca for sharing her beautiful art with us!
And may your pondering be fruitful!
It would not surprise me in the slightest!
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.
Yes! I'm doing that email before the weekend!
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!
Editor Joel Brigham @joelbrigham.bsky.social will work with Kirra Joan Herter on FELICITY PURN BECOMES THE FALL (MG Fantasy) #RevPit
That's it for this batch, gang. You are all so talented and so creative, and I'm honored to have been chosen to consider your books!

If you're looking for my first batch of #10Queries, you can find them here:
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!
P10 – This is a romcom, not a contemporary romance. It’s too funny not to be. I do worry that these opening pages are too banter-heavy, as the conversation keeps the characters from actually doing anything. Let’s give the MC a tough choice to make, and then let’s see how she reacts!
Q10 Adult Romance – We don’t meet the love interest until about 70% of the way through the pitch, which is way too late. Squash the stage-setting and let’s show the agent why these two will make for good romantic reading right out of the gate.
P9 – The pages are really well done. Playful, tense, engaging prose and immediate clarity that this is an author who knows how to dance with words. This is basically a novella, though, which just isn’t my jam. Objectively very good, but will be tough to sell.
Q9 Adult Fantasy – There’s no easy way to say this: your word count is going to hold you back with this manuscript. I’m used to seeing fantasy go way, way beyond reasonable debut author word counts, but going way, way under is less common. This is going to need some bulking up!
P8 – The author is talented, and the pages are clean, though the portion I read felt a little devoid of emotional color and tone. Its sensory descriptions could use some punching up with more carefully-chosen descriptive words aimed at creating the mood/tone the author intends.
Q8 – Adult Contemporary – Billed as contemporary, the setting of this manuscript is more than old enough to classify as Historical, instead. Also, your word count is way, way too high. Big books are expensive to edit, print, and ship, and publishers tend not to take big financial risks on debuts.