H. G. Wells’s quote is amusing, but I’m really not interested in altering a writer’s work—unless he or she asks me to. I want to work with you to help you make your manuscript excellent.

What you have written—short story or novella or novel; fiction, memoir, biography, self-help—the manuscript is precious to you. You have put time, energy, and a great deal of heart into it. As precious as the work is, however, any piece of writing can benefit from an objective critique. All of your family and your best friends may have already read your manuscript and told you it is ready to be published, but having your work assessed by an experienced professional can be invaluable. Only someone who has worked in the publishing business can rigorously evaluate your manuscript, looking at it with the benefit of years of reviewing and editing hundreds of books and scores of short stories.

I have worked in the publishing industry for more than thirty years—sixteen years as an editor for three major publishing houses in New York and twenty years as a freelance editor. My clients write a wide variety of fiction, both stories and novels, with the novels ranging from general fiction to young adult, women’s fiction, historical, and fantasy; and nonfiction, including self-help books and memoir. But don’t let that list limit you. I will happily work with a dedicated writer on whatever he or she has written.

I have also sat on the other side of the desk: I have published several novels. This gives me a unique perspective of what a writer requires from an editor, and what an editor is capable of giving a writer.