Patience Bloom

Patience Bloom – Editor

An enthusiastic, hands-on developmental editor with 26 years of experience at Harlequin Books. Romance and its sub-genres are my specialty.

Overview

After 25+ years at Harlequin, I am excited to jump into freelancing where I can focus on what I love most, which is editing and working with writers. During my tenure in publishing, I edited romantic suspense, paranormal, thriller, historical, western, Christian, rom-com, wholesome, and super-sexy romance novels. My specialty is the romance genre as a whole, but I have also delved into several other arenas—women’s fiction, general fiction, prescriptive nonfiction, and memoir—building a solid foundation as an editor and consultant for writers. In addition to editing, I have experienced the other side of the desk, writing my memoir Romance Is My Day Job (Dutton, 2014) about finding happily ever after in real life.


My expertise runs the gamut, from helping craft the perfect query letter and proposal package to doing a fairly surgical developmental edit. I can also provide thorough editorial assessments that give the writer a “big picture” view of their story along with suggestions on how to further develop the narrative. In a developmental edit, I like to ask those questions readers will wonder about and show ways to polish paragraphs and build stronger conflict, characterization, and pacing. Perhaps the most important part of editing is gauging a writer’s needs since everyone creates/writes differently. The entire process makes bookshelves exciting.


With my background, I was destined to read voraciously. I grew up traipsing around Europe with my historian parents, eventually settling in Upstate New York and Connecticut. For my BA, I attended Oberlin College, majoring in French and Latin, both of which I taught at Sandia Preparatory School in New Mexico. During my teaching career, I attended University of New Mexico for a MA in French Literature. Eventually, I moved back east and into publishing. I now live in New York City and look forward to evaluating your projects.


Services
Fiction
Christian Fiction Contemporary Romance Paranormal Romance Romantic Suspense Women's Fiction
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

Harlequin Books

Dec, 1997 — Oct, 2023 (almost 26 years)

During my tenure, I oversaw a romantic suspense line and edited a range of stories including paranormal, thriller, historical, western, Christian, rom-com, wholesome, and super-sexy romance novels.

Portfolio

Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Copy Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading Query Letter Review
Rider on Fire

Sala, Sharon

Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Starting from Scratch

Ferrarella, Marie

Developmental Editing Copy Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Proofreading

Patience has 7 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Gia K.

Gia K.

Nov, 2024

It was very nice to work with Patience. She is a professional who meets to the deadlines and delivers value.
Paulette L.

Paulette L.

Nov, 2024

Patience was conscientious in that she answered all questions I had. Her final critique of my manuscript was detailed, and extremely helpful. If she had an objection to something I wrote, she gave a detailed explanation describing why she objected. She picked up on character traits my protagonists had which I wasn’t even aware of. She also picked up on the dark side of my male protagonist wh...
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Olivia H.

Olivia H.

Sep, 2024

I can not recommend Patience enough. I love her work and I look forward to working with her on more projects.
Janet J.

Janet J.

Aug, 2024

I chose Patience Bloom to do a manuscript assessment of my romance novel draft because I’m familiar with her long career as an editor at Harlequin. I believed she would be the best person to let me know whether my draft was on track and potentially viable for traditional publishing. I am so happy with Patience’s work on my ms. It was clear from her response that she did a close read of th...
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Sharon C.

Sharon C.

Mar, 2024

Really glad I went with Patience for my book. Her professionalism while reviewing the project was 5 star. I felt she cared about the success of the project as much as I do.

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