Andrew Zack

Andrew Zack – Editor

Experienced NYC editor. Expert in thrillers, mysteries, science fiction and fantasy, horror, and narrative and military nonfiction/history.

Overview

Before becoming an agent, Andy rose through the ranks of trade publishing in New York, moving quickly from Simon & Schuster to Warner Books to Donald I. Fine and finally to Editor at the Berkley Publishing Group. As a freelance editor, he has edited titles for Berkley, DIF, Dell, and Avon, and became a Consulting Editor for Tom Doherty’s Forge Books. The titles below represent a sample of those he has either edited, represented, or published.


Andy's strengths are in editorial assessments, developmental editing, and line editing. He also reviews query letters and has read or written thousands over his career.


Andy has been an editor, publisher, author coach, and literary agent and has represented authors of fiction and nonfiction at two different firms. He is also the publisher of a small press, working both directly with authors and with agents to acquire and publish works of commercial fiction and nonfiction.


An "editorial assessment" is a "big picture" look at the book. What works or doesn't and why. It focuses on finding the "rejection triggers" that are going to result in agents and editors passing on your book. The cost tends to be between $500 and $1,200, based on length.


"Developmental editing" is much more detailed and involves reading the book through once as a reader and then again, taking close notes either within the Word file or for a separate editorial letter or both. It is very time-consuming and therefore the cost is generally between $3,500 and $5,000.


"Line editing" comes after developmental editing. It requires the editor to read the entire book through, going line by line, and looking at word choices, style issues, and spelling and grammar. However, it is not copyediting. The cost of line editing a novel is highly dependent on how clean the book is. If the editor looks at a sample and thinks you are a very good writer who needs not a lot of work, the cost will be less than when it looks like a writer needs every sentence fine-tuned.


It is worth noting that some editors may combine developmental editing and line editing into one service or fee and any author should clarify exactly what is being offered when discussing paying to have their book "edited."


In the traditional publishing process, the editor who acquires your book will likely do the developmental editing and the line editing. Once the editor formally "accepts" the book the author has no more rewrites to do, and the editor will send the book off to a copy editor to review it for house style, spelling, grammar, and other issues. Unless you are self-publishing, you should never need to hire a copy editor or proofreader. Your publisher will have the book copyedited and later proofread after typesetting.

Services
Fiction
Action & Adventure Fantasy Mystery & Crime Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment History
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

Self-employed

Jul, 2007 — Present

• Coach and edit authors of fiction and nonfiction works as they seek their goal of becoming published authors.
• Publisher of Endpapers Press, a division of Author Coach, LLC.
o Publish original and reprint fiction and nonfiction titles in print and eBook formats.
o Edit original fiction and nonfiction titles.
o Direct development of covers for all titles.
o Design interior layouts for print editions.
o Create indexes for titles.
o Proofread and slug page proofs.
o Manage conversion vendor for creation of eBook editions.
o Manage metadata and retail relationships with booksellers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble and wholesalers such as Ingram and Baker & Taylor.
o Write galley letters and press releases and submit titles for review.
• Created and maintain website for firm.
• Write articles, blogs, FAQ lists, and other advertising and marketing pieces for site.

Company Name Redacted. Please contact through Reedsy for editorial service.

Mar, 1996 — Present

• Provide literary representation for authors of commercial fiction and nonfiction.
• Mentor, coach, and provide representation to develop authors’ careers in broad range of markets worldwide.
• Develop and edit clients’ manuscripts and proposals for submission.
• Negotiate multi-book deals to take clients’ careers to the next level to facilitate career mobility and progression.
• Cultivate and foster relationships worldwide with editors, co-agents, scouts, audio companies, and film and television companies.
• Oversee all elements of the business from general accounting to website design.
• Published articles in The Writer magazine, covering query letters, publicity plans and contract points.
• As a member of the AAR, chaired the Royalty Committee, which meets with publishers’ royalty managers to voices agents’ and authors’ concerns about royalty reporting and statement formats.

Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency, Inc.

Sep, 1993 — Mar, 1996 (over 2 years)

• Represented approximately forty authors of fiction and nonfiction.

Berkley Publishing Group, Donald I Fine, Inc, Dell, Avon and Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

Jun, 1992 — Aug, 1998 (about 6 years)

• Provided “book doctor” services for various literary agencies.
• For Forge Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates (a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers), was formally named a Consulting Editor, and received submissions, acquired titles, including all deal negotiation, performed line edits, wrote flap copy and tip sheets, developed cover concepts, and attended and presented at sales conferences.
• Reviewed and reported on manuscripts for possible acquisition by the Book-of-the-Month Club.
• Read book galleys and wrote published reviews for Kirkus Reviews.

The Berkley Publishing Group

Feb, 1991 — May, 1992 (about 1 year)

• Acquired and edited numerous works of fiction and nonfiction in areas as diverse as military fiction to business, nature to science fiction.
• Built relationships with agents and authors.
• Negotiated the acquisition of rights to hardcover, trade-paperback, mass-market titles.
• Generated tip sheets for sales force presentations to accounts and participated in semi-annual sales conferences.
• Developed cover concepts.

Portfolio

"Jordan's weird western snatches the best adventure and suspense elements from both genres and distills them to their essences, creating a violence-laced but enjoyable romp."—Publishers Weekly"This first novel adds a fresh sf twist to a . . . Wild West legend.... read more
Private Detective and retired counterintelligence officer Art Hardin usually stays away from the flashy kind of PI work, paying his bills by doing surveillance, checking up on false disability claims, and the like. So when the senior partner one of the premier... read more
“Should you care to laugh while you read a murder mystery this would be a number one choice, as you rollick along toward a surprising end.”—RendezvousSexy, suspenseful, and snarky, Sheryl J. Anderson's slick debut novel introduces advice columnist Molly Forres... read more
"Generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security."—Gen. John A. LejeuneDuring his thirty-three years in the U.S. Marine Co... read more
Out of the crucible of war has come a long list of best-selling, award-winning, and long-remembered novels: THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE CAINE MUTINY, FIELDS OF FIRE and THE THIRTEENTH VALLEY. But none so far has ever captured ... read more
Déjà Noir

Robert E. Bailey

From the award-winning author of the Art Hardin series—Private Heat, Dying Embers, and Dead Bang—comes a compelling new mystery, Déjà?Noir.Ray Kerze hasn’t been having the best time of it. His closest friends are the guys in line with him at the liquor store b... read more
"For nonstop techno-action at full afterburner, it's hard to beat the Weber/Pineiro team. The air combat scenes had me on the edge of my seat!"--David Poyer, author of Hunter Killer and Deep WarFrom the New York Times best-selling author of DEFCON One, Joe Web... read more
All Lies Hidden

Marc Turner

“Moving, original, and beautifully written, All Lies Hidden will thrill and delight you from the first page to the last.”—Tim Lebbon, New York Times best-selling author“Loved it . . . Compelling, starkly beautiful, emotionally raw.”—Anna Smith Spark, author of... read more
Independence

Kaitlyn Andersen

Finn No Last Name has survived the Dome, the brutal arena where powered hybrids were pitted against one another in battles to the death. But not all were so lucky, and Finn will forever be haunted by their deaths.Now reunited with her crew and former mentor, G... read more
Reliance

Kaitlyn Andersen

Finn No Last Name lives her life exactly the way she likes. Sure, she lives on a Mud Pit with some of the worst criminals and cast-offs the Reliance has to offer, but she has a knack for stealing things that has earned her a reputation as the best thief the Fa... read more
Disobedience

Kaitlyn Andersen

Finn No Last Name has fled her crewmates aboard Independence, after discovering that she’d been betrayed by the person she trusted most. Now on her own, she searches for other hybrids like her, with powers she can only imagine. That search brings her to Enyo, ... read more
Lost Heir

Richard Coxson

Maeve uch Robert, daughter of Robert ap Morgan, had always heard the stories of her family's connection to the emperors of old. Not that she really believed them. But her sister, Morgain, clearly did. She's been trying to claim the crown for herself ever since... read more
Orphan's Test

Richard Coxson

“To pass the Test of Heirs, you must prove your worthiness and understanding of what it means to rule.”For nearly one thousand years, the Core Empire has held together thousands of star systems and billions of citizens. But a coup attempt has broken the empire... read more
Supertown

Paul Kupperberg

“Supertown is a top-flight sci-fi adventure that introduces readers to a very memorable—and relatable—protagonist in Wally Crenshaw. Paul Kupperberg blends his decades of expertise writing fun, engaging superhero comics with skillful prose to create a can't mi... read more
Kingdom Road

K. Patrick Conner

In the tradition of James M. Cain comes this steamy noir novel of passion and betrayal set in California, Tijuana and New Orleans.Winn Cahill returns to his Central Valley home town, irresistibly drawn by the memory of Liana, the woman he once loved. He arrive... read more
Hunted by the Complex, the super-secret agency that has tried to harness his powers, Chuck Simon, a one-man weapon capable of inflicting total destruction, must retreat to Haven, a safe house for those with psychic powers. Original.
PUT THE DOG ON CHARLIEThey were point men of the air war, and wherever they went the hammer of death came down…American firepower could deliver pure destruction in Charlie's lap, but someone had to find him. That's where the daredevil pilots of the single-engi... read more
The Grassy Knoll (Columbo)

William Harrington

After the murder of controversial talk-show host Paul Drury, Lieutenant Columbo must unravel the thirty-year-old mystery of the assassination of President Kennedy, a crime whose perpetrator Drury had been about to expose on his final show
When the wife of a wealthy store owner and her lover are murdered, Columbo fears that another round of Manson murders is beginning, and despite findings that have already implicated a suspect, the detective knows the worst is yet to come
To find out who killed a Madonna-like superstar and dumped her body in her Beverly Hills swimming pool, the TV detective must unlock the mystery of Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance twenty years earlier.
Blue Truth

Cherokee Paul McDonald

The author offers a hard-hitting, realistic look at the world of the police, drawing on his own experiences as a Fort Lauderdale cop to probe the police officer's psyche and to capture the dangerous world of the cop on the beat
In Mystic Dreamers, best-selling author Rosanne Bittner began a compelling saga with the meeting of Buffalo Dreamer, a holy woman, and Rising Eagle, a warrior whose powers were unmatched, for he had been blessed by the Feathered One. Now, in a new story sure t... read more
Silent Descent

Dick Couch

Members of the elite SEAL Team Two brave the perils and hardships of the frozen Kola Peninsula to rescue an American mole investigating Russia's covert trade in nuclear weaponry. Reprint.
Angel of Death

Jay Brandon

To the African-American community in San Antonio, Malachi Reese is a saint, a community leader, a man who feeds the hungry and houses the homeless. To San Antonio District Attorney Chris Sinclair, Reese is the Angel of Death: a vicious killer possessed by the ... read more
District Attorney Chris Sinclair has never really forgotten his first real love, Jean, a college girlfriend from the era of free love, a wild young woman who introduced him to a world of sex and drugs and alcohol drastically unlike is own. But she left his lif... read more
Pressure Point

Dick Couch

Delivering "a gripping insider's view of the secret world of nuclear security" (W.E.B. Griffin), Dick Couch's explosive novel poses the chilling and timely question: How safe are America's waterways from terrorist threat?Riding quietly at her moorings on Puget... read more
Probe

Edward M. Lerner

What if First Contact doesn't come the way we expect it -- or with the sort of aliens we expect? When both sides have secrets within secrets to keep, how is anyone supposed to know the truth -- or live long enough to tell it? Will it turn out to be the greates... read more
1993, special mass market paperback edition, Diamond Books, NY. 288 pages. Original paperback with a unique story. Presents a race between man and machine. Written by a contributing editor to MacWorld.
From the award-winning author of the Art Hardin series--Private Heat, Dying Embers, and Dead Bang--comes a compelling new mystery, Déjà Noir.Ray Kerze hasn't been having the best time of it. His closest friends are the guys in line with him at the liquor store... read more
"For nonstop techno-action at full afterburner, it's hard to beat the Weber/Pineiro team. The air combat scenes had me on the edge of my seat!"--David Poyer, author of Hunter Killer and Deep War From the New York Times best-selling author of DEFCON One, Joe We... read more
AMERICA'S SPACE PROGRAM HAS BEEN SABOTAGED.The Martian and Apollo 13 meet Tom Clancy in this gripping scientific thriller. "A first-rate thriller delivered by a seasoned pro. Last year had Andy Weir's The Martian; this year's clear torch-bearer is Pineiro." --... read more
When a prominent Boston union figure is murdered, defense attorney Taylor Brooke's fight to protect her client leads to a struggle to save her own life
The Werewolf's Kiss is the first book in "The Werewolf Trilogy," a ground-breaking trilogy that follows the history of a clan of werewolves centered around New Orleans. This is the story of Sylvie Marley, a rare creature drawn to the Moon and the night with th... read more
Exposure

R. J. Pineiro

His works have been compared to those of Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy. Now R. J. Pineiro turns to John Grisham's territory with a riveting new thriller. Pamela Sasser leads the quiet life of a professor at Louisiana State University, until her research unco... read more
Reed's Promise

John Clarkson

Bill Reed receives a message from his cousin Johna page filled with tortured lines and colours, pasted-on letters and numbersa message that clearly conveys fear and confusion. Reed decides to pay John a visit, and thats when the trouble really begins.
New Lots

John Clarkson

As the New Lots projects in Brooklyn become a battlefield between the vicious Blue-Tops gang and the Muslim Security Company, on a mission to clean out the complex, NYPD Detective Loyd Shaw is called in to stop the war before the toll in human lives becomes to... read more
“Lisa Seidman weaves together vivid characters, delightful mystery, and the wry wit of a true TV insider to create a delicious tale of reckless ambition and literal and figurative backstabbing that will not only entertain you, but change your relationship with... read more
On a narrow street in a working-class neighborhood, the police are held at bay by a small band of armed radicals. Two assaults have already failed. After a morning-long battle involving machine guns, explosives, and tear gas, the radicals remain defiant. In a ... read more
In the thrilling tradition of novels such as FATHERLAND and SS-GB comes a thriller set in an America under martial law.October 1962: Fidel Castro launches nuclear missiles at the US, striking Miami. The US retaliates and devastates the Soviet Union.November 19... read more

Andrew has 14 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Peter S.

Peter S.

Aug, 2023

Andrew had some wonderful insights about my query letter.
Allen H.

Allen H.

Mar, 2023

I had a great experience working with Andrew. He answered all my questions and was flexible to work with. His suggestions on my manuscript were insightful and geared towards revising my work into a marketable novel. He really knows the craft of writing and what works. His feedback was detailed and spot on, make it compelling and raise the stakes. Without a doubt, I would hire Andrew again.
Andrew Z.
Thank you for your kind words. Best of luck with your novel!
Stephen S.

Stephen S.

Feb, 2023

Andrew set his deliverable early and helped navigate me from what I thought I wanted to what I actually wanted (an editorial assessment)--for that I thank him right off the bat. From there, he told me when to expect his deliverable, a deadline he met and beat. As to the quality and detail in his assessment, it was exactly what I hoped for. Frank and clear, with specific examples and feedback fo...
Read more
Andrew Z.
Thank you! I enjoyed the novel and look forward to seeing what you do next.
Eric W.

Eric W.

Jan, 2023

I wanted to wait until I received at least one other editorial assessment before leaving reviews, in order to make sure I was not having a knee jerk reaction to criticism. Unfortunately, Andrew was not a great fit for me. Having been in the entertainment industry for 35+ years, I know the difference between general criticism, and constructive criticism. I found many of his points, such as mos...
Read more
Andrew Z.
I am confident that I provided what I promised in my nine-page review of your work. I'm sorry that you were disappointed. As anyone can see from other reviews of my work, your opinion is an outlier...
Read more
ray C.

ray C.

Nov, 2022

Andrew was clear, punctual and easy to understand. I wish he had more time.

Sign up to read more reviews

Create a free Reedsy account to connect with Andrew and thousands of other publishing professionals on Reedsy.

Professionals similar to Andrew

Get a range of offers by requesting quotes from multiple professionals.

Dabian Witherspoon

Dabian W.

Editor. 12 years. Ph.D. in English. Academic, biography, memoir, nonfiction, fiction, screenplays, comics, African American, Black Studies.

Columbia, SC, USA

100% reply rate

View profile
Anne Horowitz

Anne H.

Experienced freelance book editor with a particular interest in literary fiction and memoir.

New York, United States

100% reply rate

View profile
Kristin Gustafson

Kristin G.

I'm a published poet who wants to make your writing sing. I specialize in copyediting and proofreading fiction and poetry.

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA

100% reply rate

View profile