Laura Mae Isaacman - Editor
I specialize in literary fiction and have worked with Lydia Davis, Joyce Carol Oates, Lara Vapnyar, Aimee Bender, César Aira, etc.
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Overview
Looking to wildly improve your writing and publish a book you're proud of?
The key to a successful book is simple, so long as you can master a few elements. You've got to know your narrative voice and make it relatable . Choose only the most explanatory details for your characters, scenes, and storyline. Keep your dialogue sharp. And organize your scenes for impact, tension, and pacing.
Even if you're just starting, you can wildly improve your creative writing and editing skills.
As co-founder of the literary magazines Tweed's and The Coffin Factory, I've worked with award-winning authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, Lydia Davis, Lara Vapnyar, Noam Chomsky, T.C. Boyle, Reza Aslan, Bonnie Nadzam, Aimee Bender, David James Poissant, Kathleen Alcott, Andrés Neuman, César Aira, Edwidge Danticat, John Freeman, Charles Simic, Amy Grace Loyd, Enrique Vila-Matas, and Sergio Chejfec.
For more information, visit my webinars on Writer's Digest, or sign up for my free 10-day writing course on Reedsy Learning, 'How to Craft a Killer Short Story.'
I'd love to work with you!
The key to a successful book is simple, so long as you can master a few elements. You've got to know your narrative voice and make it relatable . Choose only the most explanatory details for your characters, scenes, and storyline. Keep your dialogue sharp. And organize your scenes for impact, tension, and pacing.
Even if you're just starting, you can wildly improve your creative writing and editing skills.
As co-founder of the literary magazines Tweed's and The Coffin Factory, I've worked with award-winning authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, Lydia Davis, Lara Vapnyar, Noam Chomsky, T.C. Boyle, Reza Aslan, Bonnie Nadzam, Aimee Bender, David James Poissant, Kathleen Alcott, Andrés Neuman, César Aira, Edwidge Danticat, John Freeman, Charles Simic, Amy Grace Loyd, Enrique Vila-Matas, and Sergio Chejfec.
For more information, visit my webinars on Writer's Digest, or sign up for my free 10-day writing course on Reedsy Learning, 'How to Craft a Killer Short Story.'
I'd love to work with you!
Languages
English (US)
Fiction
Anthologies
Literary Fiction
Short Story
Work experience
Copy Writer
BuzzFeed
May, 2018
–
Present
(almost 5 years)
Lead copy writer for multi-city marketing tours—
Kamp Kona, in partnership with Hyundai
50 Under 50K, in partnership with Bank of America
Editor
The Center for Fiction
February, 2018
–
Present
(about 5 years)
Editor for the NYC Emerging Writers Fellowship at The Center for Fiction.
Editor
Self-employed
November, 2016
–
Present
(over 6 years)
A boutique editing company that helps writers bring clarity and cleanliness to their short stories.
We also run writing workshops in Brooklyn, New York.
Co-founding Editor
Tweed's Magazine of Literature & Art (formerly The Coffin Factory)
April, 2011
–
December, 2015
(over 4 years)
Acquired and edited work by award-winning and bestselling authors, including Lydia Davis, Joyce Carol Oates, Charles Simic, Edwidge Danticat, Lara Vapnyar, László Krasznahorkai, César Aira, etc.
Interviewed Noam Chomsky, John Banville, T.C. Boyle, and Amy Grace Loyd.
Featured in New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Poets & Writers, and The Library Journal.
Portfolio (7 selected works)
The Dark
Sergio Chejfec
"Early in Sergio Chejfec's The Dark, the nameless narrator describes his disorientation when looking over a landscape as 'the vertigo of simple things.' This phrase describes the experience of reading Chejfec's novel. . . . These moments, when Chejfec combines exquisite prose with the human yearning for truth and beauty, keep us reading, weighing the novel's contradictions, sifting through the... read more
Seiobo There Below
Laszlo Krasznahorkai
ATTENTION!: A (short) History
Joshua Cohen
You've paid money for this book in order to pay attention. You are skeptical, which is to say, unforgiving. You have enough money to afford this book or you have family or friends who do and who don't mind your borrowing, or you have the type of family or friends who gift books like this on auspicious, and even for no, occasions, in which case perhaps you're only being attentive because you're... read more
What's Important Is Feeling: Stories
Adam Wilson
Bankers prowl Brooklyn bars on the eve of the stock market crash. A debate over Young Elvis versus Vegas Elvis turns existential. Detoxing junkies use a live lobster to spice up their love life. Students on summer break struggle to escape the orbit of a seemingly utopic communal house.And in the title story, selected for The Best American Short Stories, two film school buddies working on a doo... read more
Flings: Stories
Justin Taylor
The acclaimed author of Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever and The Gospel of Anarchy makes his hardcover debut with a piercing collection of short fiction that illuminates our struggle to find love, comfort, and identity.In a new suite of powerful and incisive stories, Justin Taylor captures the lives of men and women unmoored from their pasts and uncertain of their futures.A man writes hi... read more
The Things We Don't Do
Andrés Neuman
"Good readers will find something that can be found only in great literature, the kind written by real poets, a literature that dares to venture into the dark with open eyes and that keeps its eyes open no matter what . . . . The literature of the twenty-first century will belong to Neuman and a few of his blood brothers."—Roberto BolañoPlayful, philosophizing, and gloriously unpredictable, An... read more
Happiness, Like Water
Chinelo Okparanta
"Astonishing. Okparanta’s narrators render their stories with such strength and intimacy, such lucidity and composure, that in each and every case the truths of their lives detonate deep inside the reader’s heart, with the power and force of revelation."—Paul HardingHere are Nigerian women at home and transplanted to the United States, building lives out of longing and hope, faith and doubt, t... read more
Laura Mae has 26 reviews
Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality
Laura, is an excellent editor. Her feedback enhanced my novella and helped me gain valuable writing skills. So glad to have worked with her.
Ingrid Duva, January 2019
Laura has been the perfect editor for my book! She provided me with incredibly helpful insight about plot, clarity, purpose, etc. She responds quickly and thoroughly to all of my questions and completed all work in a timely manner. On top of that, she is very positive and kind even while providing constructive criticism. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for editorial feedback!
KS Woltmann, August 2018
Laura was great, she was insightful, experienced, communicated her points very well, and could explain and understand more than I could, which was the point.
Suzanne Carney, August 2018
Great stories come from dedicated writers, yes, but they are also the product of great editors. Laura is a great editor. She reads with a keen understanding of character development and craft, and more importantly, a dedication to the writer's voice and intention. I highly recommend her.
Rae Bryant, July 2018
Laura provided incredible insight and has helped me rethink about how to best craft my story. She is truly excellent. I will definitely work with Laura again.
Ingrid Duva, July 2018
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