Michelle Hazen

Michelle Hazen – Editor

8 yrs as a certified book coach, editor, and award-winning author. Specializes in romance, fantasy, YA, LGBT. Book planning packages too!

Overview

I'm Michelle, a certified book coach, editor, and critically-acclaimed author. I'm here to help with editorial packages for all budgets, as well as ongoing support, mentorship, and coaching for writers—whether you're penning your first novel or your twentieth. I specialize in encouraging and energizing revisions. Many clients have said I have a talent for articulating feedback in a way that makes it easy to apply. I specialize in Adult and YA fiction. The genres I love most are romance, fantasy, YA Contemporary and LGBTQI fiction within all those. I do not take MG or picture books, and I don't work with anything that has on-the-page sexual assault. Outside of those exceptions, I've worked in most genres!


I've been through an extensive training program as a book coach through Author Accelerator, I've been an editor and writing coach since 2016, and worked as a counselor for a decade before that. I also love helping clients plan out their next novel, to save lots of revision time on the back end and brainstorm you into your next bestseller!


As a contest mentor for PitchWars, FicFest & KissPitch, I've read thousands of query letters and I know exactly what can hold writers back. As of 2023, all my contest mentees have gotten agents and/or book deals! Previous clients have gone on to win Golden Heart Awards, the World Fantasy Award, and be nominated for many others. I'm LGBTQI friendly, and especially love working on queer romances!


In my own career, I have two agents representing me for different genres. I have nine published novels, a collection of starred trade reviews, several awards, and have had my books named Best Romances of the Year multiple times by Amazon and Booklist. I was also the Grand Prize Winner of the Book Pipeline Contest in 2023 for the Mystery/Thriller category. I have indie novels as well as Big-5 published books, so I know both sides of the publishing industry.


Mostly, I want to make sure my clients are writing the best books they possibly can, while enjoying every day of the process. Are you ready to write happier?



Testimonials:


“Michelle’s edit letter was fairy-godmother-with-literary-x-ray-vision-level helpful!” -Lucia Rey (Adult Contemporary Romance)


"Michelle's innate compassion and kindness, always tempered with a solution-focused, practical approach, made her a fantastic writing coach. I left each session feeling empowered and excited to follow through on the plan we’d designed.

The year we worked together was the most productive in my career. Every author should have Michelle on speed-dial!”

-Emily Colin, NYT bestselling author and IPPY Award Winner


“Working with Michelle is a delight. Her efficient, insightful and supportive edits took my book to a new level. She is unquestioningly world class!"

-Sara Connell, USA Today and WSJ Bestselling author, founder of Thought Leader Academy


**Note that I am no longer able to take clients from the UK or European Union, for tax reasons. No inquiries from those countries, so sorry!**

Services
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Contemporary Romance Fantasy LGBTQ Fiction Romantic Comedy Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Young Adult Fantasy
Languages
English (US)
Awards
  • Great Expectations Award
  • Lonestar Award
  • Southern Magic Award of Excellence
  • Book Pipeline Grand Prize Winner
  • Fiction 101 Contest
Certifications
  • Book Coaching Certification - Author Accelerator

Work experience

Self-employed

Jan, 2016 — Present

Happy Writer

Aug, 2021 — Nov, 2022 (over 1 year)

I taught courses through the Happy Writer Community, and consulted with them to design and launch their book coaching program.

Author Accelerator

Dec, 2016 — Jan, 2019 (about 2 years)

I worked as a book coach 1:1 with individuals in Paranormal Romance, Historical Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Suspense, and Contemporary Fiction. I led workshops in Lisa Cron's Story Genius method for multiple years. I worked with co-founder Jennie Nash to create the Pitch Track class, educating writers on how to find agents. I also wrote the masterclass on coaching romance writers for the Book Coach Certification Program.

Michelle has 12 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Presley B.

Presley B.

Feb, 2024

Michelle was amazing to work with! She was thoughtful and thorough. I felt like she really saw my vision and helped me work out some really tough sticking points with great feedback and ideas!
Kistal G.

Kistal G.

Jan, 2024

Thank you, Michelle, for your professionalism and giving me the amazing approach on how to tackle my two books.
Joy L.

Joy L.

Sep, 2023

I had the pleasure of working with Michelle, and I must say that it was a truly exceptional experience. Michelle brought a wealth of knowledge about what the writing industry is looking for in a query letter. Her expertise and insights were invaluable in shaping my query letter into a compelling and effective piece. One of the standout aspects of working with Michelle was her ability to provid...
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Brooke J.

Brooke J.

Jul, 2023

I couldn't be happier I chose Michelle to edit my first manuscript! Michelle is kind, professional and has a great sense of humour (a real must with me!). She offered awesome insight into the publishing world, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her services.
Elizabeth C.

Elizabeth C.

May, 2023

It was overwhelming trying to decide on an editor for my debut novel. It's a bit of a leap of faith to choose the right person and to spend a lot of money before even making $0.01 on the story. And, of course, there are a lot of "editors" who charge way less. Since my first correspondence with Michelle, I knew my story was in expert hands, and she would be worth the risk. Michelle ran through ...
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