Exciting announcement: I’m taking new editorial clients for the first time in over a year!
Most of my 2024 was about First Love, but as I settle back into a non-book-year routine, I’m really looking forward to getting back to editorial work. There are few things more satisfying than digging into a work in progress and being able to pinpoint exactly what it needs to become its fullest, most realized self. And this has always come more easily for me with other people’s writing than my own, of course.
I realize it’s been long enough since I took on any new clients that some subscribers to this newsletter might not know I started out as an editor, so let me briefly (re)introduce my editor-self: I started my literary career as the Memoir Editor and then Deputy Editor at Narratively, where I worked to build the memoir section for six years. I also edited personal essays for Catapult (RIP), and began taking on freelance developmental editing clients for full-length manuscripts almost a decade ago. I haven’t kept track of how many writers I’ve worked with in that time to hone, deepen, and refine their books-in-progress, but if I had to guess I’d say well over 100. It’s been thrilling to watch so many of those books make their way out into the world! (You can see some nice testimonials from a few of those writers here.) I am also a Nonfiction Editor at Barrelhouse Books (look out for an exciting announcement on that front soon!), and I teach creative nonfiction at the MFA programs at Columbia University and Randolph College.
My editorial approach is a combination of artistic relish (pushing you to lean into what makes your work uniquely, weirdly, wonderfully yours; to take risks and push boundaries), and business savvy (thinking about how your work fits into the current publishing conversation, and what will make it exciting to agents and editors, so you can sell the damn thing). I am particularly good at solving structure puzzles. A lot of my notes tend to be about finding the most engaging place to start the story; or pulling the most compelling thread to the fore; rearranging, condensing, and expanding as needed to keep readers turning the page.
My feedback comes in the form of an edit letter, which includes several pages of big-picture comments, observations, questions, and suggestions, as well as more zoomed-in chapter-by-chapter (or essay-by-essay) notes. I’m excited to work on memoir, essay collections, hybrid nonfiction, and literary adult novels. I’m not the best fit for sci-fi/fantasy, romance, YA, humor, self-help, religious/ “inspirational,” academic, or most straight (non-memoir) nonfiction.
If you would like to work with me, please fill out this form!
Note: I’m doing things a little differently than I have in the past. Rather than taking clients on a rolling basis, I’m taking applications to fill a set number of available slots for the first half of this year (I have five openings for full manuscripts between now and June, plus a few First 50 reviews). So if you’re interested in working with me, please fill out the application by February 1. I’ll notify everyone I’m able to take on within two weeks of that deadline.
Rates start at $600 for an evaluation of the first 50 pages, or $1,750 for complete manuscripts of up to 50k words. For more information about the kind of editing I do, rates, and logistics, please see my website.
I also have two fun one-day classes coming up!
The timing didn't work out for me here but I'd love to know when you might be taking on new clients again. I just finished Negative Space. I related to it deeply and learned so much. I have an NYC-based memoir manuscript and so many questions for you!
This is exciting news, and incentive to work hard on my memoir this year. Then...who knows, maybe your guidance will be just what I'll need once I get it to the finish line :)