Harrison Demchick

Harrison Demchick – Editor

The world's most thorough content editor. Expert in fiction and memoir. More than 70 books and 60 authors guided toward publication.

Overview

Harrison D came up in the world of small press publishing, working along the way on more than 80 published novels and memoirs, several of which have been optioned for film. An expert in manuscripts as diverse as young adult, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery, literary fiction, women's fiction, memoir, and everything in-between, Harrison is known for quite possibly the most detailed and informative editorial letters in the industry--if not the entire universe.

Harrison operates under the principle that it's not enough to tell you what isn't working. You also need to know what is working, so you know what you're doing well. And when it comes to what isn't, you need to know exactly why and, most importantly, how you can make it better.

Aside from his editing work, Harrison is the writer of 2021 indie dramedy Ape Canyon, and the author of literary horror novel The Listeners (Bancroft Press, 2012) and short stories like "Magicland" (Phantom Drift, 2018) and "The Yesterday House" (Aurealis, 2020).
Services
Fiction
Action & Adventure Fantasy Horror Humor & Comedy Literary Fiction Middle Grade Mystery & Crime Plays & Screenplays Romance Science Fiction Short Story Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Young Adult
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Languages
English (US)
Awards
  • Baltimore Screenwriters Competition (First Place)
Certifications
  • BA in English with a Creative Writing concentration from Oberlin College

Work experience

Freelance Editorial Boutique

Mar, 2012 — Present

Developmental editor handling all fiction and memoir for a prominent freelance editorial boutique representing a collective quarter-century of traditional publishing experience. We operate under the principle that every edit is not just an opportunity to improve your work, but also to provide you a personalized, one-on-one lesson in writing, with your manuscript as the example.

Most importantly, it's our job to help you attain your vision.

Really Good Editing

Jun, 2011 — Apr, 2012 (10 months)

Developmental freelance editor. 

Bancroft Press

Jun, 2005 — Feb, 2014 (over 8 years)

Editing. Marketing. Distribution. Screenwriting. Absolutely everything involved with small press traditional publishing, and then some.

Portfolio

“Find the descendants.”Those are the final words Matt Anderson hears from his dying father on the floor of his parents’ bedroom on Matt’s seventeenth birthday. But Matt has never heard of descendants. He knows nothing of the mysterious world his father has kep... read more
Black Eyed Susan

Elizabeth Leiknes

My name is Susan Spector. I have one black eye, and one blue eye. I am colorblind. I experience synesthesia. My blood type is AB negative. I was born on a leap year. Do I sound like a freak yet? Oh yeah, and I'm dying of stage four lung cancer. My diagnosis pr... read more
The Ditch Kitty

Gregory, JT

Scraps

Moore, Dr Ted

Psychedelic Turnpikes

Johnson, Collin M.

The Leopard Behind the Moon

Paasewe-Valchev, Mayonn

Haywood Micaye

Doyle, Ashlynne

The Tech Games

Hernandez, Jonathan M

The Intern

Hogenkamp, Peter

Rusted Sky

Whitcomb, Nicholas "Tac"

Contract City

Mark Falkin

The year is 2021 and the money is still green. The fully privatized city of Tulsa, OK, is home to Sara Paige Christie, a teenage girl with her heart set on a film career in L.A. and her camera trained on the graffiti-covered walls of the city’s outskirts. In p... read more
The long-awaited Strange Round Bird brings Eden Unger Bowditch’s Young Inventors Guild trilogy to a satisfying conclusion―no mean feat with so many threads and mysteries to be resolved. The children―young inventors all―are brought together with their parents a... read more
Teenage girls are being murdered in Los Angeles. Four in one week. The latest victim isn’t like the others—not a runaway or prostitute—but a nanny working for a celebrity couple. And this has Sibeal “Beth” Getty, perplexed. Beth, an Irish born fashion model gi... read more
Aine Pennington is young. Beautiful. Famous far beyond County Pim and through all of Turalynn for her rhapsodic voice. Between her concerts, her bank fortune, and her mastery of the futures markets, she can buy and sell most earls and lords.And she wants so mu... read more
A troubled home, a family secret, and a technological breakthrough turn a teen’s world Slideways. If fifteen-year-old Ben believes his life is forever shattered after his brother’s accident, he is about to be amazed. After Ben’s grandfather, GranPat, a highly ... read more
The Wardens have returned.Traitors to humanity, the Wardens were an ancient order of men and women seeking to once more enslave their own people to the Elves. With the rise of rifle and iron rail, Elves were finally driven from the world, but in secret enclave... read more
The thrilling, un-put-downable sequel to The Year of Four.According to the press, Phoebe Pope and teen movie star Colten Chase are no longer an item—which is just how the happy new couple like it. And yet there’s trouble in paradise . . . Phoebe is haunted by ... read more
Gemini Rising

Erin Williams

The Bullfrog Bar in the sleepy town of Willow seemed like the ideal place for 21 year old Kit to start a life free from the abuse she’d known until now. After befriending the locals and catching the attention of the handsome twin men who own the bar, she dares... read more
Nick Noelle, a salt-of-the-earth, Creole-born detective, has always been his own man, playing by his own rules. When police discover that the mutilated victim found in the swampy bayou is the body of Julia Brunswick, daughter of the richest oilman in Texas, No... read more
The Show

Filip Syta

"An eye-opening tale of all the money, sex and drugs washing through the tech world, from someone who lived it." ― Jim Edwards, Editor-in-Chief, Business Insider UKThink of the greatest tech company in the world. Imagine getting a job there. Picture the perks:... read more
Finding the Gray

Sara Landers

Imagine winning the lottery - then losing your ticket before you cash it. Andi Selby, a 27-year-old single mother of one living paycheck to paycheck, refuses to date and may possibly be cracking up due to longstanding loneliness and financial anemia. Andi make... read more
When mere survival blossoms into love . . . For the past decade, Matty Bell has lived safe in a self-made monochromatic life of work-eat-sleep-survive. Living vicariously through her best friend Claire's perfect life wasn't the plan, nor her ideal. However, Ma... read more
One Murder More

Kris Calvin

Silver Falchion Awards 2016 Winner: Best First Novel, Best Political Thriller, Best Female Detective/Sleuth In Kris Calvin's debut mystery One Murder More, a beautiful legislative aide is found stabbed to death in California's Capitol building. Maren Kane, a l... read more
Miss Fortune

Albina Hume

Memoir Miss Fortune is a rollicking account of a woman coming of age in modern Ukraine. Finalist at the Kindle Book Awards 2016. Albina Hume is often asked the same question - how did she meet her South African husband John, a property developer and the man wh... read more
"This bracing, complex tale pits a fantasy-world version of the Victorian British Empire against a sorcerer-dictator out of The Lord of the Rings." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Thanks to rifle and iron rail, humanity now flourishes after centuries of subm... read more
Brave Hearts

Erin Williams

Sam feared her infertility would forever be an obstacle to finding a lasting relationship, and when her boyfriend of two years unceremoniously breaks up with her, she is ready to give up on love altogether. With help from her effervescent friend, Holly, and he... read more
There was a time when all was right in Taylor Dresden’s world―that is, as long as she was on the baseball diamond, pitching with all her heart.But that was years ago.Now, as she heads toward her senior year, the magic is gone. There’s no competition in her New... read more
Indie Review:"THE RINGLING CHRONICLES presents one of the true masterpieces of Renaissance Florence to Young Adult readers.""THE RINGLING CHRONICLES is a Young Adult story of Renaissance Florence, especially about the building of Il Duomo, the Dome on Florence... read more
The Fast Track 50 is a simple system, designed by an in-the-trenches procurer of temp services, to substantially improve a temp’s chances of achieving a full-time position. The 50 tips are designed to help any temp get quickly up to speed on any employer s bas... read more
The year is 635,039 A.D. The primitive Homo sapiens 'bowlheads' are just a bad memory. Their remnants have split into six species, only one of which chooses to call themselves human. Like the wolf and the eagle, these new humans have learned to live sustainabl... read more
"How does one arrive at a life in politics and policy? What happens to one’s ideals when confronted with the reality that the only way to get things done in Washington is compromise? Who are the men and women who help shape our national agenda, and what drives... read more
Whispers: Behind the Eyes and Mind of a Schizophrenic is a true story. This is my story of what it's like living with schizophrenia. Since I was a young girl, I experienced a lot of unexplained abnormal activities. As I got older, my symptoms got worse, and I ... read more
It's Bianca Balducci's junior year in high school, and she's got more than enough on her plate―impending SAT scores, college admissions, and the mixed signals of sort-of-boyfriend Doug. But when she finds out her mother, widowed as long as Bianca can remember,... read more
How to lose your job and find true love… Fed up with impossible deadlines and meaningless busywork, Anne Wyatt goes to work one day determined to resign. But that's the day her boss announces someone's getting laid off (and with a generous severance package). ... read more
Orphaned and penniless in 1922 Baltimore, Maryland, fifteen-year-old Carl and seventeen-year-old Adam Matuski are forced to move across the continent to live with their Uncle Pete in Portland, Oregon. Almost from the beginning, homesick Carl desperately wants ... read more
Queens of All the Earth

Hannah Sternberg

As her freshman classmates move into dorms at Cornell University, Olivia Somerset suffers a nervous breakdown. Big sister Miranda decides the sisters should fly off to Barcelona for some vacation therapy. When a mistake at their Barcelona hostel leaves the Som... read more
Erik never had to be anything other than a freak...until now. Two hundred fifty-three days is a long time to fake being normal when night after night you perform miraculous feats on stage in a freak show. Thousands have paid to witness the miracle, suspecting ... read more
Changing Michael

Jeff Schilling

"Don’t Let Them Know Who You AreMatthew knows how things work. He’s pretty much an expert.For example: friends. Friendship requires both give and take, and Matthew strongly prefers taking. The solution is close acquaintances―people who think you’re their frien... read more
Dracula Is Dead

Sheilah Kast

In December 1989, Romanians overthrew dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, ending more than forty years of Communist totalitarianism. Five years ago, on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of Communism in Romania, former United States ambassador to Romania Jim Rosape... read more
When Archer and Ione are invited to take part in the newest venture by an industrial tycoon at his summer home on Mantioch Island, they are ready for the challenge. Once arriving, an investment presentation is hosted by a man named Dr. Chapman. During this tim... read more
Reality Jane

Shannon Nering

Set behind the scenes of America's most popular guilty pleasure―reality TV―Reality Jane delivers a high-spirited, delicious tale of finding love and a career in Hollywood while juggling lipo envy, singlehood angst, and the resounding results of success. Realit... read more
Rebooting in Beverly Hills is Sex and the City for the next generation. It's the witty, charming, and absolutely true account of Marcy Miller, a competent, attractive professional woman, as she struggles to re-enter the dating world after the esteem-killing di... read more
The Goddess Letters

Vicki Matthews

Winner, New York Book Festival: RomanceFinalist, 2014 International Book Awards: New Age Fiction Finalist, National Indie Excellence Award: Visionary FictionFinalist, National Indie Excellence Award: New Age FictionFinalist, USA Best Book Awards: New Age Ficti... read more
New York socialite Goldie Fischer seems to have it all: wealth, beauty, and a fiancé to die for. Until she’s murdered on her wedding night by a jealous witch and instantaneously loses everything. Angry and seeking revenge, Goldie becomes a dybbukher soul posse... read more
Lucy Burns wants a normal life: friends, love, and a family of her own. And she could have it all if only she could break free from the job she hates.That job? Facilitator to hell.And her boss is a real devil.At the age of eleven, to save her sister’s life, Lu... read more
Major Penelope Baldwin, accomplished pilot and tactician, could have expected a bright future and stable military career until a dubious flight mission over Al A’Zamiyah, Iraq, results in the loss of her left leg. As Penelope struggles in recovery, her mother,... read more
Scott Kersey speeds off to the park’s bike and run trail to help his mother. When he and his father arrive, Scott sees the police, an ambulance, and someone in a body bag. After realizing that the body in the bag is his mother, he regrets the fact that he deli... read more
This light-hearted memoir takes place in Fleischmanns, NY, a small Catskill Mountain village whose population increased from a few hundred to many thousands during the summer in the 1950s and 1960s. While some people think small towns are boring places to live... read more
"Unsparing, brutal, and strangely beautiful." Allison Glasgow, editor at ThugLit "A harrowing, hallowing ode to those whose options boil down to a bullet, a bank or a strange stretch of highway. American Letters has found in Harper an agent worthy to take the ... read more
STOLEN VOTES

Joseph Guion

A group of Washington DC insiders plan to steal the 1986 Senatorial Election using murder, kidnapping and technology. A Disgraced former Navy SEAL and his girlfriend Beth become possible victims when they witness the murder of a computer programmer friend. Dan... read more
Thrown a Curve

Sara Griffiths

Ever since his mother left, life hasn't been easy for Heath Wellington, III. Between his father’s (Junior’s) bouts with alcoholism and literary rejection, and Heath’s own wrongful suspension from school, there hasn't been all that much to be thankful for.But f... read more
Singled Out

Sara Griffiths

There was a time when all was right in Taylor Dresden's world―that is, as long as she was on the baseball diamond, pitching with all her heart. But that was years ago. Now, there's no competition in her New Jersey high school, and summer league is not much bet... read more
"Ali Parker, a high school senior, is in love for the first time in her seventeen-year life. Her Mr. Perfect boyfriend, Matt Ryan, is a talented artist who hopes to attend Pratt Institute in New York, and Ali plans to major in journalism at a prestigious colle... read more
A PROFOUND AND INTENSELY MOVING BOYHOOD MEMOIRKaufman’s Hill opens with a prosaic neighborhood scene: The author and some other young boys are playing by the creek, one of their usual stomping grounds. But it soon becomes clear that much more is going on; the ... read more
Back Creek

Leslie Goetsch

"It’s the summer of 1975. Eighteen-year-old Grace Barnett knows she should be preparing to leave for college in September. But a strange Memorial Day boating accident on the creek near her Virginia home―she’s the only witness to the apparent suicide―kicks off ... read more
" The True Secrets of the Greaser HotelThe Greaser Hotel is an eyesore even by eyesores’ standards. A long forgotten place, it sits dilapidated and mostly vacant amid a sea of Baltimore vacancies. But this building, this former lap of luxury, is much more than... read more
You think history is boring? Baltimore kid Daniel does―until a chance encounter with a magical talking raven named Calvert sends him flying back to 1814, where he finds his home city under siege by a British army on the verge of defeating the United States of ... read more
When it comes to surviving the joys of parenthood, take Sandi Kahn Shelton’s advice: You Might As Well Laugh. In this hilarious collection of essays and columns, Shelton offers humor as the best therapy for post-modern parenting. From lost keys and broken appl... read more
Contract City

Mark Falkin

The year is 2021 and the money is still green. The fully privatized city of Tulsa, OK, is home to Sara Paige Christie, a teenage girl with her heart set on a film career in L.A. and her camera trained on the graffiti-covered walls of the city’s outskirts. In p... read more
North Korea, a Communist nation in desperate financial straits, concentrates its military resources on a scientist bent on swiftly creating missile technology that can: a) take out other countries satellites in space; b) disseminate nuclear payloads to all par... read more
NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, ELLE CASEY, brings readers Book 1 in the YA Urban Fantasy WAR OF THE FAE Series. Jayne Sparks, a potty-mouthed, rebellious seventeen-year-old and her best friend, shy and bookish Tony Green, have a pretty typica... read more
Now Who's The Joker

Peter C. BonSey

Takes up the intertwined lives of two families from opposite ends of mid 1800s English social strata as progressive attitudes and morals insert a wedge through which the protagonist manages to tear down those that he blames for his situation. Can the ironic en... read more
Sir William never dealt with the little people. While they sold basics like food and clothing, through the Royal Shipping Line, he sold silks, gold, spices, oriental rugs, and Persian carpets, fetching more money per item than his tenants earned in a year. Lit... read more
An eleven year old son of an Essex County village working class family changes the destiny of the Cane family. The familys mantra of living your life by playing the cards that you have been dealt, never loses its influence on him. Pre-Victorian values, and soc... read more
It has been mere days since the brilliant children of the Young Inventors Guild escaped from the clutches of the horrible Komar Romak.They've escaped with their lovely and caring schoolteacher, Miss Brett; with their long-absent parents; and with their bizarre... read more
Scholars, professors, and historians have wondered for centuries how and why Lady Macbeth, the beautiful, beloved wife of a nobleman, had to encourage--nay, push--her husband, Prince Macbeth, to commit the ghastly crime of killing the king. The great Sigmund F... read more
Jackie O: On the Couch is the story of Jackie Kennedy Onassis as she might have written it. This is not just another biography. For the first time, Jackie O: On the Couch highlights Jackie’s life from her own perspective, as imagined by author Dr. Alma Bond, a... read more
Summer has finally arrived, but Mia Fullerton does not have much to celebrate. Her best friend, Lisa, is spending the summer at a Mensa camp, and her boyfriend, Tim, will be at his grandparents house in Maine. So, stuck with a choice of spending the next two m... read more
A contemporary Washington mystery with a high tech, China twist… A brilliantly-conceived spy novel introducing seven engaging characters whose lives are transformed by crisis.It begins as a drinking club in an academic backwater on the Stanford University camp... read more
Not just the United States, but the entire world, remembers that fateful November day back in 2018 when Al Qaeda terrorists held the entire nation hostage in exchange for the public disclosure of an anti-terrorist bio-weapon that may not have even existed. In ... read more
The Listeners

Harrison Demchick

Before the plague, and the quarantine, fourteen-year-old Daniel Raymond had only heard of the Listeners. They were a gang, or at least that’s what his best friend Katie’s police officer father said. They were criminals, thieves, monsters―deadly men clearly ide... read more
Meet Woody Robins, a bon vivant, devil-may-care wine guru who specializes in investigatory work involving rare artifacts of a vinous nature. Amidst the backdrop of world-famous Napa, California wine country, and upbeat, cosmopolitan “city by the bay” San Franc... read more
"In 1903, five truly brilliant young inventors, the children of the world’s most important scientists, are taken from their lives and their parents by the mysterious men in black. They take twelve-year-old Jasper and six-year-old Lucy Modest from London, Engla... read more
The Understory

Elizabeth Leiknes

Story Easton knows the first line of every book, but never the last.She never cries, but she fakes it beautifully.And at night, she escapes from the failure of her own life by breaking into the homes of others, and feeling, for a short while, like a different,... read more
Renhala

Amy Joy Lutchen

Kailey Rooke, timid accountant, dedicated to philanthropic work, finds herself spiraling into a deep depression after she suffers a horrifyingly odd and humiliating assault, to only discover more of these freakish assaults occurring across the globe. A chance ... read more
The Samaritan

Stephen Besecker

After a youth marked by the death of his parents and a childhood spent with his shaman grandfather on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, Kevin “Hatch” Easter has found a job he believes in—tracker for the CIA—and a wife, Karen, he cherishes. But his life is s... read more
Hume’s Fork

Ron Cooper

"Barely adequate philosophy professor Legare Hume has a mind-body problem. No matter how far he goes, no matter how hard he thinks, he can't escape the world he lives in. On the run from his wife Tally, Legare joins brilliant but exceptionally awkward colleagu... read more
Purple Jesus

Ron Cooper

Purvis Driggers is a South Carolina Low Country loser. With little judgment and even less chance for a decent life beyond his parents' house, home town, and whatever part-time work he can scrounge up, he's sure he's figured a way out: Rob an old man of the rum... read more
False Gods

L.R. Trovillion

They say there’s no harm in trying. Or is there? Cory Iverson has her sights set on riding in the prestigious Washington International Horse Show—a tall order for even the most experienced competitors. Problem is, she doesn’t even own a horse. But there’s an e... read more
As Edwyrd Eska approaches his two-hundredth year as Guardian of the Core, he must find an Apprentice to train under him. His title and role compels him to safeguard and govern his universe, Gladonus, as each Guardian before him has done and those after him sha... read more
The Delusion

Laura Gallier

Fans of Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Bill Myers, D.I. Telbat, and Stephenie Meyer will love this debut thriller by Laura Gallier!*****We all have our demons.Are unseen spiritual forces actually at work in my life?It's an intriguing question that confronts us all... read more

Harrison has 90 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

irem K.

irem K.

Feb, 2024

It was a pleasure to work with Harrison. His feedback was really detailed and honest. I look forward to working with him again.
Mariana B.

Mariana B.

Jan, 2024

My collaboration with Harrison was a wonderful experience. I’m a novice writer, and despite having a short project, he approached it with the same level of commitment and care as I have seen on his samples for longer works. His professionalism, patience and attention to details not only with his feedback, but also answering all my questions, has given me the confidence and direction I needed to...
Read more
Nick H.

Nick H.

Jan, 2024

Working with Harrison has been, by no short measure, the most pleasurable and productive freelance editorial support I have ever received. Having worked through Reedsy's editorial marketplace on a handful of projects in the past, the engagement with Harrison surpassed every prior experience in depth of insight, thoughtful consideration of themes and narrative components, and specificity of cons...
Read more
John D.

John D.

Nov, 2023

If you google anything about writing a novel, it will tell you that you need an editor and professional illustrator. You really never know who a good match will be or work well in developing your project. Boy did I luck out. Harrison has been a blessing, and I can honestly say that without him, my first book would have never been published. There is so much that actually is involved in the proc...
Read more
ALVARO G.

ALVARO G.

Nov, 2023

Harrison is an experienced and knowledgeable professional with a strong background in writing, which makes his editing all the more useful. Most importantly, he could think “out of the box” indispensable to work on this project, a “hybrid libretto” that does not conform to the standard stage play format, although it has many of its elements. He provided, therefore, a “proof of concept” for wha...
Read more

Sign up to read more reviews

Create a free Reedsy account to connect with Harrison and thousands of other publishing professionals on Reedsy.

Professionals similar to Harrison

Get a range of offers by requesting quotes from multiple professionals.

Nicola Evans

Nicola E.

Editor and proofreader with 15+ years experience, specialising in cookery, biography, history, politics, current affairs, self-help, travel.

London, UK

100% reply rate

View profile
Ed Wright

Ed W.

Astute, experienced and empathetic, I'm a narrative problem solver and sentence sharpener who works well with big presses and solo authors.

Newcastle NSW, Australia

100% reply rate

View profile
Rachael Stein

Rachael S.

Experienced children's book editor who's passionate about helping you bring your stories to life.

New York City, NY, USA

100% reply rate

View profile