Marissa Koors – Editor

Hi, I’m Marissa!

I’m an NYC-based book editor and literary agent with a passion for provocative ideas who specializes in making stories sharper and intelligent people more intelligible. I have over a decade of experience in editorial positions at major houses and agencies in the NYC publishing industry, and am an indie game developer.

The written word is my craft. In nonfiction, I’ve worked on books in the broad areas of history, philosophy, and the ancient world to science, technology, and culture—and I've spent my career helping expert authors translate complex technical research into engaging storytelling for broader audiences while preserving intellectual rigor. I'm particularly skilled at excavating intimate, humanizing narrative from within world-class scholarship, and have worked with thought leaders ranging from leading academics and technologists like Ernest Sosa and Luciano Floridi, to public intellectuals such as George Weigel and Kate Cooper (Finalist for the 2023 Cundill Prize). Though ideas-led nonfiction is my bread and butter, my lifestyle background means I'm always up for projects that are bubbling in the cultural zeitgeist.

On the fiction side, genre fiction is my literary heartland, and working in story rooms and editing serialized romantasy novels has honed my instincts for beat structure and trope work. Editing linear media has developed a finely-tuned critical impulse, an eye for detail, and an ear for dialogue that I also rely on in my interactive work as a narrative editor for games. Years of serving as an internal critic who brings an innate understanding of language, narrative structure, and audience expectations to bear on others’ writing has sharpened my ability to identify vehicles for story in gameplay that build meaningful connective tissue for players—whether in a TTRPG, a LitRPG, or a video game.

My editorial work across books and games is animated by the desire to chase inventive ideas through the thorniest thickets to make them discoverable, visible, and legible enough to impact the broadest possible audience. I believe in taking and rewarding creative risk, and in relentless advocacy for authors and creators.