Hallie Tibbetts - Editor

I'm a hands-on editor of children's books, romance, and speculative fiction ready to help you polish and refine your novel. I'm happy to work with debut and established authors as well as with traditional and self-publishers.

While at Hachette, I worked on books for ages 0-18 at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, including board books, picture books, middle grade, and young adult; I'm a lifelong reader and writer of romance and speculative fiction/science fiction/fantasy for all ages as well, so I'm interested in and tapped into that part of the market. I'm in support of stories that haven't found their way into the current marketplace, so please reach out with LGBTQ work, stories with disabled characters, and books set in or outside the United States with BIPOC characters.

While I've edited both fiction and nonfiction, novels are my wheelhouse, and rolling up my sleeves and diving in to support a story arc is my delight. (And a note: I'm generally not open to editing or assessing picture book manuscripts, or early chapter books, at this time.) But you're more interested in how I can help you make your story its best version. Here's how we can work together:

For editorial assessments, I'll provide you with a document detailing what is and isn't working with your manuscript, and if you're seeking traditional publication, its market outlook. Keeping the big picture in mind, I'll delve into plot, character, pacing, structure, theme(s), and other elements that make books satisfying and memorable, and offer suggestions for revision.

For developmental editing, I like to begin with a brief call or online meeting to find out about your goals for the book and for your writing, along with anything I might need to know to frame my feedback to you, such as historical inspiration, personal experiences, or current events. (Note that this is optional; we can skip this step if it causes you stress!) As with an editorial assessment, I'll provide you with a document addressing strengths in your story and areas to improve, and I'll also make notes in your manuscript using tracked changes in Word so that you can pinpoint rough or slow spots, consider cuts or smoother transitions, evaluate small-scale questions of consistency and character, and so on. In my offer, I'll provide a plan for one or more rounds of edits to cover everything, so I appreciate having your entire manuscript in your request brief, as that helps me accurately assess the work to be done.

I endeavor to be thorough and thoughtful: let's not leave any stone unturned! It's my job to help you stress-test your book in the pre-publication stage so that when it's time for publication, you've told the story you wanted to tell in the way that you wanted to tell it -- and told in a way that captivates readers and showcases your skills.