Editor Interview: First Page Challenge

The Chopping Blog

I'm super interested in the small press in general. The Big Five publishers have been cannibalizing themselves, gobbling up and merging imprints, trying to do more with fewer editors, and it's taking its toll. We hear about this all the time in our lit agent interview series on the Chopping Blog. Meanwhile, the small press is rising, both in terms of success and proliferation, and also in how many small presses are accounted for in big awards nominations like the Booker Prizes. But of the many small presses, I personally have my eye on ECW, which is one of the most successful in Canada. I've queried them with two of my own manuscripts!

We publish blog posts on a variety of craft topics like our lit agent interview series as well as "Story Skeleton" which offers plot analyses of classic and award-winning novels. Right now I'm working with our other senior editor, Michelle Barker, on a craft book called Immersion and Emotion: the Two Pillars of Storytelling." Once we get this title out in the world, we will start working on a series of Story Skeleton compilations. Stay tuned!

Our blog is mostly written by our core editors, and what our team offers is industry expertise. Many of us are award-winning writers, and we also have a number of PhDs and masters degrees in the mix, as well as publishing and agenting experience.

Intentionality is key. We're fans of "pantsing" first drafts as a creative process, but when a submission feels pantsed, it means the writer hasn't brought enough intentionality into their editorial process. In other words, the characters need to drive the plot because of who they are and what they would do in a given situation, not because of the author's whim, and the plot's structure needs to serve the reader's experience. All elements should work together in literary harmony, and that generally not a hallmark of "as it occurred to me" composition. Keep the two pillars of storytelling in mind--first, immersion is the quality of a narrative that transports readers into the story world (and keeps them there); second, emotional draw is what keeps readers engaged, anticipatory, and eagerly turning pages. Bring intentionality to these two pillars--on every page!

We run three contests per year, and they all relate to the process of querying agents. First is the Clash of the Query Letters. The ideal submission hooks us with a great pitch. Second is the Synopsis Skirmish. The ideal synopsis demonstrates the author's mastery of narrative structure. ("Plot is character, character is plot." --F. Scott Fitzgerald) And third is the First Page Challenge. The ideal submission will fill us with intrigue and make us want to turn the page.

Few people get the submission process wrong, but we do occasionally get a submission for something other than what our contest is for, like a query letter submitted for our synopsis contest.

I want to know as little as possible. Only the writing matters, so I'd rather not be influenced by any details about the person submitting. For this reason, we don't ask for a cover letter. I aim to be impartial in the screening process, and for the final round of judging, all names and personal details are removed to ensure this high level of fairness. (Michelle Barker usually does the judging.)

For the Chopping Blog, I want people to pitch me their idea before they start writing it, but some content creators come knocking with ideas already hammered out. That's fine if it's a topic we're interested in sharing, but in general I'd like to see an outline before you get started. When we get to the next stage, I'm most likely going to read the entire thing unless there are significant issues with grammar or clarity.
For our contests, I sometimes only read a few sentences. For the First Page Challenge, if the first sentence doesn't hit, the submission doesn't make the shortlist. I need to be transported immediately, such that I forget that I'm reading by the middle of the page. Sink me into a scene and give me a reason to stay. For the Synopsis Skirmish, the first sentence (or any sentence) can be practical rather than (or as well as) artful, but I need to know what's going on. I tend to read the whole thing, but if I encounter any clarity issues, I will move on to the next submission. For the Clash of the Query Letters, I also tend to read the whole thing, but I might stop if there are glaring errors or clarity issues.

After my screening process, I read all the shortlisted entries again, which usually results in me changing my mind about one or two. Then I send them over to Michelle Barker for the final round of judging. The winning entries get published on the Chopping Blog. Before that happens, we sometimes go over a couple suggested edits with the winners.

There is a lot of tea involved, mostly oolong before noon and roasted buckwheat into the evening!
My life as a self-employed business owner and editor includes a lot of time on the computer, so I try to break that up by starting early, working late, and a lot of breaks and dog walks in between.

With some blog posts, I occasionally ask for a ground-up rewrite. Sometimes more than one. For our contest entries, there is usually little to no editing to be done. I might suggest changing a word or rearranging a sentence. If there is more editing needed, they wouldn't have made it onto the shortlist. (Yes, the author gets to approve the final edits.)
As an editing firm, separate from our contests (we don't accept contest entries for manuscripts we've worked on), we do offer everything from developmental editing to proofreading to beta reading.

No--the only books we publish (forthcoming) are our own.