Laura Parnum – Editor

As an editor, my goal is to strengthen every manuscript I work on while preserving each author's unique voice and vision. I specialize in middle grade and young adult fiction, but I accept nonfiction and adult projects as well.

Services:
• Manuscript review
• Manuscript submission review (query letter, synopsis, and first pages)
• Light, medium, and heavy copyediting
• Proofreading

Genres:
• Contemporary
• Horror
• Humor
• Literary
• Magical Realism
• Paranormal
• Romance
• Science Fiction

I tailor my services to each individual client's needs. For manuscript review, I will read over your manuscript twice and provide you with an editorial letter offering suggestions on character development, story arc, theme, and voice. Additionally, I will include specific comments within the margins of your manuscript, including what made me laugh, cry, or keep turning the pages. For manuscript submission review I will work with you on your query letter, synopsis, and first ten pages to spruce up your submission package and get those agents and editors begging to see more. For copyediting projects, we will determine together the appropriate level of editing for your manuscript according to your preferences and needs, based on discussion of the project and a writing sample from the manuscript. I will perform two editing passes with a review by you, the author, between each pass. In addition to editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax, I will create a customized style guide for your manuscript that you may keep and share with other publishing professionals who may work with you on your project (such as a book designer, literary agent, or proofreader). Finally, for proofreading, I will perform that final check for typos and layout concerns on your already-edited book before it is published.

Some of my freelance publication credits include copyediting The Goddess Chronicles series by K. B. Anne, the Faraway High Fairytale series by Scarlett Kol, and the Kinzie's Kinventions chapter book series by Donna Boock; proofreading selected chapters in the Midnight Marquee Press Actors Series books and other Midnight Marquee Press horror film books; and manuscript review for the novel "Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle" by Hilda Eunice Burgos (Lee & Low, October 2018).

Prior to freelancing, I spent over ten years doing in-house publishing with Elsevier/Harcourt/W. B. Saunders, where I oversaw journal production from manuscript to publication. This included copyediting, proofreading, and style formatting of manuscripts, as well as communication with authors, editors, typesetters, and printers. In addition to in-house training, I have supplemented my editing education with courses from the Editorial Freelancers Association and Writer's Digest.

I am a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and serve as the Assistant Regional Advisor of the Eastern PA chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I am also a middle-grade fiction writer and run a local SCBWI critique group with agented and published authors specializing in middle grade and young adult fiction. I'm drawn to quirky, spooky, and laugh-out-loud projects, but I'm also not afraid of a good tear-jerker or swoon-worthy YA romance.