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Transitioning from Writer to Editor: What Gives You the Right?

October 20, 2024 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

By Lisa Diane Kastner

As the powerhouse founder of Running Wild Press, Lisa Diane Kastner has been featured in Forbes and has claimed a spot on multiple “Best of” lists. In her acquisition editorial endeavors, she has identified talent like Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) and Tori Eldridge (Dance Among the Flames) among many other acclaimed authors and titles. A celebrated author in her own right, Lisa (pen name: Kali Metis) has just released “Family Pack” (Running Wild, October 3, 2024), the hotly anticipated follow-up to her 2022 novel “Cure.”

I grew up in a household where the role of an editor was a near demi-god. My father had been a radio personality and this was during the days when radio personalities wrote their own copy. The station editor or station manager acted as a gatekeeper to ensure the quality of the copy and the story itself was on-point. I somewhat joke that I learned Associated Press (AP) style before I read my first full length novel.

In many ways, this put me at an advantage at school and when I first entered the workforce. I still remember one of my first internship interviews. The interviewer handed me a press release and said, “Write an article based on this.” I shrugged and 45 minutes later, I handed her the written article. She read it and in disbelief, she handed me another article and commanded, “one more”.

So in my mind, writing copy wasn’t a problem but having the role of the person with the press release, well, I couldn’t imagine being put in that position of power.

Imagine my surprise when a dear friend started his own publication, The Picolata Review, and he approached me about being an editor for him. I had worked in Corporate Communications, Public Relations, and writing for some local magazines. But an editor? Oh, heck no.

I told him, “I’m happy to help find talent and select stories for publications.” I left it at that. By this time I had already been in the writing community for several years so my contacts come in super-handy.

At one point, my friend let me know that one of his acquisition editors quit so he wanted to know if I could go over the submissions and let him know my thoughts. Because the magazine was so new, most of the stories were by fledgling writers, many buddies with the founder. Many truly needed work. We reviewed the submissions. Some we agreed on and others we wildly disagreed about. One specific historical short story that I was shocked he didn’t want to publish. I demanded that it be among the first to grace the pages of the Picolata Review. After a bit, he finally relented and insisted that I be referenced as an editor considering all of the work that I had done. Begrudgingly, I agreed.

I then reached out to the author and told him how wonderful the story was and how he needed to make it into a novel. That short story became, “The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford, a global phenomenon.

In my mind, I still had not earned the right to be an editor. With every subsequent editing opportunity, I always made sure someone I respected in their editing prowess worked alongside me.

Going back to the question, “What gives you the right to transition from a writer to an editor?”

You give yourself the right. Get out of your own way. When the opportunity arises, take it. Use the resources available to you. If you’re not sure about a rule regarding writing, use the Associated Press Stylebook. Not sure of a fact? Don’t hesitate to research it, contact experts, get that confirmation.

At the end of the day, you have everything you need at your disposal to become an editor. You just need to do it.

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Lisa Diane Kastner (A.K.A. Kali Metis) is the author of the CURE series. Learn more about her work at: https://lisadkastner.com.

“A study of otherness, identity, and belonging in the shape of a high-stakes supernatural adventure, Metis changes up the werewolf genre in a beguiling mix of mediaeval and modern. With a touch of romance and a good dose of danger, CURE eclipses expectations.” —Lee Murray, USA Today Bestselling Author and Bram Stoker Award® winner

“The stakes couldn’t be higher for Luna. Love, health, safety, family, identity–they’re all in play as she sets out on a journey that stretches across continents and centuries and finally into the mystical, a menacing world of secrets and myths and shapeshifters. In CURE, Kali Metis deftly weaves storylines of past and present that hurtle toward a breathtaking climax that make it impossible to put down this spellbinding tale.” —Curtis Smith, author of The Magpie’s Return, named best of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews

“Kali Metis (Lisa Diane Kastner) is an exciting and unique new voice in modern fantasy and a writer you need to pay attention to.” —Taylor Grant, Bram Stoker Award® Finalist and author of The Many Deaths of Cole Parker

FAMILY PACK

FAMILY PACK is the follow up novel to CURE and continues the tale of LUNA AUBER as she discovers her own destiny and provides the origins of the two primary lycanthropic organizations, The Lycanthrope Society (TLS) which believe that humans and lycanthropes should exist in harmony while The Righteous Group (TRG) believe that lycanthropes are intended to rule over all other species and Luna’ s battle to prevent the dessimation of the world as she knows it.