David Yurkovich – Editor

book editor - journal editor - graphic novelist - publisher - writer

I'm an experienced copy editor and developmental editor with > 20 years of experience working in publishing. I am also co-owner of a small press with four publishing imprints. We publish literary, sci-fi, detective, horror, and memoir.

Why you should work with me: I am easy going and detail oriented (some would say meticulously so) in helping authors polish their work. I will edit your work, keeping in mind both the editorial aspect as well as the reader aspect of the manuscript. In other words, my approach to editing is not merely to edit, but to also read the work as a fan. At the same time, I am extremely respectful to your voice and your work. My job is not to rewrite you per se, but to serve as an objective professional whose role it is to help make your work shine.

Having worked with several agents, I've learned that it's good to trust that a skilled editor will objectively spot issues unseen to the author. Ultimately, I would like you to be highly satisfied with the work I perform and derive value from it, I strive to ensure that the level of editing performed matches your desired expectations. I make it my mission not to change your voice or rewrite your story. I sometime teach in my comments, because I like all authors to leave our collaboration empowered and better informed about writing and editing. I began publishing before KDP and print-on-demand existed, and can share insights about self-publishing. I've also been repped by an agent, and can give a little insight there too, and am happy to share my experiences if they're helpful. I've written and/or edited many agent query letters and have performed tons of editorial assessments. I typically only perform editorial assessments if I'm I'm editing a manuscript, though I sometimes accept these requests for short stories.

Speaking of which, I enjoy working on short stories a lot and can turnaround works of up to 5k words within 24-48 hours if needed. I'm usually online and will reply to your messages quickly, often within minutes.

For large format works, I recommend we work in batches. If cost is an issue, I'm happy to work with you. With some authors, I edit a chapter a month. This is sometimes more economical for the author, because it provides them with an opportunity to review my work as we go, and collaborate on revisions. Again, I'm very flexible. Please take a moment to review my feedback.

I look forward to hearing from you!