Jeff Lyons - Editor
Traditionally published author, developmental editor, and story development consultant in the publishing, TV, and film industries.
Request a quote
Verified identity
Overview
If a story is going to fail, it will first do so at the premise level. I specialize in helping authors and screenwriters fix manuscripts in trouble. When you get lost in the story woods, I can show you how to find your way back to your story's real premise idea, and teach you how to not get lost in the future. I will teach you a story development methodology ("Anatomy of a Premise Line") that you can use for your entire writing career that will cut your story development time in half, and help you figure out if any story idea will have legs as a book or screenplay—BEFORE—you start writing. I have worked with literally thousands of novelists, screenwriters (TV/features), and creative nonfiction authors, and my clients have won major literary prizes like the “William Faulkner Gold Medal,” placed as finalists in major screenwriting competitions like The Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and include New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors.
How I Work:
I can read your manuscript if you want, but I find this is usually a waste of your valuable time and money, as 99% of manuscripts all have basic story and structure issues that should be addressed BEFORE writing issues are looked at. This is because story development and writing are two different things and should not happen at the same time. Develop first, write second is one of my mottos. So, I prefer to work with you one-on-one to solidify your premise, story, and structure before we deal with any writing concerns. This strategy has proven to be the most productive for the vast majority of writers I've worked with over the years, especially for first-time or new writers, and I'm sure it will work for you.Languages
English (US)
Fiction
Action & Adventure
Fantasy
Horror
LGBTQ (Fiction)
Mystery & Crime
Plays & Screenplays
Young Adult
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Work experience
Magazine Contributing Writer
Various National & International Magazines
August, 2011
–
Present
(over 8 years)
Ongoing contributor to leading writing industry trade magazines, including: Writer's Digest Magazine, The Writer Magazine, Writing Magazine (UK), and Script Magazine.
Story Development Mentor
Producers Guild of America
May, 2011
–
Present
(almost 9 years)
The Producers Guild has one of the leading screenwriting and producing fellowship programs in the entertainment industry. I teach all of the story development workshops for their "Power of Diversity Producers Fellowship" participants. Only working entertainment industry professionals can join the program. I teach feature film, television, and documentary story development.
Stanford University—Instructor
Stanford University
July, 2012
–
Present
(almost 8 years)
Regular instructor through Stanford University's School of Continuing Education. I teach premise development and story structure classes and guest lecture on story development for other Stanford writing program instructors.
Developmental Editior
Createspace & Author Solutions
January, 2009
–
June, 2013
(over 4 years)
Worked with two of the largest subsidy publishing companies as an editorial consultant and developmental editor. Worked with fiction, nonfiction, and creative nonfiction authors to improve their book's structure, story, narrative design, and assure book elements conformed to publishing industry best practices. Consulted with thousands of authors across all major genres.
Story Consultant
Storygeeks
January, 2006
–
Present
(over 14 years)
Founded Storygeeks, a professional services company offering story consulting, editing, and story development services to the entertainment (film/TV), publishing, and subsidy publishing industries.
Portfolio (10 selected works)
Narrative pace can make or break the reading experience, but few people describe what real pace is or how you can achieve it. Most just discuss writing, style, and sentence structure, but pacing in any story is so much more than that. This e-book gives a clear explanation of pacing and then shows you how to achieve a solid commercial pace for any story, thus assuring reader engagement and more... read more
The world of how-to creative writing is filled with quick fixes, flavor-of-the-month techniques, and fortune cookie wisdom. This e-book has compiled the top ten creative writing myths that may writers accept as gospel, and then describes each of the myths to show you that they are not just innocent memes, but rather destructive and potentially derailing traps that can cripple your writing and ... read more
The reality of being an author today means that you can't do it all alone. The writing, designing, editing, publishing, and marketing of a book is no longer a one-man or one-woman show. Authors, if they want to put their best professional face forward, must now build their publishing team and rely on third party consultants to help them realize their dreams of publishing gold. But, most author... read more
Cruel Beautiful World: A Novel
Caroline Leavitt
Caroline Leavitt is at her mesmerizing best in this haunting, nuanced portrait of love, sisters, and the impossible legacy of family. It’s 1969, and sixteen-year-old Lucy is about to run away with a much older man to live off the grid in rural Pennsylvania, a rash act that will have vicious repercussions for both her and her older sister, Charlotte. As Lucy’s default caretaker for most of thei... read more
Pictures of You
Caroline Leavitt
Two women running away from their marriages collide on a foggy highway, killing one of them. The survivor, Isabelle, is left to pick up the pieces, not only of her own life, but of the lives of the devastated husband and fragile son that the other woman, April, has left behind. Together, they try to solve the mystery of where April was running to, and why. As these three lives intersect, the b... read more
Is This Tomorrow: A Novel
Caroline Leavitt
In 1956, Ava Lark rents a house with her twelve-year-old son, Lewis, in a desirable Boston suburb. Ava is beautiful, divorced, Jewish, and a working mom. She finds her neighbors less than welcoming. Lewis yearns for his absent father, befriending the only other fatherless kids: Jimmy and Rose. One afternoon, Jimmy goes missing. The neighborhood—in the throes of Cold War paranoia—seizes the opp... read more
This book offers a unique approach to storytelling, connecting the Enneagram system with classic story principles of character development, plot, and story structure to provide a seven-step methodology to achieve rapid story development. Using the nine-core personality styles underlying all human thought, feeling, and action, it provides the tools needed to understand and leverage the Enneagra... read more
If a story is going to fail, it will do so first at the premise level. Anatomy of a Premise Line: How to Master Premise and Story Development for Writing Success is the only book of its kind to identify a seven-step development process that can be repeated and applied to any story idea. This process will save you time, money, and potentially months of wasted writing. So whether you are trying ... read more
Jack Be Dead: Revelation
Jeff Lyons, Stephen David Brooks
London—Today—Guys named “Jack” are being killed across the city by a female serial killer with an almost supernatural ability to stay hidden. When Jack Tate, an emotionally bleak detective sergeant, is called in to investigate the brutal killings, he teams with Mae, an intellectual wannabe-detective, and Albert, Mae’s packrat psychic father, to unravel the killer’s taunting clues, until the de... read more
13 Minutes
Jeff Lyons
One room. Six People. No way out. And every 13 minutes one of them dies—horribly—unless they can figure out what their nameless, faceless, and creepily mysterious captor wants from them. One woman holds the key to their survival or deaths. But, only if she faces her own bloody past and the earth-shattering truth of why they are all trapped together. Her final choice to own the truth can bring ... read more
Explore the Reedsy Community
Reedsy is a community of top publishing professionals. Join Reedsy today to browse 1000+ profiles.
David Keefe
Give me your dangling participles, your absent oxford commas, your run-on sentences yearning to be written correctly.
Long Beach, CA, United States
Fran Lebowitz
Former Agent, Writers House, now Expat; two Newbery & NBA authors. I take a holistic, highly customized approach with a plan
New York, United States
