Aja Pollock - Editor
Austin, United States
Making sure your prose sings, your facts and story are straight, and your unique voice shines through.
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Overview
My mission is to enable writers to connect with readers through clear and vibrant prose. I approach every project with sensitivity and respect for the author's voice and vision. For me, the goal of every edit, no matter how big or small, is to build a stronger bridge between writer and reader.
I've spent over a decade as a freelance editor for Simon & Schuster (where I began my trade publishing career as an in-house production editor), Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Macmillan as well as smaller houses and self-publishing authors. My reputation as a sensitive, careful, and thoughtful editor has brought me manuscripts from just about every genre by an incredibly diverse array of authors, from first-time novelists to beloved, long-established writers, from twentysomething bloggers to globe-trotting journalists with decades of experience, and even a former president, for good measure.
And now a few words from authors who were kind enough to thank me in their books:
[Thank you to] everyone at Scribner—especially copy editor Aja Pollock, who knew the correct spelling of “Yog-Sothoth.”
--Patton Oswalt, author of Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
Copy editor Aja Pollock's eagle eye took the book to a higher level.
--Bill Parcells and Nunyo Demasio, authors of Parcells: A Football Life
Aja Pollock is not only a brilliant copy editor but saved me countless times from undoubtedly incurring the wrath of horror fans everywhere with careless mistakes.
--Adam Rockoff, author of The Horror of It All
Special thanks to my amazing copyeditor, Aja Pollock. Outstanding work! Thanks for putting the polish on the shine.
--Eric Jerome Dickey, author of Naughtier Than Nice
My copy editor, Aja Pollock, saved me from countless errors.
--H. D. S. Greenway, author of Foreign Correspondent
Special thanks to Aja Pollock for all the ways you bettered the manuscript.
--Lauren Weisberger, author of Revenge Wears Prada
And [thanks] especially to Aja Pollock, my copy editor, an unsung hero, who was meticulous and supersmart.
--Rachel Greenwald, author of Have Him at Hello
I've spent over a decade as a freelance editor for Simon & Schuster (where I began my trade publishing career as an in-house production editor), Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Macmillan as well as smaller houses and self-publishing authors. My reputation as a sensitive, careful, and thoughtful editor has brought me manuscripts from just about every genre by an incredibly diverse array of authors, from first-time novelists to beloved, long-established writers, from twentysomething bloggers to globe-trotting journalists with decades of experience, and even a former president, for good measure.
And now a few words from authors who were kind enough to thank me in their books:
[Thank you to] everyone at Scribner—especially copy editor Aja Pollock, who knew the correct spelling of “Yog-Sothoth.”
--Patton Oswalt, author of Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
Copy editor Aja Pollock's eagle eye took the book to a higher level.
--Bill Parcells and Nunyo Demasio, authors of Parcells: A Football Life
Aja Pollock is not only a brilliant copy editor but saved me countless times from undoubtedly incurring the wrath of horror fans everywhere with careless mistakes.
--Adam Rockoff, author of The Horror of It All
Special thanks to my amazing copyeditor, Aja Pollock. Outstanding work! Thanks for putting the polish on the shine.
--Eric Jerome Dickey, author of Naughtier Than Nice
My copy editor, Aja Pollock, saved me from countless errors.
--H. D. S. Greenway, author of Foreign Correspondent
Special thanks to Aja Pollock for all the ways you bettered the manuscript.
--Lauren Weisberger, author of Revenge Wears Prada
And [thanks] especially to Aja Pollock, my copy editor, an unsung hero, who was meticulous and supersmart.
--Rachel Greenwald, author of Have Him at Hello
Languages
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Art
Biographies & Memoirs
Entertainment
History
Music
Photography
Travel
Fiction
Crime & Mystery
Fantasy
Historical Fiction
Humor & Comedy
Literature
Thriller
Women's Fiction
Certifications
- NYU Summer Publishing Institute
- BA in Medieval Culture from Brown University
Work experience
Freelance editor
on my porch, at a coffee shop, in far-flung places . . .
April, 2004
–
Present
(over 15 years)
Freelance copy editor, line editor, and development editor for publishers large and small, as well as self-published authors.
Senior Production Editor
Simon & Schuster
March, 2004
–
March, 2006
(about 2 years)
Portfolio (23 selected works)
The Female Persuasion: A Novel
Meg Wolitzer
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Ultra-readable." –Vogue "Equal parts cotton candy and red meat, in the best way." –People "Wolitzer’s social commentary can be as funny as it is queasily on target.” –Wall Street Journal"Wolitzer is one of those rare writers who creates droll and entertaining novels of ideas." –Fresh Air, NPR From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Interestings, an electric ... read more
Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen
[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG /> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif] “Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to Run In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the... read more
The Witch Elm: A Novel
Tana French
Named a New York Times Notable Book of 2018, and a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, The Boston Globe, LitHub, Vulture, Slate, Elle, Vox, and Electric Literature."Tana French’s best and most intricately nuanced novel yet." -- The New York TimesAn "extraordinary" (Stephen King) and "mesmerizing" (LA Times) new standalone novel from the master of crime and suspens... read more
41: A Portrait of My Father
George W. Bush
George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has authored a personal biography of his father, George H. W. Bush, the 41st President. Forty-three men have served as President of the United States. Countless books have been written about them. But never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words. A unique and inti... read more
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel
Neil Gaiman
A brilliantly imaginative and poignant fairy tale from the modern master of wonder and terror, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman’s first new novel for adults since his #1 New York Times bestseller Anansi Boys.This bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival, and memory and magic, makes the impossible all too real...
Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy
Ken Follett
Ken Follett’s magnificent new historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage. A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House. . . . A hou... read more
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Ben Fountain
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and a finalist for the National Book Award!From the PEN/Hemingway Award-winning author of the critically acclaimed short story collection, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, comes Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk ("The Catch-22 of the Iraq War" —Karl Marlantes).A razor-sharp satire set in Texas during America's war in Iraq, it explore... read more
The Melody Lingers On
Mary Higgins Clark
From #1 New York Times bestselling “Queen of Suspense” comes a thrilling novel about missing billions, a disgraced financier, and those determined to learn the truth at any cost…As the sole assistant to a famous upscale interior designer, Lane Harmon, mother to five-year-old Katie, is accustomed to visiting opulent homes around the tri-state area. A born optimist, Lane finds the glimpse into t... read more
The Japanese Lover: A Novel
Isabel Allende
Named one of the most anticipated novels of the year by New York Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Publishers Weekly, The Huffington Post, and more. From New York Times and internationally bestselling author Isabel Allende, an exquisitely crafted love story and multigenerational epic that sweeps from San Francisco in the present-day to Pola... read more
Yes Please
Amy Poehler
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Do you want to get to know the woman we first came to love on Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade? Do you want to spend some time with the lady who made you howl with laughter on Saturday Night Live, and in movies like Baby Mama, Blades of Glory, and They Came Together? Do you find yourself daydreaming about hanging out with the actor behind the brilliant Les... read more
Girl in a Band: A Memoir
Kim Gordon
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERKim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story—a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith's Just Kids.Often described as aloof, Kim Gordon opens up as neve... read more
New York Times bestselling author, comedian, and actor Patton Oswalt shares his entertaining memoir about coming of age as a performer and writer in the late ’90s while obsessively watching classic films at the legendary New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles.Between 1995 and 1999, Patton Oswalt lived with an unshakeable addiction. It wasn’t drugs, alcohol, or sex. It was film. After moving to L.A.... read more
The autobiography every true American has been waiting for: a shockingly candid and raw confessional from a national treasure.From his humble beginnings in a desolate Iowa coal mining town, his years at Our Lady Queen of Chewbacca High School to his odds-defying climb to the dizzying heights of becoming America’s most trusted and beloved television News Anchor, Ron Burgundy pulls no punches in... read more
Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir
Cyndi Lauper
Legendary and iconic singer, songwriter, actress and activist Cyndi Lauper offers a personal account of the journey that led her to become an international superstar.Legendary and iconic singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper offers a poignant account of the journey that led her to become an international superstar—from her years growing up in Queens, New York, to the making of enduring hits like “Tim... read more
I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen
Sylvie Simmons
The New York Times-bestselling, definitive biography of lengendary artist Leonard CohenSinger/songwriter Leonard Cohen is one of the most important and influential musical artists of the past fifty years—and one of the most elusive. In I’m Your Man, journalist Sylvie Simmons, one of the foremost chroniclers of the world of rock ’n’ roll and popular music, explores the extraordinary life and cr... read more
A Burnable Book: A Novel
Bruce Holsinger
In Chaucer's London, betrayal, murder, royal intrigue, mystery, and dangerous politics swirl around the existence of a prophetic book that foretells the deaths of England's kings. Bruce Holsinger's A Burnable Book is an irresistible historical thriller reminiscent of the classics An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Name of the Rose, and The Crimson Petal and the White.London, 1385. Surrounded b... read more
The Red: First Light (The Red Trilogy)
Linda Nagata
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2015 Reality TV and advanced technology make for high drama in this political thriller that combines the military action of Zero Dark Thirty with the classic science fiction of The Forever War.Lieutenant James Shelley, who has an uncanny knack for premeditating danger, leads a squad of advanced US Army military tasked with enforcing the peace around a conflict ... read more
Wool
Hugh Howey
For suspense-filled, post-apocalyptic thrillers, Wool is more than a self-published ebook phenomenon―it’s the new standard in classic science fiction.In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly uphel... read more
The First Bad Man: A Novel
Miranda July
From the acclaimed filmmaker, artist, and bestselling author of No One Belongs Here More Than You, a spectacular debut novel that is so heartbreaking, so dirty, so tender, so funny—so Miranda July—that readers will be blown away.Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who some... read more
The Siege Winter: A Novel
Ariana Franklin, Samantha Norman
A powerful historical novel by the late Ariana Franklin and her daughter Samantha Norman, The Siege Winter is a tour de force mystery and murder, adventure and intrigue, a battle for a crown, told by two courageous young women whose fates are intertwined in twelfth century England’s devastating civil war.1141. England is engulfed in war as King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda, vie ... read more
All Fall Down: A Novel
Jennifer Weiner
From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes her “best book yet” (Philadelphia Inquirer), a “compulsively readable” novel that shows “there’s no doubt Weiner knows how to deliver a certain kind of story, and well” (The New York Times Book Review).Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, an adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waitin... read more
Will be shipped from US. Used books may not include companion materials, may have some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, may not include CDs or access codes. 100% money back guarantee.
The Devil Aspect: A Novel
Craig Russell
"A blood-pumping, nerve-shredding thriller--elegant, edgy, ingenious. Craig Russell conjures not one but two unforgettable settings: Prague between the wars, pulsing with menace, and a Gothic mental asylum, as exciting a house of horrors as I've ever visited. You'll enter both with dread. You'll dwell in them with relish."--A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the W... read more
Aja has 31 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Communication
Aja was an approachable professional, happy and quick to answer questions. Her copyediting caught things I wouldn't have spotted in a million years. She pointed out where I could change words for better clarity (or I was using them in the wrong way), where my metaphors needed revising, where I'd inadvertently changed the first name of a minor character, and all the usual grammar and punctuation...
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Trish Heald, July 2019
Aja's review developmental edit was outstanding and without a doubt, set my manuscript on a path to be one readers could enjoy. There were numerous elements of specific feedback that, had I not somehow noticed them myself, would have detracted from the story. As a first-time novelist, her feedback was also general enough to translate to other manuscripts in development.
Both the editorial lett...
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Kevin Crowell, May 2019
Aja is my go-to copy editor. She's thorough and has a keen eye for sense and issues that an author often misses. I'd recommend her to anyone, and in particular anyone who is writing a series.
Ken Britz, March 2019
Aja did a wonderful job with her editorial feedback to my novel. Her points were concise and well documented and I value her suggestions. She pointed out issues that needed work but also complimented some features for a balanced and thoroughly professional assessment. Everything was done within the agreed timeline. I recommend having Aja as an editor to anyone who wants their work to shine.
Pat Lee, March 2019
Aja's editing is so helpful. She obviously takes great care to give the best feedback possible. This is the second time I've hired Aja. As a new author, her work is priceless. She gives suggestions that are helpful and constructive, but also directive. She has quite a bit of experience in the industry. Without a doubt, I will use her services again. Thank you Aja!
Denise Fredi, December 2018
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Caroline McArthur
Non-fiction editor specialising in illustrated books, cookery, craft, home and garden. Experience includes Vintage Publishing and BBC Books.
London, United Kingdom
Mark Swift
Proofreader, copy-editor and indexer with 11 years' experience working extensively for numerous big publishing houses and here on Reedsy.
Bispham, Blackpool, UK
