Sally Apokedak - Editor

I have four writing courses up on Udemy that cover Voice, Plot, Punctuation, and Query Letters. I have over 7000 students enrolled who live in over 90 countries.

Specializing in children's books, I have a select few authors, including the award-winning and best-selling Hannah C. Hall and Taryn Souders.

--I have done editorial assessments for SCBWI conferences for years. I'm honest about how much work is still to be done, but I'm proud to say I've never made a writer cry. I always point out what the writer excels at, as well as pointing out which areas need improvement.

--I love doing developmental edits. I help writers see where their characters are lacking motivation, and show them how to find exciting plots that are driven by active heroes readers can root for. In these edits, I focus on story world, character, plot, pace, and theme. Story world, character, and plot all must work to pull readers into the story, good pacing at the scene level will keep the pages turning, and a solid theme will make readers finish the book with a satisfied sigh, then go looking for another book you’ve written.

--When I do copy edits, I focus on voice, which is the most fun thing ever. I help writers find places to use fresh metaphors and other figures of speech. I look at each word, thinking about how it sounds and about connotations. I concentrate on pacing at the sentences and paragraph level--are the sentences and paragraph within each scene working to pull the reader comfortably forward? I also look at descriptions—how effective they are, and how consistent.

--Proofreading is my least favorite edit. But a necessary evil. Here I look at commas, exclamation points, and interrobangs (oh, my!). I tell you how many spaces go around em dashes (none) and ellipses (both sides). All that jazz.

--As a literary agent I have gotten many thousands of queries and proposals over the last decade. I am well qualified to give you a query letter review, telling you what works and what doesn’t and helping you write the strongest letter your book can support.

--When I edit picture books, which I love to do, I look at all that I’ve listed above—I look at character, plot (or structure on concept books and nonfiction), voice, theme, pacing (page turns), descriptions, and so on. But I also consider what kind of opportunities the author has given the illustrator.