I’m so stoked. The first edition of “The Magic Council” clocked it at 125,000 words roughly. Certainly, it was between 120 and 125k.

Over the years, preparing the second edition, I’ve trimmed a lot of weight while fleshing out a limited number of things that needed more focus, like the king and queen and their troubled relationship.

I had it under 110,000 last year, but after applying general advice and notes my editor had given regarding book one of my trilogy to book two, it did balloon a bit.

Now, focusing on key words and adverbs, I’m trimming out sentences, phrases, and words that I am realizing I don’t need . . . all this before sending the manuscript off to my editor at the end of the month.

My editor may end up asking for more explanations or expanding some phrasing for clarity. That’s what happened regarding book one, and it was great. It was needed.

We’ll see where the book ends up! Obviously, I don’t want to sacrifice engaging and needed content for the sake of lowering word count, and fantasy is a genre that DOES tend to run long. Still, no one likes a bloated book, so I’m happy to see how well these pre-editor revisions are going.