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Rachel Rowlands, Editor & Author
Rachel Rowlands, Editor & Author

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Should you pay for a sample edit or is it free?
Advice for writers | Editing | Working with an editor

Should you pay for a sample edit or is it free?

Posted onJune 5, 2020October 3, 2022

A sample edit is a short edit a freelance editor might do before taking you on as a client. You can usually request one so you can get an idea of how they work. Or the editor might decide to do one to calculate a…

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How to find beta readers and critique partners
Advice for writers | Editing | Writing

How to find beta readers and critique partners

Posted onMay 15, 2020May 5, 2023

Before you start looking into how to find beta readers and critique partners, you’ll want to decide on the type of reader you want. Would you prefer another writer to go over your work? This type of beta reader may become a critique partner if…

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How to avoid exposition: A guide to showing and telling
Editing | Writing

How to avoid exposition: A guide to showing and telling

Posted onApril 18, 2020May 5, 2023

No doubt many writers will be familiar with the rule “show, don’t tell”. New writers in particular often fall into the trap of “telling” too much – otherwise known as exposition – but it can crop up in the works of even seasoned writers. When…

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Are you ready to have your writing critiqued?
Advice for writers | Editing | Mindset | Writing

Are you ready to have your writing critiqued?

Posted onFebruary 21, 2020May 5, 2023

I’ve talked before about dealing with feedback on your writing. I wanted to pedal back and talk about something a bit similar today: how to know if you’re ready to have your writing critiqued. It can be a big step if you’re new and haven’t…

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Writing community slang, phrases and acronyms
Writing

Writing community slang, phrases and acronyms

Posted onSeptember 26, 2019May 5, 2023

If you’ve spent any time on social media, a bunch of these writing phrases and slang terms will be familiar to you! If you’re new to the writing or publishing world, though, it can become overwhelming. I thought it’d be fun and helpful to collect…

Read more Writing community slang, phrases and acronymsContinue

Why we all need a practice novel or two
Advice for writers | Writing

Why we all need a practice novel or two

Posted onAugust 16, 2019May 5, 2023

Every writer has a practice novel under their belt. Sometimes, your first book (or your second, or third) won’t be ready for querying or publishing. And that’s okay.  I’ve talked before about unfinished projects, and why it’s okay to abandon something that isn’t working. This…

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Dealing with feedback on your writing
Advice for writers | Editing | Mindset | Writing

Dealing with feedback on your writing

Posted onJuly 30, 2019May 5, 2023

Dealing with writing feedback is something we all struggle with. It can be hard and upsetting to receive a critique that points out the problems with your work, no matter how nicely worded that critique is, because you’ve more than likely poured a lot of…

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Is your story idea strong enough to become a book?
Ideas and inspiration | Story development | Writing

Is your story idea strong enough to become a book?

Posted onJuly 15, 2019May 5, 2023

Just having an idea isn’t enough when you want to write a book. You have to decide whether your story idea is strong enough – can you turn it into a book of 50k words or more? If you choose a weak idea, you could…

Read more Is your story idea strong enough to become a book?Continue

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Hey, friend!

I'm Rachel! I regularly share publishing, editing and writing advice here on the blog, drawing on my six years of experience editing for traditional publishers and writers.

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

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"A fairytale isn't a hallucinogen that gives us ho "A fairytale isn't a hallucinogen that gives us hopes and dreams. It's a stimulant that makes us face reality." 🌳🌲

I watched the amazing Kdrama It's Okay to Not Be Okay recently (which I highly recommend!) and this quote stuck with me. Fairytales have always been cautionary tales with warnings and moral messages. I think that's why I've always been so drawn to retellings, and how different authors interpret different tales based on their own experiences. My own fairytale books were definitely born out of things I was dealing with at the time.

Stories aren't just for escapism – they can help us face or cope with what we're going through in life and make us feel less alone. It's why so many of us love to write books, or read them avidly. And it's a big part of why I love being an author, as well as working with words every day as an editor, helping other writers get those stories out into the world. ✨️
I've had such a lovely week releasing The Wicked P I've had such a lovely week releasing The Wicked Prince, which came out on Wednesday. 🥰 And more people have been picking up The Darkest Curse too! I've had one of my best months for orders and page reads and I'm so endlessly grateful people are reading and enjoying my fairytales. 💖 These books are special to me because they're all about overcoming darkness and finding your way to a happy ending. They helped me find my bright spot when I felt like giving up on writing for good.

As someone who is self-publishing whilst also pursuing traditional, it can be so exhausting sometimes, and you experience a lot of self-doubt. But this month has reminded me of why I do this.

Right now I'm working on finishing a contemporary romance to send to my agent at the end of the summer, then I plan to dive into my next retelling in this world (a wintery Beauty and the Beast retelling). ❄️

#bookstagram #books #fairytales #fairytaleretellings #fantasybooks #fantasybookstagram #amreadingfantasy #bookstagramuk #bookstagrammer #bookseries #bookrecommendations #Rapunzel #thelittlemermaid #littlemermaid #fairytale #amreading #booksofinstagram #fantasyromancebooks #fantasyromance #closeddoor #closeddoorromance #sweetromance #cleanromance
It's release day for The Wicked Prince, my Little It's release day for The Wicked Prince, my Little Mermaid retelling! 🧜‍♀️🗡 If you left an ARC review, thank you so much. I loved writing Kyra’s story and I'm so happy to see people enjoying it! This book can be read as a standalone, or you can read The Darkest Curse, my Rapunzel retelling, first! The Darkest Curse is currently on sale on Amazon for 0.99.

🧜‍♀️ mybook.to/wickedprince
🖤 mybook.to/thedarkestcurse 

Blurb for The Wicked Prince below! 🗡

Kyra’s sister is dead – and it’s the human prince’s fault.

Mermaid Kyra is devastated when her sister dies as a result of the human Prince Rhydian’s betrayal. Driven by her grief, Kyra strikes a dangerous bargain with the sea witch to kill him: she will become human and infiltrate the Whitecliff Estate as a handmaiden to Rhydian’s new fiancée.

Moving into the estate, Kyra is forced to confront Lord Nicholas Turner, the gorgeous young man she once rescued from a shipwreck. With her identity hanging in the balance, she tries to resist her growing feelings for him to keep her plan – and her true nature – from being compromised.

But as humans begin to die mysteriously around the estate, Kyra and Nicholas uncover darker schemes with lacings of dark magic that could threaten both land and sea. And Kyra must decide whether her thirst for revenge is more important than following her heart.

#bookstagramuk #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #bookstagrammer #fairytaleretellings #thelittlemermaid #littlemermaid #fairytales #amreading #sweetromance #fantasyreader #fantasyromance #fantasy #mermaids #bookseries
Bought myself this cute toadstool mug as a treat b Bought myself this cute toadstool mug as a treat because I've been working freelance as an editor for six years this month. 🍄🥳 

If you'd told me six and a half years ago that I'd be working with places like HarperCollins, Bloomsbury, and Hachette, and that I'd have over 200 books in my portfolio, I wouldn't have believed you. I love working for myself and working on books was always the dream. I get to work with amazing authors and help them bring their stories to life, and it's so, so rewarding to be part of that. It's also given me the means to self-publish some of my own fantasy books that didn't land a publishing deal, while I work on writing more commercial genres for trad.

If you've ever worked with me, thank you for coming along for the journey. Now we shoot for ten years in the best job ever. 💖
A weekend spent on forest walks with the husband a A weekend spent on forest walks with the husband and family, good food, and playtime with Haru. 🐈‍⬛️ I couldn't think of a better way to refill my creative well.

Sometimes, you just need time away from the writing and publishing bubble. To escape all the noise. And trees and people you love help! 🌳🌲

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