Once a publisher acquires your book – you pop champagne
And then you go into edits.
That’s right, your book needs to be edited. Again. And Again. And… again.

Today, I’ve asked my fellow debut authors of 2026 to share their experiences and insights for this very long process.

The fun part of being an author is what the reader sees. Flashy eye-catching posts, rave reviews, and the final product, of course – the book. But to get there, the book has to go through a lot of editing. I’ve asked my fellow 2026 Debut authors to share what surprised them the most about this process to make sure when you get there, it is a little easier to navigate:

Julia Alexandra, Midnight on the Celestial https://www.instagram.com/juliaalexwrites

Isabel Engel, Most Eligible: https://isabelleengel.com

Ryan Pozzi, The Mess That Made Them: https://www.ryantpozzi.com/tmtmt

Gracie Marsden, Bones of Jade, Flesh like Ice: https://www.graciemarsden.com

Kate Westbury, The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies: http://www.katewestbury.com

Liz Edelbrock, Veiled in Shadow: https://www.instagram.com/lizedelbrockwriter/

Kate Williams, Fake Out Make Out https://lnk.to/FakeOutMakeOut

A big thank you to Julia, Isabel, Ryan, Grace, Kate, and Liz for sending in your tips for fellow authors. I have links below so you can check out their debut books as well as the 2026Debuts website, so you can support all the amazing authors with books releasing this year.

2026

I’ll have one more class note video coming out in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. And as always, comment below with your questions. They fuel future videos.