Overview
I am the author and anthologist of nearly 30 books released by traditional publishers, and worked for almost a dozen years as the fiction editor for an independent commercial publishing house. As editor, I would shepherd a given book through the entire life cycle of production, from manuscript acquisition to finished book on store shelves. As of this writing, I have edited over 90 titles, including more than a dozen that have won major literary prizes and been placed on various year's best lists.
Though I have experience working within many genres of fiction, my passion is speculative fiction. Typically, the weirder the better! In addition, though I have much experience in the entire editorial process, my biggest strength is in structural/developmental editing, in drilling down to what exactly works and does not work in terms of character, plot, pacing, theme and worldbuilding.
Services
Fiction
Languages
Work experience
Epigram Books
Senior editor for an independent commercial publisher, focusing on bestselling novels, collections, graphic novels and other long-form fiction and creative nonfiction. I shepherded a given book through the entire life cycle of production, from manuscript acquisition to finished book on store shelves. In addition, I helped to shape Singapore's literary landscape, by insisting on a high level of quality.
Nanyang Technological University
Part-time lecturer for NTU’s Master of Arts in Creative Writing and Publishing programme. I have developed courses in Contemporary Publishing (students gain and demonstrate knowledge of the history of publishing, the contemporary business and industry of publishing production, various theoretical perspectives, new technologies of production, and emerging electronic forms, as well as gaining competency in editorial work), and Editorial Theory & Practice, Functions & Strategies (students approach the publishing process and marketplace from the perspective of the editor, with the aim of more fully comprehending how fundamental to the reception of an individual work in any given genre the editor’s theoretical bases).
Self-employed
In addition to more than a dozen books that have not yet seen publication, I have done developmental editing for Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé's experimental novel Singular Acts of Endearment (2014), Deborah Emmanuel's prison memoir Rebel Rites (2016), Drewscape's parenting graphic novel The Ollie Comics: Diary of a First-Time Dad (2017), Tania De Rozario's literary game-book Somewhere Else, Another You (2018), and Daryl Qilin Yam's mosaic novella Shantih Shantih Shantih (2021; finalist, 2022 Singapore Literature Prize for Fiction; winner, Readers’ Favourite (English category), 2022 Singapore Literature Prize).
Best New Singaporean Short Stories anthology series
Established a biennial anthology series collecting the best short fiction being published by Singaporean writers. Duties include: recommendation of stories to the guest editor, reading all the stories chosen, in-person discussion with the guest editor over which to keep, email communication with chosen authors over copyrights, coordination of information for publication contracts, collection of soft copies of all stories, creation of contents order and liaising with the guest editor over proper flow, line editing of all stories, discussion and listing of honourable mentions, writing of introduction, and assembly into a layout-ready completed manuscript.
Self-employed
I guide a mentee through an intensive months-long examination of their prose, in the form of structural and grammatical feedback, with the aim of later publication. Previous mentees include Daryl Qilin Yam (shortlisted for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize), Jennani Durai (shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize), Ann Ang, Andrew Cheah, and Sithuraj Ponraj (multiple winner of the Singapore Literature Prize).
Portfolio
