Lee Montgomery

Lee Montgomery - Editor

Portland, Oregon, USA

A sharp, sensitive editor of fiction and creative nonfiction with twenty-five years of experience in publishing.

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Overview


With experience in both the writing and editing worlds, I offer an unusual combination of skills. I've held senior positions as associate publisher, editorial director, and executive editor within book companies and major literary magazines for nearly three decades and am well-versed in the techniques and engineering needed to structure original and compelling narratives in all forms: from novels and memoirs, to personal essays and short stories.

As a writer, I am sensitive to the intuitive mysterious process of how the imagination works when creating story. I am a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and the author of several books including The Things Between Us, which received the Oregon Book Award and the Iowa Short Fiction Award winner, Whose World Is This? Additional work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times Magazine, Oprah, Tin House, Story magazine, Glimmer Train, among others.


Languages
English (US)
Fiction
Anthologies
Coming of Age
Contemporary Fiction
Short Story
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Medicine, Nursing, & Dentistry
Psychology
Writing & Publishing

Certifications

  • MFA, Creative Writing, Iowa Writer's Workshop

Awards

  • Iowa Short Fiction Award, Oregon Book Award
  • Oregon Book Award

Work experience

Editor

Self-employed
January, 2012 – Present (about 11 years)

Provide editorial services for writers including developmental editing, manuscript evaluation and consultation, ghostwriting, and book proposals.

Fiction Editor

SheBooks
January, 2013 – January, 2016 (about 3 years)

Solicited, recommended, and edited literary fiction and nonfiction for new women’s e-book platform.

Associate Publisher \Founding Editorial Director

Tin House Books
January, 2005 – January, 2012 (about 7 years)

Founded, developed, and executed a publishing program of literary fiction and nonfiction titles. Created and implemented business plan and editorial program that included the Lost & Found series, New Voices, the Tin House Writer's Craft series, and the International series. Established traditional book distribution with PGW (then Perseus, now Ingram) in U.S. and abroad. Created e-book commerce platform and directed e-book sales and distribution. Concepted and oversaw design of all company materials and books. Purchased or originated ideas for book projects and developed, and edited projects by both known and unknown authors. Maintained relationships in the US and abroad with authors, agents, and publishers. Hired and mentored staff. Oversaw business administration. Oversaw sales and marketing, special sales, and publicity with full profit and loss responsibility.

Executive Editor

Tin House magazine
January, 2002 – January, 2012 (about 10 years)

Maintained relationships and solicited work from established authors in US literary community as key member of magazine’s editorial board. Managed and hired interns for the quarterly. Featured speaker at literary festivals and workshops such as LA Times Book Festival, Wordstock, and Squaw Valley, among others. Brought major authors to the magazine including Marilynne Robinson, Deborah Eisenberg, Wally Shawn, Denis Johnson, Aimee Bender, Charles D'Ambrosio, Barry Hannah, Tom Franklin.

Senior Editor

Dove Books
January, 1994 – January, 1997 (about 3 years)

Wrote and edited celebrity driven insta-books for Los Angeles company. Edited Robert Evans, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Faye Resnick's Shattered, and many other projects around the OJ Simpson trial.

Fiction Editor

The Iowa Review
May, 1993 – June, 1994 (about 1 year)

Named a research fellow and oversaw solicited and unsolicited materials. Ran weekly editorial meetings of volunteer students. Conceived, developed, and edited an anthology about experimental writing called Transgressions, publishing John Barth, William Gass, Curtis White, David Foster Wallace, Stacey Levine, and Lucy Corin. It was reviewed on the cover the New York Times Book Review.

Editor

The Santa Monica Review
January, 1993 – June, 1998 (over 5 years)

Edited and directed all operations for the oldest literary journal on the West Coast. Published fiction and nonfiction by established and emerging authors.

Portfolio (19 selected works)

Mentor: A Memoir

Grimes, Tom

Madam Foreman; A Rush to Judgement?

Cooley, Armanda;Harris, Jeanette;Walker, Mike;Knox, Michael;Kennedy, Tracy;Byrne

The Biology of Love

Janov, Arthur

When I Forgot

Hirvonen, Elina, Robinson, Douglas

Parsifal

Krusoe, Jim

Girl Factory

Krusoe, Jim

Transgressions: The Iowa Anthology of Innovative Fiction

Montgomery, Lee, Hussmann, Mary, Hamilton, David

Absolute Disaster: Fiction from Los Angeles

Lee Montgomery, Carol Muske Dukes

The Writer's Notebook: Craft Essays from Tin House

Allison, Dorothy, Bender, Aimee, Bernheimer, Kate, Shepard, Jim

Lee has 1 review

Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality

Bruce Kelling
Lee Montgomery did a fantastic job of setting tone, pulling together and organizing my 300+ page manuscript. I am impressed with the job she did and am excited about taking the manuscript to the next step in the publishing process.

Bruce Kelling, August 2022

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