Allison Malecha

Allison Malecha – Editor

Freelance editor for fiction, thrillers, nonfiction, with 5 years of experience at Grove Atlantic, 6 in books. Day job: foreign book scout.

Overview

I have over five years of experience working on literary fiction, crime fiction/thrillers, and nonfiction. Currently I am a foreign literary scout (which means my job is to know the U.S. book market inside and out) but have a background in editorial from independent publishing house Grove Atlantic, where I was also involved with the imprint The Mysterious Press and the literary journal Freeman's. I've edited numerous titles across the above categories, working both with my own authors and house authors who always valued my communicativeness and the care given to their work.

I love language and have the greatest respect for those who are able to translate it to the blank page. As an editor, my approach is to try to understand the author's vision for their own work and then help them achieve the best version of that vision. I get as much of a thrill seeing where the big picture goes awry and helping an author reorient course as I do getting into the weeds with a line edit. For content/developmental editing, I'm happy to do more than one round, focusing first on macro edits and then attending to micro-level issues. I also can offer editorial assessments. Overall I advocate for open lines of communication and transparency throughout the process.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs History True Crime
Fiction
Coming of Age Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Short Story Thriller & Suspense
Languages
English (CAN) English (US)

Work experience

Bettina Schrewe Literary Scouting

Mar, 2018 — Present

Book scout for over twenty foreign publishers and a film client.

Grove Atlantic

Jun, 2013 — Feb, 2018 (over 4 years)

Worked closely with the publisher on a range of literary fiction, thrillers, and serious nonfiction.
Managed in-house editorial for the imprint The Mysterious Press and the journal Freeman's.

Portfolio

With their signature wit, sly plotting, and gloriously offbeat characters, Martha Grimes’s New York Times bestselling Richard Jury mysteries are “utterly unlike anyone else’s detective novels” (Washington Post). In the latest series outing, The Knowledge, the ... read more
The Prague Sonata

Bradford Morrow

From the critically acclaimed author Bradford Morrow, a literary quest novel that travels from Nazi-occupied Prague to turn-of-the-millennium New York as a young musicologist seeks to solve the mystery behind an eighteenth-century sonata manuscriptMusic and wa... read more
“The oldest is 70. The youngest, 26. In between, the best list of this kind I have ever seen.”―Marlon James In three issues, the literary anthology from leading editor John Freeman has gained an international following and wide acclaim: "fresh, provocative, en... read more
John Woman

Walter Mosley

A convention-defying novel by bestselling writer Walter Mosley, John Woman recounts the transformation of an unassuming boy named Cornelius Jones into John Woman, an unconventional history professor―while the legacy of a hideous crime lurks in the shadows. At ... read more
From two-time Caine Prize finalist Elnathan John, a dynamic young voice from Nigeria, Born on a Tuesday is a stirring, starkly rendered first novel about a young boy struggling to find his place in a society that is fracturing along religious and political lin... read more
From a long-time Guardian correspondent and editor, an expansive, authoritative, and balanced account of over a century of violent confrontation, war, and occupation in Palestine and Israel, published on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and 50t... read more
“H.M. Naqvi is a superb stylist and writes like a poet. With careful attention to details and with enormous patience he presents a world that is at once fascinating and familiar. The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is completely original in form and sen... read more
Help Me!

Marianne Power

I wanted to find out what would happen if I really did follow the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Really felt The Power of Now? Could life be transformed? Could I get rich? Skinny? Find love? Be more productive and fulfilled? Because I really did want all... read more

Allison has 4 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

renate K.

renate K.

Aug, 2020

Allison's work was excellent in every respect. Her review was detailed and comprehensive. She understood aspects of the characters and story that few other editors understood. Her attention to detail was astonishing. She was positive and yet made extensive recommendation for changes. I can't say enough.
Matt C.

Matt C.

May, 2020

Allison is an absolute professional with a long resume of real world, Big 5 experience to bring your work to the next level. She’s responsive, empathetic, and timely with her edits. Hire her now!
Laura J.

Laura J.

Nov, 2019

I enjoyed working with Allison throughout the editorial process. She provided thoughtful comments and showed respect for the author in her line edits and overall report. I felt confident that her feedback was based on careful review of the my manuscript and was not a simple regurgitation of best practices one might find in a blog or how-to book. I also appreciated the specificity of her feedbac...
Read more
Greg S.

Greg S.

Aug, 2019

Allison did a great job! She offered helpful general advice, suggested corrections and explained why when it wasn't obvious, and made several comments suggesting improvement/clarification to the work. It reads much better for her help. I will be asking her for help in the future. Thanks, Allison!

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