Amy Delcambre's Creative Editing Services
A great writer / editor relationship is like a marriage—it needs to be honest, supportive, trusting, and lovingly tough. A good editor is one who wants what’s best for a writer but who resists the urge to impose their desires on the writer’s creative works. Good editors help writers achieve their highest potential with a given work.
This is my approach at Creative Editing Services where I offer developmental, line, and copy editing, and author coaching services. Every writer has unique talent, ambition, and publishing aspirations. These variables as well as the writer’s personality heavily influence how each writer relationship is approached.
For example, I recently copyedited an artist’s legacy memoir. From a technical standpoint, the copyedits were loose. This was deliberate so the prose would match the art included in the book. It’s very important that an editor actually “get” the author’s intentions for their work. A technical copyedit, while not wrong, would have been overstepping; though, technical edits are certainly something that I do.
Another service that’s gained traction is developmental editing and author coaching. Developmental editing involves working with a writer at the conceptual stages and hammering out big issues like structure, theme, plot, character, etc. before the writing gets underway or taking a work in progress and jamming out big-picture kinks to ensure the best possible story manifests. Author coaching is similar but more hands-on; I serve as an editor, a project manager, and a sounding board as we collaboratively progress through the process.
Regardless of the editorial service chosen, the goal is the same: a finished written work. Of course, I also want to see writers emerging more informed about publishing or storytelling. A lot of the knowledge imparted during the editorial process stems from my ongoing education.
I’m a huge craft nerd and take classes throughout the year offered by the Editorial Freelancers Association, Jane Friedman, and others. I just finished a developmental editing workshop series with Allison Williams and did a class on midpoints with James Scott Bell, and I’m reading John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story. Ongoing education is vital for editors to stay relevant to writers; relationships, such as those made through organizational memberships, are important, too. If I meet a writer who isn’t a good fit for me, because of those connections, I often know someone who can help.
I work with memoir, upmarket or literary fiction, mystery, psychological thrillers, and romance, so science fiction and fantasy authors—while enthralling, are those who I’ll direct to editors more seasoned in those genres. As a writer, I do a lot of creative nonfiction and memoir—that was the focal point of my MA studies at USA—but I also write contemporary fiction; I have a character-driven work in progress inspired by my experience as a young widow.
If you’re interested in working with a writing coach or having your book edited, contact Amy Delcambre at Creative Editing Services at amy@creativeeditingservices.com or call 251-285-8992.
Amy Delcambre is a writer and editor located in Mobile, AL. She is currently president of the Mobile Writers Guild, is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, the American Copy Editors Society, the Author’s Guild, and other organizations. Amy has an MA in creative writing from the University of South Alabama and an MPS in publishing from the George Washington University.