Sam Fern – Editor

My approach to editing is an open, honest collaboration, with clear stages of pragmatic and constructive feedback where we can talk about exactly what is, isn't, and could be on the page.

I specialise in books for younger readers, where you often have to do a novel's work in 500 words, an epic fantasy in 14 pictures, or cover the history of an entire academic subject in less space than you'd get for a school essay. For me, this is the best test of precision, clarity, and structure that any manuscript can tackle, and it's why I love what I do. If you can temper and treat and shine up writing for younger folk, forging that talent into a precise, diligent, and conscientious craft, you'll have the skills to make writing for any other market an absolute breeze!

What's it like to work with me? It's placing the text between us and asking it questions, testing its pillars, rapping on all the tiles, checking how much water it can hold in a rainstorm if someone totally opposite to your ideal reader happens to pick it up! Everything must earn its place: every word, pause, punctuation mark, every line of your artwork, every blank space or colour. These are books to be read five or ten times over. Will every joke land, every time? Will each emotional beat resonate?

More than anything, I'm interested in who you are, where your manuscript has come from, and where you want it to take your reader. After that, we drive on with enthusiasm, clarity, practicality, and let that collaborative energy bring your work to exactly where you've always been heading.

It's my privilege to be invited into your project, to listen to and help shape your aims, and ready your manuscript for publication. I look forward to hearing from you!

TESTIMONIALS

'Sam can pull out the threads that I haven't even noticed in my own work!'

- Oliver Gerlach, author of 'The Restaurant at the Edge of the World'

"Sam is an insightful and empathetic editor who has given me clear and detailed feedback on my manuscripts. He is able to see through thickets of words to the essence of a story, and to offer positive and marvellously clear-sighted advice on how to strengthen plot and character development, and what would benefit from expansion, cuts or stylistic tweaks. I know that my manuscripts have been greatly improved by his input, and the process of working with him is always an enjoyable experience."

- Gill Arbuthnott, author of 'Microbe Wars', 'Balloon to the Moon', 'The Chaos Clock' series, and many more.