Collaborative Editing, the Dreambridge Way
What you can expect when you become a Dreambridge author (or editor!)
We aren't like other publishing houses.
That may sound cliché, but it's true. Our goal isn't just to publish your amazing work; it's to help you grow as a writer.
Sure, we can say that. But how?
Dreambridge started as a community-led dream to give emerging writers the opportunity to be published; most for the first time! With our annual short story anthology contests, we publish 20 winners in our collection and take the authors step-by-step through the publishing process, which includes—that’s right!—editing.
Our mission is to guide emerging authors through the publishing process with transparency, professionalism, and an eye for growth.
From developmental deep dives to final polish, we employ a thoughtful, collaborative approach to editing and publishing that respects the author’s voice while elevating the story.
Our process is unique in that we give writers the chance to work professionally with editors where they otherwise may not have the means to, and a chance for our editors to gain experience working with a variety of authors on a single project.
Our goal is to ensure that by the time you hold the finished book in your hands, you're satisfied with where your story ended up—and, more importantly, have improved your skills with practical publishing experience.
From first draft to polished pages, let's pull back the curtain to show you exactly how we make our stories sparkle.
Round 1 - Developmental Edits
The winning stories of our anthology contests are already in pretty good shape. Even so, an outside perspective can pinpoint what is and isn't working. This is where our editors come in.
Editing might not be the flashiest part of publishing, but it’s the key to ensuring clarity and impact.
During Round 1, our editing team looks for any plot holes, character inconsistencies, and anything else that needs more (or less!) clarification in the text. Our goal is to give you detailed notes to really "see" your story through the eyes of a reader.
Of course, our editors also take care to point out what "works" in your story— highlighting scenes they enjoyed or characters that left a lasting impact. If your story was chosen for publication, it's already got the goods. It's our job to help it strut!
Once the edits are complete, our authors are given the story notes and time to address any changes (suggestions given by the editor or otherwise).
Pro Tip: Critical feedback, and the ability to give and receive it with grace, is the most important skill we hone in both our authors and our editors; it's the "secret sauce" that makes this collaboration so special.
Round 2 - Refining
Much like Round 1, Round 2 is about smoothing out any remaining rough edges. Typically, we'll have a different editor read the revised story to give a fresh perspective, providing feedback on any final developmental tweaks to make the story cohesive and impactful.
This round also ensures that any new scenes, characters, or plot points that are added are coherent with the rest of the story and with the anthology theme as a whole. It’s the final developmental editing phase before copyedits, so we encourage our authors and editors to focus on the biggest points. But hopefully, by this time any big revisions aren’t necessary—that means we’ve done Round 1 right!
Once Round 2 edits are in, we can move on to the final steps before publication…
Round 3 - Copy Editing & Proofreading
At this point, your story is a gem. All that's left is to polish it!
In our copy editing phase, we identify any spelling or grammar mistakes lingering in the text and try to shave the story down to be as concise as possible. Considering we’re publishing short stories in an anthology—where your story will be sharing space with others—we aim to have each story land around 4,000 words.
Once each story is clean, we enter the proofreading stage of our book. We “Cross our t’s and dot our i’s” as they say, ensuring the final proof copy is free of mistakes. Because, boy, there's nothing more frustrating than spending a ton of time on a piece and then finding a spelling error or misplaced comma in the final print (we’ve all encountered them; cue the cringe).
Together, our editors and authors do one final pass to make certain each page is properly formatted and to catch any lingering errors (ex. missing page numbers, the odd hyphen, weird spacing, etc.). That way, our book is spotless!
Round 4 - Cover Art & Publication
As we put the final touches on the manuscript, we work with a talented artist to design the cover of our anthology with little nods to the stories within. For example, on the full cover of Trouble in Paradise, we included graphics that represent each story - an airplane ("The Jetway"), a bottle of happiness ("A Shot of Grace"), and a suitcase ("The Platinum Package") covered with stickers representing the rest of the anthology stories. Can you identify each one?
Voilà! After several months of combining the creative and talented minds of our authors, editors, and artists, fabulous stories are in your hands.
Editing is the (not so quiet) engine behind every great book, and our system is designed to build up great stories AND great storytellers.
Our authors get to look under the hood and see that our editing process is built on care, clarity, and collaboration—because every story deserves to become its best self before it meets the world.
Whether you're a writer, reader, editor, artist, or fellow publisher, we hope this glimpse into our editing journey shows just how much love goes into every line. And keep an eye out for our second anthology In My Element, releasing late 2025.