🧙‍♂️Interview with Editor of Beware of Chicken, The Best Recs of the Week, Look at this new Lord soar!

Happy Friday, Friends. 🧙‍♂️🍲

This week, we interview Editor Extraordinaire Josiah, give you the best of the week on Royal Road, and take a look and bow to the new Lord of Royal Road. Josiah is the editor of some of the best in the genre, from Beware of Chicken, to Dungeon Lord, and even our good pal Justinwrite2 of Tomebound.

If you’re looking for the best Discord for the genre, join Immersive Ink. 👈🏼 Welcome to Authors, Readers, and anyone else who loves the progression fantasy and litrpg!

WEEKLY RECS (I CALL RISING STARS) | WHAT’S OUT THIS WEEK | INTERVIEW WITH JOSIAH (EDITOR OF BEWARE OF CHICKEN) | A NEW LORD RISES |

Send me a message here. 👀

Weekly Recommendations for August 9th, 2024

What’s out this week and you should pick up on Amazon

Interview with Josiah, Editor of Beware of Chicken, Dungeon Lord, and More

Hello Josiah! Thank you for getting in contact and agreeing to an interview. I’ve messaged tons of authors I’m in contact with and handpicked some of the best questions from them, as well as included some of my own. Within this rapidly growing genre that I love so much, I do believe it could do with more editing cycles. If you’re an author and are interested in one of the best editors for the genre, check out Josiah and team at JD Book Services.

Saga Scribe: I know stories can go sideways in a lot of different ways, but what’s the biggest mistake you see aspiring authors make? If there is no one common mistake, what are some smaller ones that add up to being a problem?

Josiah: In terms of actual story issues, I think the absolute biggest one is forgetfulness. There’s a massive difference between a story where you truly believe the author is intentionally holding off on resolving a plot point, and a story where you genuinely don’t believe the author remembers they even introduced the plot point. Great example of the former is Cradle. How many times do you see a Reddit/Facebook post saying, “How could the Sage of the Endless Sword have died to a bunch of Jades?? Obviously, the author messed up!” And what do all the comments say? “Just keep reading.” Wight is an author who truly does justice to all of the plot points he sets up. If he introduces something, it will have some sort of resolution to it. More authors should aspire to that sort of care in their writing/storytelling. It’s how you truly build trust in your reader.

Saga Scribe: Let’s talk about the style of writers you encounter. How much should a professional Editor edit an Author's style? Do you feel a responsibility to maintain their voice? When you encounter problems, is there a lot of back and forth? Can you go into the process of what that looks like? If major changes are needed, how does the process differ?

Josiah: This is a really tricky balance, but also one I take a lot of pride in. I recently got a comment from an author I did a sample for, that in essence said “I’ve never encountered an editor who hits such a balance between thorough and also respecting my writing voice.” That felt awesome to hear, and I think that’s the real crux of it—how much of an author’s voice to keep is a very fluid concept. Some writers have a very clear voice that also makes it clear they understand the rules of writing/storytelling, and when they break the rules you can tell it’s very intentional for effect. Hugo Huesca is a great example of that. I let that guy get away with a lot, because he’s writing at such a high level that the reader can tell any wonky phrasings or rule-breaking is intentional. On the flip side are authors that lean so heavily into ‘style’ that they forget writing has rules for a reason. I’m not one to be pedantic, but I am one to harp on clarity. If your style gets in the way of you clearly telling your story, then your style needs some looking at. That’s all it comes down to.

In regards to the back and forth, it totally depends on the author’s needs and what we agree on ahead of time. The general way I do things is just a single pass for line editing, or a single pass for developmental editing followed by a single pass for line editing after the author has done their revisions. I’m totally up for answering questions for the author if any of my comments are unclear, but the “back and forth” concept is a bit strange in the current age of self-publishing. To be honest, I would love to be more of a permanent editor on retainer for authors, engaged in a regular back-and-forth process where we both brainstorm and really try to make things perfect. But currently, with such a focus on both putting out books fast and keeping costs low, the industry doesn’t really allow for that. Even doing a separate pass for dev editing and line editing isn’t really feasible, because readers want books out quickly, and authors generally can’t justify the expense. It’s definitely a bummer, because while I think I add a lot to the books I work on, I know I can add even more if it was a longer and more collaborative process with each manuscript.

Saga Scribe: A lot of Authors in this space love writing for writing's sake. But let’s be honest, many of them want to become successful and publish a market fit. If you had to identify a few key elements that make a story popular or exceptional, what would they be? Can success really be distilled down to just those factors? Have any stories' success taken you by surprise?

Josiah: You know, that’s a really tough one, and it’s honestly part of why I’m glad I’m not an author myself. There are some books I’ve worked on where I think, “Damn that’s some of the best stuff I’ve ever read,” and the book doesn’t wind up getting any real traction. And then there’s books I’ve come across that I thought were just average, nothing really special or unique, and they hit rank 200 on Kindle. I think the only two that I really called ahead of time that were going to do great were Dungeon Lord and Beware of Chicken. Those really stood out as something special.

To better answer your questions, I don’t think that success can be boiled down to a specific factor, but if I were to say what I personally think can make a book successful, it would be a unique voice or tone in the storytelling, and real integrity in the writing. Those are such intangible concepts, and it’s tough to define them further, but to me, it’s really apparent if the author is trying to hop on the success train of the genre, or if they truly love what they do in their writing. That’d be the biggest thing I’d want anyone reading this to absorb. Don’t just try to pump out quantity in hopes of hitting success. Take the time to really tell a story and love what you’re doing. Justinwrite2 of Tomebound is a great example of that. The man loves writing, and it really shows.

Saga Scribe: Does the quality of some web novels annoy you? Or is it the fact that so many of them become popular despite their flaws make this genre exciting? What are some unique challenges you face when editing LitRPG or progression fantasy stories? I’d imagine as a professional Editor certain things irk you.

Josiah: That’s a great question. And honestly I have such mixed thoughts on it. On one hand, it definitely does frustrate me that some authors put so much time and care and dedication into their work, polishing it as much as possible before releasing it, yet they don’t have nearly the success of some of the rapid-release popcorn reading that’s out there. Comes off a bit disheartening, since I wish that their care in the writing translated to career success. On the other hand, I think it’s awesome that there are so many writers out there who have made it big off of the serial model. Means that there’s plenty of dollars out there for people who really hit that niche. If you’d said 7-8 years ago that there would be a couple dozen authors legitimately making 6-7 figures off of writing Prog Fantasy/LitRPG, most people would have called BS. Yet now that’s not an exaggeration at all. So in that respect, I think that’s really damn cool. I respect the business decisions of those people for sure. So I think it comes down to: who’s to say what approach is right?

To answer your other question, regarding what some challenges of editing in this genre are, I think the biggest one is just how much some authors care about the speed/cost of publishing, over the quality. I’ve had it happen quite a few times, where an author will contact me looking for editing, get deterred either by my rate or that I book out 6 months in advance, find another editor who can get them in immediately for half the price, then come back a year later when they realize the lower-cost editor didn’t do a good job on the project. Quality costs, and if an editor has openings right away, that generally means that they’re not in demand. Trust me, it sucks when I have to tell an author who’s ready with their book that I can’t get them in until next year. But at least in my opinion, waiting a few months to work with someone who you know is good, rather than someone that you hope will do an okay job, is pretty much always worth it.

Saga Scribe: I want to ask about managing relationships. Often, receiving constructive criticism can be a vulnerable process for an Author. On the one hand, they seek your services and feedback. On the other hand, you have to give notes that may be hurtful or challenge their story and skills. How do you manage this fine line? How can a writer make editing easier on themselves and the editor? Are there some helpful resources you can share that would help out authors that don’t have the budget for an editor (yet)? Is there a grimoire for self-editing?

Josiah: This is definitely a fine line to walk, and one that I’ve been mostly successful at managing throughout my time in the industry. Some authors out there have said that they don’t really trust editors, because the ones they’ve worked with feel like they’re just blowing smoke up the author’s ass and showering the author with praise. I’m… not that type of editor. I definitely err more on the side of, “I’ll correct what’s wrong, not say anything if it works just fine, and only give praise if it’s damn good.” It’s just the sort of teaching that I picked up in undergrad from my primary mentor. If he didn’t say anything, then you knew you were doing fine. If he said “not bad,” then you were doing really darn well. I think in my three years at that school, I got a total of two compliments that weren’t “not bad, man,” and I still remember the exact wording and context of them to this day. All that to say, I try to embody that, only giving real praise when it’s really merited. That doesn’t work for some people, and I totally get it.

Though I’ve been mostly successful with walking that line, but not perfect. There’s one edit I did that stands out to me. It was back in December of 2020, I’d just gotten over having COVID, the world sucked, just a really dark period of life. I did an edit for an author, and while I stand behind the quality of work I did, I was definitely too harsh in the comments I gave. My mental health wasn’t great at the time, so even though the actual revisions I suggested were good, they were obfuscated by me coming down too hard on the author in my comments throughout the document. Definitely one of my bigger regrets as an editor.

So, just to wrap up with the other questions you asked there, I think if I had to give a quick rundown of things an author can do to make things easier for both themselves and their editor in a book, it’d be something like:

Read the book aloud. Not to yourself. Aloud. Like, literally say the words of your entire book aloud.

Do a ctrl-f for common errors (they’re/their/there, lightning/lightening, vice/vise, etc.)

Do a ctrl-f for possible variations on your character names, get it consistent

In your reading-aloud pass, notice some words/phrases that you use a lot. Do a ctrl-f for those as well and make sure you’re not relying on them too heavily

I think those are some of the biggest/simplest things an author can tackle on their own, and it will hugely help whatever editor they wind up sending the book to.

Saga Scribe: You’ve edited some of the most popular works in the LitRPG and Progression Fantasy Genre. Do you see a distinct gap in the market you wish someone would fill? What are some of the ways that you stay updated on trends and preferences in the genres you work within? Is market research as important as some claim, or less important?

Josiah: You know that’s an interesting question, and honestly I’m not sure on that off-hand. I think something like Beware of Chicken did really well because, on top of having damn good characters and writing, it also hit a great niche in the market. Something that’s tough is trying to keep track of what genre is “in” nowadays and what isn’t. Back about two years ago, I remember quite a few people saying that VR/full-immersion LitRPG was out of fashion, and yet now Shadeslinger is one of the biggest books in the market.

I think if I had to pick a gap in the market, it’d be someone trying to hit some of the other genres of games that are out there. Honestly, I’m unsure if RTS LitRPG, or turn-based empire-building LitRPG could be a thing, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to read it if I came across it. I think there’s plenty of game genres out there that haven’t been explored yet, so I’m hoping those will some day become a thing.

In terms of staying updated on trends and preferences, I just do my best to keep reading/listening to the big books that are out there, as well as checking out some of the lesser-known ones that still get some traction. That’s helpful both in terms of seeing what readers are enjoying, but also helpful because then I know if I should call an author out for being overly derivative of a well-known book in the genre. No, you can’t have a snarky, talking weapon that’s with the main character for the entirety of the story. Sorry.

Saga Scribe: What are the important things you look for in books? What does an excellent Editor bring to the table?

Josiah: For the first part of your question, I just want to highlight the difference between a proofread, a line edit, and a dev edit. While I do proofread books that I line edit, I don’t do exclusively proofreading. A lot of times, when people talk about “this book needs editing,” they’re just talking about proofing. A proofread only covers “are the words/sentences what the author meant to write.” That’s it. All you’re doing is addressing typos. “The author used there instead of their,” “there’s a period missing between these sentences,” “the author said flower instead of flour.” That sort of thing.

That sort of editing is boring. It’s important! But boring. Anyone with a very critical eye and a love of reading can do that. What I do the most of is line editing. Line editing is addressing things like, “You just used that sentence construction twice in a row. Vary your constructions so your readers/listeners don’t think you’re overly attached to this lone sentence type,” “You used a participle phrase (-ing word) to show sequential action, but participles are used almost exclusively for concurrent action. Rework the sentence so it’s clear these actions happened in sequence,” “This word choice conveys a different sort of tone/intent than you want here, try something like (this).” Those would be what I address in a line edit, and it’s what pretty much every author needs. I think in all my time editing, I’ve encountered a total of two authors (out of about 450) that genuinely didn’t need a line edit because their writing was clear, varied, unique, and specific. Two. You need a line edit. It’s what will bring the writing from “Yeah it was clean, but honestly kind of boring and clunky” to “Hey that book was really good!”

Finally, we have developmental editing. This is one that can be difficult for authors to justify the price of, but also can do absolute wonders for the storytelling. In a dev edit, I jump into the actual storytelling and plot. Did you establish a plot point two chapters ago and then in this chapter it seems like you completely forgot about it? Did you have a character act in a way that just isn’t consistent with how you’ve established them? Did you show that there were three characters in this scene, but two of them seemed to power off and become actionless automatons unintentionally throughout the scene? A dev edit tackles those issues. In contrast to a line edit, not every author needs a developmental edit. Some authors are really good at hitting story beats and writing a clear, coherent story throughout. However, quite a few authors definitely do need that. What I generally recommend for people is to do a dev edit on your first book, so you can see if storytelling issues are something you need extra focus on or not. After that, you’ll know if you can get away without getting that type of edit, or if it’s something that you  really need.

And just as a final point with this, since you’d asked what I look for in a book. Those are all things I look for in a book as an editor. As a reader, I expect all of these elements to be taken care of, and I will very quickly DNF/refund a book if it seems like the author took shortcuts on it and skipped out on that process. Just a few months back, I was listening to an incredibly popular book in the genre, and the author used the exact same sentence construction 6x in a row. I remember saying aloud at the time, “If they do that one more time in the next sentence, I’m refunding this.” Sure enough, they did.  That’s the sort of thing a line edit should be catching.  There were no “errors” in those sentences, yet the writing just wasn’t polished. So just keep that in mind when you’re putting your books out there. You may have had a proofread and be publishing a book that doesn’t have “mistakes.” That doesn’t mean your writing is good yet. Give the book the true care it needs, or critical assholes like me are either going to refund it, or worse, give a 2- or 3-star review, which could dissuade others from checking it out. 

Saga Scribe: Do you have any questions for me? Any questions you wished I asked? Do you have any last words of advice for writers?

Josiah: Not currently! I think you did a great job putting these questions together. Haven’t done an interview like this in a while, so I really appreciate the effort you went through in doing this. Hopefully I didn’t hit you with too much of a tome in these responses. I wanted to give enough detail that it wasn’t just a surface-level response to your solid questions here.

As for last words of advice, I’d really just say to don’t rush, enjoy the process, and try to grow book by book in your writing ability. You’re never done on your journey to improve. Even someone as successful as Sanderson has a clear growth book to book. Embody that hunger to grow.

Thank you again Josiah 😀. If you’re an author and want to check out a great editor, you can find Josiah here.

A New Lord Rises.

I believe we are witnessing the rise of a new Lord of Royal Road. ReeceBrooks has taken the site by storm with Iron Blooded [Military LITRPG]. I have a feeling that ReeceBrooks will be firmly cemented amongst the greats of Royal Road. Excited to see what’s to come from this author.

If you need a little inspiration to follow your dreams, always remember this:

Thank you all for reading!
Immersive Ink - Discord Link

Message Me

Author Interview Request

🧙‍♂️