Elaine Ash

ELAINE ASH edits fiction and nonfiction writers — from established authors to emerging talent. As the former editor-at-large for Beat to a Pulp e-zine, Elaine helped writers develop stories for publication.  Some of those writers went on to fame and fortune such as Hilary Davidson (Tor/Forge), Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur, Delacorte), Chris F. Holm (Angry Robot,, Mulholland), Frank Bill (Farrar Strauss Giroux) Patti Abbott (Polis), Jay Stringer (Thomas and Mercer) and many more. 

With a full complement of top agents and acquiring editors in her contacts, Elaine also helps clients pitch manuscripts and land deals. It all starts with a great manuscript. 

She is an award-winning author herself under the pen-name “Anonymous-9,” and won Best Short Story on the Web 2009 from Spinetingler Magazine, as well as two Readers Choice Awards from the House of Crime and Mystery. Her HARD BITE series is published by Down & Out Books. A true creative “insider,” Elaine appears alongside Margaret Atwood in a literary documentary on the late Canadian novelist Crad Kilodney, currently in production for 2019 release. She is the author of Bestseller Metrics: How to Win the Novel Writing Game, and the inventor of software in development for the publishing industry.

Aspiring writers through all levels are welcome to submit work to Elaine. She will read excerpts of 2500 words or less from ten manuscripts, and offer individual consultations of up to 30 minutes each. Feedback will encompass voice, style, characterization, development and sales potential, including commentary on where your skills have impact and where they could be strengthened. You will come away energized and motivated about your work! A printed copy of your excerpt with Elaine’s handwritten comments is yours to keep. All levels and genres are welcome, fiction and nonfiction.

Matthew Arkin, Lead Story Editor at My Two Cents Editing, writes noir detective novels, the first of which was released earlier this year. His self-published book was funded by a $17,000 Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its goal. A former attorney and now a critically acclaimed actor, he has been passionately involved in the exploration of character, plot, and motivation since he began his professional acting career at the age of eight. After graduating with honors in English from Wesleyan University in 1982, he continued his studies at Fordham Law School. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1986 and practiced law until 1989, when he decided to follow his passion and return to his acting career.

He has extensive Broadway, film, and television credits, and has appeared numerous times Off-Broadway and in many of the nation’s most prestigious regional theaters, and has worked on new plays with some of our finest playwrights, both established (Donald Margulies, Richard Greenberg, Annie Weisman) and newly emerging (Barbara Dana, Steven Drukman, Samuel D. Hunter, and Michael Hollinger). This work has kept him intimately connected with storytelling.

Matthew works predominantly in general adult fiction, with a special interest in detective, police procedural, mystery, suspense, science fiction, and horror. He will read and critique up to 5 manuscripts of up to 2500 words submitted in Microsoft Word or RTF. He will provide written annotations covering content and style together with a twenty-minute consultation.

Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D. www.barbaraardinger.com , will read two or three works, 10 to 15 pages each, for 10 to 12 twelve authors in sessions of 15 to 20 minutes each. She will comment on “gooder English” (spelling punctuation, syntax), logical development, dialogue, and overall readability.

As a published author (eight books, plus innumerable blogs and book reviews) herself, she has worked with something like 300 authors like you—really smart people who want to express themselves more successfully in writing. She has edited screenplays, children's books, academic discourse (textbooks and doctoral and master's theses), web site text, and some poetry. Fiction edited includes romance, action-adventure, science fiction, western, mystery, historical, speculative, and horror novels. Nonfiction edited includes philosophy (mostly mainstream metaphysics and New Age), Calvinist theology, holistic health, science and technology, political tracts, business topics, history, and memoirs and biography. Barbara wants to help you produce the best book possible.

Deanna Brady is a highly versatile freelance writer and editor with more than two decades of experience. She edits, rewrites, and ghostwrites novels, literary and genre fiction, creative nonfiction, biographies, scripts, self-help and how-to books, articles, essays, proposals, cover and query letters, business communications, and Web content. In addition to writing and editing numerous children’s books, she has been an award-winning author of short fiction and poetry. She taught in the Continuing Education department at California State University for a dozen years. She also has an extensive background in the film and television industry and is a voting member of Film Independent (Spirit Awards), SAG-AFTRA, and the IDA.

In addition to fantasy, science fiction, romance, historical, literary, and young adult fiction, as well as narrative nonfiction, Deanna specializes in projects concerning spirituality, ecology, Native American Indian and other indigenous cultures, psychology, and complementary medicine. Known as an “editor’s editor,” she is also adept with ESL, dialects, and translated text. 

Deanna works with a broad spectrum of clients, from individuals to major corporations, in widely varied fields. She edits on all levels necessary, including copy, line, stylistic, substantive, and developmental, and will provide commentary in regard to the suggested corrections/changes. She will read up to four manuscript excerpts of approximately 2,500 words each and also requests a brief synopsis in order to review overall structure. 

Deanna will will read up to four manuscript excerpts of apx. 2,500 words. She edits on all levels necessary, including copy, line, stylistic, substantive, and developmental, and will provide commentary in regard to the suggested corrections/changes. She will also comment on such elements as diction, emotional impact, clarity, economy, internal logic, structure, character development, pace, flow, etc. 

She will spend as many as twenty minutes in the consultation. She has special expertise in fiction and nonfiction genres/categories including fantasy, young adult, literary fiction, romance, and creative nonfiction, as well as American Indian and other indigenous cultures, self-help, how-to, ESL projects, ecology, psychology, spirituality, and complementary medicine. If available, please include a brief synopsis or outline in addition to the sample -- which should be the first chapter, or the introduction or prologue and first chapter -- to provide an idea of structure.

Sara Anne "Saran" Fox, a former development executive with a major Hollywood producer, played a vital role in the conception and development of over 25 screenplays, three published novels, and three produced films: "My Favorite Year", "Nosferatu" and "Quest For Fire". For over 20 years, she has used her skills as a writing coach and story editor with screenwriters to strengthen character development, clarify motivation, and improve story structure and plot.

Stephanie Kelly is a freelance editor at Stephanie Kelly Editorial, which she founded in 2021. As a freelance editor, she collaborates with writers to ensure that their manuscripts are as strong and polished as possible. She has over a decade of experience working on fiction and nonfiction at a major publishing house. From 2011 to 2021, she was a member of the editorial department at Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and beginning in 2017, began acquiring and editing for the Plume list as well as the Dutton list. Her authors at Dutton and Plume included New York Times bestsellers Tami Hoag, Fiona Davis, Asha Lemmie, Hannah Shaw, and Eric Jerome Dickey; international bestseller R. H. Herron; Claire Heywood, Elizabeth L. Cline, Laura Maylene Walter, Olivia Kiernan, Amy Blackstone, and T. Marie Vandelly, among others. For more information, visit www.stephaniekellyeditorial.com. 

For the California Creative Writers Conference, she has three available one-on-one time slots. Prior to the session, she will read the opening 30 pages of your novel, as well as a pitch and/or synopsis of the whole project (no longer than 2 pages), and offer feedback, as well as answer any questions you may have about the pages, synopsis, editing/publishing process, etc. Sessions will be 50 minutes long, and she will read in the following genres: women’s fiction, historical fiction, thrillers/suspense, and young adult. Her available times are listed below, and she must receive the pages (as a Microsoft Word document) no later than Tuesday, March 8.

Nicolas Nelson

Nelson  founded Wordsmith Writing Coaches in 2004 to help international grad students excel in America. In 2007, Nic added nonfiction book editing, then children's book editing, genre-fiction editing, and coaching for authors in both craft and career.

WWC now offers a broad array of services through its coaches, editors, and strategic partners. They can help you bring your book from concept to publication and acclaim and maintain your sanity while you do it.

Nic’s clients have published picture books, children’s books, memoir, philosophy, futurism, genre fiction, how-to, self-help, spiritual growth, short stories, short story collections, poetry collections, and more.

Let him help you write well and publish wisely!

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Marcie Geffner is a multiple award-winning reporter, editor and writer whose work has been featured online and in print by the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Urban Land, Business Start-Ups and other newspapers, magazines and websites. Her corporate clients have included Anthem/Blue Cross, American Express, J.P. Morgan Chase, Union Bank, and Dun & Bradstreet. Marcie's articles have been cited in seven published nonfiction books and two U.S. Congressional hearings. The National Association of Real Estate Editors and Society of American Business Editors have both honored her work.

In addition to developmental and copy editing fiction, memoir and nonfiction, Marcie is a nonfiction book reviewer for Publishers Weekly and genre fiction reviewer for Kirkus Reviews and a member of the National Book Critics Circle. Editors describe Marcie as “detail-driven,” “conscientious,” “smart,” “a wonderful writer,” “a delight to work with” and “incredibly versatile.” Fiction authors say her feedback helps them take their writing to the next level.

"Marcie has excellent instincts about the big picture of a written piece--what's missing, what needs to be added and what's not right about the work. Having her eyes on your piece could only be a positive thing," says one novelist. With a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA and MBA from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Marcie has impressive academic credentials in both story-telling and business management. At UCLA, Marcie became a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. A second-generation native of Los Angeles, Marcie currently lives, works and writes in Ventura, California, a beach town between Malibu and Santa Barbara.

Marcie works with authors of mainstream, literary and genre fiction, memoir, and prescriptive and narrative nonfiction. Her conference critiques feature both developmental and copy editing, giving authors feedback on story-telling strengths, plot, character, novel-writing craft and writing mechanics. Marcie takes an educational approach to working with authors, explaining what does and doesn't work and why and showing them how to make substantive improvements to their work.

For this conference, Marcie will read up to five submissions of up to 2,000 words each. Authors will receive specific actionable feedback on their pages, plus a 20-minute private consultation at the conference. Additional editorial services may be arranged separately at or after the conference, if desired.

Beginning and experienced writers are welcome. No self-help, inspirational or horror. Extra love for fresh, original, fun or quirky stories and voices. (Saturday and Sunday only.)

Eve Porinchak Since earning a degree in Biology/Psychology from UCLA, Eve has lived all over the planet and spent much of her time in and out of jail – as a creative writing teacher for teen inmates. An agent with Jill Corcoran Literary Agency since 2012, Eve also serves as the Volunteer Training Coordinator for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Los Angeles, and is responsible for recruiting and training Guardians ad Litem assigned to foster youth.

A former medical student, child welfare social worker, and public school teacher, Eve writes stories featuring youth she feels have been underrepresented in children’s literature, such as those born into gang life, the abandoned, and the incarcerated who – ironically - have the most fascinating tales to tell.

Her first book, One Cut - a haunting nonfiction story with a juvenile justice bent – launched Simon and Schuster’s new young adult true crime line SIMON TRUE in May 2017.

Peggy Glenn will read up to 10 fiction or non-fiction manuscript excerpts of approximately 2,500 words, in printed format. If available, please include a brief synopsis or story outline in addition to the sample to provide an idea of structure and context. Your submitted sample is ideally the first chapter, or the introduction or prologue and first chapter.

Peggy provides the following levels of editing in her Wordsmithing Service: copy, line, stylistic, substantive, and developmental. She will provide feedback commensurate with the depth of material that you provide. She will also provide feedback on dialogue, emotional impact, clarity, word economy, plot logic, structure, character development, story pace, etc. She will spend approximately 20 minutes in consultation during the conference, depending on the level of work that you submit.

Fiction preferences include: fictionalized memoir, mysteries, “slice of life” stories, and believable historical fiction, particularly with a romantic twist.

Non-fiction preferences include: memoir, first-person accounts, true crime that does not involve gore, inspirational and self-help (non-metaphysical), and self-improvement. She will read science fiction if it’s not scientific or horrific. No vampires, past-life, erotica or westerns. She also provides project coaching with gentle and honest feedback and lots of encouragement.

Her critiques include comments on the overall content, professional writing techniques that can improve the manuscript, and proofreading for typos, inconsistencies, and errors in punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling (according to the industry-standard reference guides). Kathy will spend 15-20 minutes in one-on-one consultation at the conference. Writers of all levels are welcome.

She will spend as many as 20 minutes in the consultation. She has expertise in many nonfiction genres, including self-help, business, finance, legal, travel, health and wellness, historical, memoir, and cookbooks. Please include a table of contents, a brief synopsis or outline in addition to the sample, which should be the first chapter, or the introduction and first chapter.

Meghan Pinson provides expert editing, engaging critique, and fearless consulting to authors of novels and nonfiction manuscripts, and leads writing and editing workshops at conferences and for small groups. She also collaborates with Sunny Cooper at Outrider Literary to guide authors through publication along indie, traditional, and hybrid paths.

Toni Robino is a talent scout, connecting writers with established literary agents who are good matches for their projects. She also teaches writers how to craft compelling synopses and powerful pitch packages, increasing their likelihood of representation. In the literary marketplace, Toni's company Windword Literary, brings books to fruition by working with major publishing houses and independent publishers. Credits include New York Times bestsellers and groundbreaking titles such as The Male Brain: A Breakthrough Understanding of How Men and Boys Think, by Louanne Brizendine, MD; 100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth’s Most Endangered Species, by Jeff Corwin of Animal Planet, MSNBC and the Discovery Channel; and Higher Love: Skiing the Seven Summits, by Kit DesLauriers.

As a literary scout, Toni is currently developing authors and book projects for the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency.

For Master ProCritiques, she will provide an annotated developmental edit (using the Microsoft Word tracking tool), where she will address content, clarity, rhythm, flow, description, dialogue. She will also provide examples of how to rework finer details of sentence structure to make writing more active and engaging. She does not offer line editing, but will comment on everything the writer does as well.

Christine Van Zandt,Christine Van Zandt, owner of Write for Success, is a published author (fiction and nonfiction) and an experienced editor in Hollywood.  She will conduct a thorough reading, providing thoughtful and practical feedback.  Her areas of expertise include Memoir, Parenting, Fictionalized Memoir, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Suspense, Action, LBGT, Romance, and Erotica.  In addition, she has edited all categories of Children’s from Children’s Picture Books to Young Adult.  A particularly active category recently has been the new genre New Adult that captures the YA audience as they enter their twenties.  Christine also specializes in authors whose first language is not English.

Christine works with self-publishing, agented, and freelancing authors.  For more information and client testimonials, please see www.write-for-success.com.

She will read up to twenty submissions of up to 2,500 words each and will provide an in-person consultation of fifteen minutes, which includes written feedback.  Opening chapters preferred.  Please indicate genre of the piece and total word count.  Submissions other than books are also welcome.  Her feedback will encompass the storyline as well as grammar and style.