Jennifer Udden

Jennifer Udden – Editor

Former literary agent with 10+ yrs of experience with NYT bestselling and award-winning authors of Scifi/Fantasy/YA/MG/Romance

Overview

I’m a former literary agent who spent ten years representing authors in a variety of genres. My clients as an agent included authors who topped the New York Times Best Seller list and were nominated for, or won, the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Dragon Award, among others.

I love lush, epic pacing, strong voices, compelling characters, innovative world building and historical detail. Fantasy of every stripe is my favorite, but I also love science fiction, thrillers, literary fiction, and romance. I enjoy working on books for young readers, especially quirky middle grade and compelling YA. When I was representing authors, I was very hands-on editorially, and worked to ensure that the best possible version of their vision was the one that made its way out into the marketplace.

As an editor, my passion is helping authors take their novels to the next level. My favorite thing is finding a line that delights me in a manuscript, and being able to write HA! in the comments next to it. I particularly enjoy working on characterization and pacing, because strong characters and attention to pacing are what take a novel from simply good to truly great! I love a challenge, and being able to take a book from early stages to query-ready is one of my strengths.

TESTIMONIALS

“Working with Jen elevated my work. She has a keen eye for story, with an equally adept sense of the market. Her input exponentially increases a project’s chances in its publication.Having her in your corner is a treasure.”

-Maurice Broaddus, author of The Usual Suspects and the forthcoming Sweep of Stars


Jen has an insightful editorial eye and a thorough understanding of the marketplace, from commercial to literary. She brings a genuine love of story to her reading and so is able to authentically praise what’s working and identify what tweaks would make the work shine even more. She’s who I go to when I need an opinion I can trust.

-Bestselling and RITA Award winning author Jeffe Kennedy



Services
Fiction
Fantasy Historical Fiction Middle Grade Mystery & Crime Romance Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense Young Adult
Languages
English (CAN) English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

Self-employed

Nov, 2020 — Present

Specializing in editorial assessments and developmental edits for novelists looking to take their craft to the next level. As a first reader, I give feedback based on my years of experience as a literary agent, with the ultimate goal of helping an author create the best version of their book.

New Leaf Literary & Media, Barry Goldblatt Literary, Donald Maass Literary Agency

Jul, 2010 — Nov, 2020 (over 10 years)

Over my ten years in the industry, I built a list of authors who specialized in fiction of all stripes. I focused on genre fiction of all stripes, from innovative scifi to historical crime to meaty thrillers to epic fantasy - and beyond. As an "editorial" agent I worked with my authors to ensure that the work they shared with their publishers was the best it could possibly be.

Jennifer has 39 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Gus R.

Gus R.

May, 2023

This is the second time I've worked with Jen, and both experiences have been true pleasures. This time, she looked at my first 50 pages, synopsis, and reviewed my query letter. In addition to detailed, actionable feedback on each of those items, she also provided a superbly helpful edit letter that spoke to my story's marketability. After that, we had a Zoom call to discuss her findings and any...
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Jennifer U.
Thank you so much Gus!!
Gus R.

Gus R.

Feb, 2023

I contacted Jen for a query review, and I couldn't be happier with the results! Over the course of three rounds, she reviewed my letter and gave targeted, insightful feedback. Not only were her notes clear, but they also allowed flexibility for me to edit as I wanted. Some were hard to implement, forcing me to look at my query from new angles, and it was a genuinely fun process! I have no doubt...
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Kaitlin H.

Kaitlin H.

Dec, 2022

Jennifer is really helping me finesse my book into a tighter and more engaging manuscript and has given me hope that I can take it somewhere successfully in the near future. Her advice has been so well targeted, sensible, yet gentle. Her written notes are thorough and clear and I refer to them every day as I rewrite. She also spent an hour with me meeting online to answer all my questions and...
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Jennifer U.
Thank you Kaitlin! A pleasure working with you!
Amy L.

Amy L.

Mar, 2022

I’ve worked with great developmental editors in the past. Unfortunately, Jennifer isn’t one of them.
Lorie G.

Lorie G.

Dec, 2021

I found Jennifer to be helpful and knowledgeable - she zeroed on exactly what was necessary to bring the manuscript to the next level. I'd recommend her wholeheartedly.