Receiving an Edit Letter

What Happens in Traditional Publishing After You Get the Book Deal

Today, I’m going to walk you through my experience (so far) with working through an Edit Letter from my Editor as I prepare my manuscript for publication in Spring 2027.

So, What’s an Edit Letter?

Your Editor makes notes whilst working through your manuscript, mainly developmental notes, on what they’d like to discuss further or see changed in your manuscript. This could be as simple as altering a scene to as complex as removing an entire character or restructuring the plot.

My Experience

As this is my debut novel, this is my first experience receiving an Edit Letter from an Editor in traditional publishing. It was 7 pages long, and here’s how my Editor structured it:

Page 1: Addressing everything she loved about the novel and when she’d like to set the deadline to return edits.

Page 2: Clarifying questions around overarching themes and potential plot holes that may need further explanation/exploration.

Page 3: Areas where there could be more character “activation”, AKA scenes where the main character could actively pursue something more than things just happening to them. The main thing I learned is that every chapter should begin with a goal. So you should be able to say from the start of each scene what is being accomplished; this should help you avoid “filler” scenes that don’t move the plot or characters along.

Page 4-5: Pacing and characterisation. She advised I create character cards for each character and ensure their growth comes out throughout the pages of the novel, specifying areas where the characters’ backstory or group tension could come out more.

Page 6: Notes on the climax and ending of the book, mainly to do with giving some characters more spotlight in the final section, and changing my bittersweet ending to one that’s more of a ‘happy ending’.

Page 7: Miscellaneous notes and extra thoughts to think of throughout.

What I Did with the Notes

So, after receiving the letter, I took a couple of days to reread it and think in general terms about how I wanted to structure the changes. I then printed out the outline of my novel and inserted notes on where these changes would happen, highlighting spots that needed further review.

Throughout, I created a list of questions to ask my Editor, including ideas of how to accomplish certain changes.

This took me a few days over the weekend. When I was done writing out my notes, I emailed them to my Editor prior to our meeting so we could review them together.

In our meeting, we discussed the altered outline, as well as addressing her questions and mine. Then I went away with many, many notes. Now, the big work begins.

Some Advice on Handling Edit Letters

Take a few days to look through your edit letter. It can be overwhelming, especially if it’s your first. Thoughtfully consider how you can implement changes into your novel whilst keeping in mind your overall vision for the book. Edit Letters should be an opening for further conversation with your Editor.

My Timeline

I received my Edit Letter a couple of weeks ago (beginning of October 2025) and met with my Editor last week. I now have a few months to implement these changes and send them back to her. She will then return with further notes and line edits, and we’ll carry on from there!

I’ve been given a deadline of 3.5 months to complete my edits, so whilst I do have other writing projects on the go, I will be setting these aside to focus on my edits.

Published October 13, 2025