Jenna Blum, Editor in Boston, MA, USA

Overview

Hi! I've been writing since I was four, a professional since I was 16 (when I won Seventeen Magazine's National Fiction Contest!), and now I'm the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of three novels and a memoir, as well as audiocourse and historical audiodrama, which you can hear on all major streaming platforms. I'm also one of Oprah's Top 30 Women Writers! Since graduating with an M.A. from Boston University in 1996, I've been running writing and novel workshops, and in those 27 years, I'm thrilled to have helped a lot of books onto the shelves (see my Portfolio). My superpower is developmental editing, with a focus on structure (99.9% of the problems with books are structural, in my experience) and specializing in "book whisperer" editing--helping authors who are getting that "so close but yet so far" letter from agents. I love reading/editing contemporary, literary, commercial, and historical fiction, as well as memoir.

I'm also a practicing writer; I'm under contract for a fourth novel with Harper Collins. I'm laboring alongside you in the trenches!

Here's how I work: After I learn what I can do for you, I'll ask for two or three sample pages to make sure I'm the right editor for you, and away we go. I work in Word with Track Changes (or old-school on pen and paper for U.S.-based clients, if you prefer!), and my developmental edits consist of line-edit, macro comments, an in-depth summary of feedback, and an hour of consultation, once you've processed the comments, via phone or videochat.

I can best be of service providing coaching or editing for intermediate or advanced writers who have some experience: who have taken a writing class or workshop; who have begun their book-length project and/ or have a draft; who have a clear vision that I can help develop.

I love working with authors, and I'm very invested the books I've helped get published and out into the world. I hope yours is next.

Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

Jenna.

Services

Developmental Editing

Copy Editing

Editorial Assessment

Query Letter Review

Non-Fiction

Biographies & Memoirs

Fiction

Coming of Age Contemporary Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction

Languages

English (US)

Awards

Ribalow Prize

Work experience

Author

Self-employed

Oct, 1986 — Aug, 2024 (almost 38 years)

I've been a professional writer since I was sixteen!, and I am now a New York Times and internationally bestselling author with three novels (Those Who Save Us; The Stormchasers; The Lost Family), one memoir (Woodrow on the Bench), and a new novel under contract. I'm also one of Oprah's Top 30 Women Writers, and I've written and recorded audiocourse "The Author at Work: The Art of Writing Fiction" and historical audiodrama "The Key of Love," available on all major streaming platforms. My short fiction and nonfiction has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, Seventeen Magazine, and numerous literary journals. I travel nationally and internationally to speak about my work, and for my first novel alone I visited over 800 book clubs. PS, I'm also the proud servant of a four-year-old black Lab, Henry Higgins.