Back to the editing trenches

31 August 2026

Last month, I announced that I had sent Once Upon a Sky to the line editor . I was very proud of myself and super excited to reach the final steps before publication. Well, my manuscript came back to me with… +7k suggested comments and changes from the editor! So let’s talk about it for a minute.

Once Upon a Sky: what’s happening next?

I won’t lie to you, because it’s part of the author life.

When I received the edits from the line editor, I panicked. I felt incredibly overwhelmed by the number of changes in my manuscript (more than 7,000!!!) and, even more so, by the suggestions she made on the story itself. Don’t get me wrong, though: I’m super grateful for my line editor. She could just have me publish the book as it is, but she decided to help me improve the story. She truly went above and beyond for Once Upon A Sky .

I’m also grateful that my editor left kind words here and there too, hahaha.

Anyway, talking to my author friends about it, I realised that I’m self-publishing this book. This means I set up my own rules.

I know I’ve originally intended for this book to release in November 2026. I’ve already prepped the street team campaign with the form, the emails, and the material. I could launch that campaign today while going through the edits on the book and still release in November. However, writing and publishing books is not my main job. It is a side hustle that I do as a hobby. It took me 10 years to write Once Upon a Sky up to this point. I don’t want it to be rushed in the last minutes of the process. It wouldn’t be fair to you, the reader. And it wouldn’t be fair to me, the writer.

For all those reasons, I decided to push back the release date to April 8th, 2027.

Thanks Kyra, John, Emma and Quentin for making me realise I could just delay things. I felt utterly panicked by all the work still to be done, not only on the manuscript but also in marketing it. With that extra time, I definitely feel calmer. Writing is my island of peace, not an added pressure on my shoulders.

So, the next step is to go through all those line edits first. Then I’ll tackle the story suggestions at my own pace.

Publishing news

A few months ago, I delisted my ebooks from all vendors except Amazon. Not that I specifically wanted it, but I had to think about Draft2Digital’s new rules. As I still haven’t decided what to do in terms of my ebooks being everywhere, I’ve put The Londoners and SEO for Authors in Kindle Unlimited for the time being. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

And as I’ve entered The Londoners into a group promo, it means the ebook will be $0.99 on the US Amazon website for about a month. Go grab it if you haven’t had the chance to get it yet.

Life updates

Outside of the editing trenches, my lovely husband finished the work in my office, and I’m finally back in it! I can’t tell you how much I missed my own space. I’m writing this journal entry from my office, between the newly painted walls, and I love it!

That’s it for the August news. I’m off to work on those edits now!