Meet the Editors

Katie

Katie

Katie’s greatest dream is to have one of her quotes said at the beginning of a Criminal Minds episode. So far, her writing has reached the readers of Maudlin House & Scribble Literary, among others. She has worked as a creative writing teacher for Young Authors Workshop LLC, a writing intern for Psych2Go Magazine, and a literary agent intern for Creative Media Agency Inc. Read More

Prefers
Young Adult  Thriller  Mystery  Literary  Romcom 
Avoids
 
Erin Olds

Erin Olds

Erin (she/her) has officially been writing for over half of her life, and has the stacks of scribbled-in notebooks to prove it! She can help you with anything from story structure to emotional payoffs.

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Prefers
Fantasy  Historical  Middle Grade  YA  Magical Realism 
Avoids
Slasher Horror 
Akelah Adams

Akelah Adams

From a young age, Akelah has always had a passion for reading. She loves the different characters and worlds that she could discover when she read and she knew she wanted to work with authors and writers to put their work out there. <!–more–> She graduated with a B. Read More

Prefers
Young adult fiction/fantasy  contemporary romance  middle grade  humor  fantasy  children’s books   
Avoids
None!
Taye Timko

Taye Timko

Taye Timko is a Jack and Jill of all Trades and the Master of Some—primarily an educator of color at an African centered high school on the East Coast, teaching (sometimes) reluctant young writers by day and is a writer and freelance editor by night.

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Prefers
Urban Fiction  SciFi  Fantasy 
Avoids
None!
Amy Bowen, LCMHC

Amy Bowen, LCMHC

Amy is passionate about sensitivity reading on topics related to mental health. Stigma around mental health is improving overall, and sensitivity reads are important part of that process. Amy is passionate about reading stories tied to trauma, including any kind of abuse (narcissistic, childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, etc. Read More

Prefers
Romcom  mystery  literary fiction  romance  YA  self-help 
Avoids
Horror 
Veronica Vega

Veronica Vega

Veronica Vega is a writer and freelance line and developmental editor who has worked with experienced authors and publishing houses in various genres; though romance and YA are particularly close to her heart. She’s also a sensitivity reader dedicated to reducing harmful content in both fiction and non-fiction.

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Prefers
Anything!
Avoids
None!
Cameron Van Sant

Cameron Van Sant

Cameron Van Sant is an editor who wants to see every writer succeed. He has experience editing creative works, professional reports, and academic writing.

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Prefers
Science fiction  fantasy  young adult  romance  drama  comics 
Avoids
None!
Fatin Marini

Fatin Marini

Fatin Marini (she/her) is a developmental and sensitivity editor. Her attention to detail and the overall narrative allow her to help authors

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Prefers
Young Adult  Contemporary  Historical Romance  Romance  Fantasy  Middle Grade  Memoir  Picture books 
Avoids
Erotica  Sci-Fi 
Rebecca Blevins

Rebecca Blevins

Rebecca Blevins is the author of four published books. She has been freelance editing for several years and enjoys helping

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Prefers
Children's  Middle Grade  Contemporary Romance  Romcom  Science Fiction  Nonfiction  Contemporary Fantasy 
Avoids
Erotica  Slasher Horror   
Sara Olds

Sara Olds

Writer, mother—grandmother now too!, teacher, traveler and equestrian—Sara believes in making the most of the great loves in her life.

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Prefers
Romance  Romcom  Action Adventure  Murder Mysteries  Fantasy  Historical  Science Fiction  Military  Young Adult  Childrens 
Avoids
Horror  Dark  Erotica 
Tova Seltzer

Tova Seltzer

Tova Seltzer is an editor, fiction writer, and poet. She holds a B.A. in creative writing from American University in Washington, D.C., and is a 2020 graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course. The great love of her life is working with stories in development and figuring out what they want and need to be the greatest they can be. Read More

Prefers
Romcom  Middle Grade  Young Adult  Low Fantasy 
Avoids
Horror  Detailed medical stories 
Mya Alexice

Mya Alexice

Mya is a poet, writer, and reader with a neverending TBR pile and a cat named Ramen.

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Prefers
Sci-fi  Fantasy  Horror  Literary fiction that deals with identity 
Avoids
None!
Ronkwahrhakónha D ("Lune")

Ronkwahrhakónha D ("Lune")

Ronkwahrhakónha (Loon-gwah-lah-goon-ha), or Lune for short, was raised in two storytelling cultures. Whether it was the indigenous stories their father told them at bedtime, or ones from the Torah that they heard in school or synagogue, Ronkwahrhakónha has always been enchanted by the power of stories. By age 19, they were performing on stage as an improvisational actor and traditional Native storyteller.

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Prefers
Fantasy  Horror  Post-Apocalyptic  Sci-Fi  Speculative Fiction  Urban Fantasy  Young Adult  TTRPG’s  Video Games  Historical fiction 
Avoids
None!
Helen Gould

Helen Gould

Helen Gould is from the UK and specializes in reading manuscripts for POC, gender, sexuality, mental health, and other topics. She has worked as a freelancer writer, blogger, consultant, and writer. She speaks regularly about the socio-political impact of media (especially navigating race in films and games). Read More

Prefers
Sci-fi  Fantasy  Horror 
Avoids
None!
Al Ross

Al Ross

Al Ross is a writer and story editor from beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia who jumped into story-telling early as a teenage Dungeon Master and never looked back. When not editing, writing, pitching or producing you can find Al at home weaving, listening to podcasts or watching reality TV with their fluffy grey cat Duchess and hamster Frisbee.

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Prefers
Anything!
Avoids
Any kind of romance/erotica with dubious or lack of consent
Mandy Ballard

Mandy Ballard

Mandy reads, writes, and does yoga in the cracks between all that drives life on a tiny, wanna-be homestead in Southern Utah. She has a knack for getting to the heart of a manuscript’s needs, drawing on a well-honed approach to character, story, and world development. Whether it’s surface cracks or deep gorges, she’s itching to help you fill them!

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Prefers
YA contemporary  YA Speculative  YA Fantasy  YA Sci-Fi  Dystopian  Magical Realism  Alternate History  Post-Apocalyptic  Steampunk  Contemporary Romance  Romcom  Middle Grade  Adult  Literary  Women's Fiction  Inspirational Non-Fiction 
Avoids
Slasher horror  Erotica  Regency Romance 
Nicholas Dante di Angelo

Nicholas Dante di Angelo

A wild child of the chaotic arts, Nicholas Dante di Angelo is a creative soul with a proclivity for colorful, vivid imagery in their artwork and writing. They enjoy bold, brilliant splashes of color in everything and anything. When not nose-deep in a book, they can be found playing video games and writing critical analyses on the pop culture/media they consumes. Read More

Prefers
Anything queer (especially with interracial or black-focused gay stories)  Comics  Manga  Anime  Fandom  Geek  Horror  Mystery  Noir  Whodunnits  Erotica  Sci-fi  Fantasy  Urban fantasy  LGBTQ  comics  video games  YA 
Avoids
None!
April Jones

April Jones

April Jones has read, written, or edited her way through dozens of fictional worlds. When she’s not working as a teacher or freelance editor, she spends her time pretending to practice Korean by binge watching Korean dramas. She received her bachelors in English and her M.F.A. in creative writing.

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Prefers
Fantasy  YA fantasy  regency romance  mythology-based stories  magical realism  paranormal romance  travel-based stories 
Avoids
Erotica 
Candice Roma

Candice Roma

Candice has dedicated her life to words. Initially she had dreams of going to medical school, but when she was faced with the choice of Inorganic Chemistry or taking a Creative Writing class, she ran screaming from the science lab and into the amazing world of creative fiction.

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Prefers
Sci-fi  thrillers  horror  literary fiction  sociology 
Avoids
Erotica  Christian 
Heba Elsherief

Heba Elsherief

Heba Elsherief holds an MA in English Literature and a PhD in Language and Literacies from the University of Toronto. A former Islamic high school English teacher, she now teaches university classes in cultural studies and language education.

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Prefers
Anything!
Avoids
None!
Nicole Hawken

Nicole Hawken

Nicole is a passionate storyteller and consumer of stories. She particularly loves building complex worlds and developing compelling characters.

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Prefers
Anything!
Avoids
None!
Thais Carreira Afonso

Thais Carreira Afonso

Thais is passionate about delivering editorial clarity, cultural perspective, and constructive editorial advice to her clients. She has over six years of editorial experience and has helped dozens of authors develop stories. More recently, she interned at Writers House, where she honed her editorial skills while supporting the desks of Amy Berkower and Johanna Castillo. Read More

Prefers
Erotica  Literary Fiction  Queer Romance  Romance  fantasy  women's fiction  upmarket  contemporary 
Avoids
Horror 
Carrie Jacks

Carrie Jacks

Carrie loves the entire process of publishing a novel—from developing that brand new, exciting idea to formatting the words to look perfect on the page.She is sometimes intimidated by editing her own words, but she loves to read other writers’ works in progress to help make them the best they can be. Read More

Prefers
Young Adult  Fantasy  Dystopian  Romcom 
Avoids
Dark Horror  Heavy Sci-Fi  Erotica 
Lydia Suen

Lydia Suen

Lydia (she/her) studied novel writing and editing at Stanford University. She specializes in helping authors create character-driven stories, increase emotional impact in scenes, sharpen plot points, nail their themes, and heighten tension for books readers won’t be able to put down. Lydia believes working with an editor should be fun and as low-stress as possible. Read More

Prefers
Young adult  Adult  Urban fantasy 
Avoids
None!
Sachiko Suzuki

Sachiko Suzuki

Sachiko is a Japanese-American with an insatiable appetite for good story. She understands character motivation on a deep level and can help you dig deeper into your character than you thought possible. Best of all, she’ll do it with her trademark enthusiasm

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Prefers
Fantasy  Sci-Fi  Romcom 
Avoids
None!
Rochelle Burnside

Rochelle Burnside

Rochelle is an editor who enjoys stories in any medium, from novels to video games to fine art. She’s worked on the editorial teams of several magazines, compiling sci-fi/fantasy short stories with Leading Edge and nonfiction travel articles with Stowaway.

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Prefers
Fantasy  Science Fiction  Young Adult  Nonfiction 
Avoids