I'm the editor-in-chief of Electric Literature, and I directly handle most essays on the site. You can pitch me essays at jess@electricliterature.com—please include a descriptive subject line and a clear description of your thesis (not just the subject you want to write about, but the point you want to make and why it's important), plus relevant clips if you have them! I've also been a contributing editor at The Establishment, founding editor (and EIC, and managing editor, and art department, and payroll) at Archipelago, a full-time editor at Grist, and a part-time contract editor at Atlas Obscura. My specialty is personal essay and opinion, and I've also worked with nonfiction, memoir, and hybrid works.
Outside of business hours, I accept a limited number of clients for private editing and consulting, specializing in book proposals for nonfiction, essay, and memoir. I excel at helping you figure out what you meant to say—whether that means structuring your thoughts, unearthing your thesis, polishing your sentences, scaffolding your argument, or figuring out what you're writing in the first place. For book proposals, this could mean honing an existing draft, but it could also mean that you thrust a bunch of half-formed thoughts at me and I tell you how to move forward. If you're pretty sure you want to write a book but you find yourself stalled at any stage, I can help.
Interested? Contact me with a brief description of your vision for your project, what stage you're at right now, and what help you need.
Outside of business hours, I accept a limited number of clients for private editing and consulting, specializing in book proposals for nonfiction, essay, and memoir. I excel at helping you figure out what you meant to say—whether that means structuring your thoughts, unearthing your thesis, polishing your sentences, scaffolding your argument, or figuring out what you're writing in the first place. For book proposals, this could mean honing an existing draft, but it could also mean that you thrust a bunch of half-formed thoughts at me and I tell you how to move forward. If you're pretty sure you want to write a book but you find yourself stalled at any stage, I can help.
Interested? Contact me with a brief description of your vision for your project, what stage you're at right now, and what help you need.
If you're not sure what hiring an editor can do for you, good news: I have gone through the embarrassing process of asking for testimonials!
"Jess is that rare editor who keeps you sounding like you, only better. Her precision and empathy are a combination that any writer would be lucky to benefit from." –Meredith Talusan, author of Fairest
"Jess is by far one of the most beautiful editors I've worked with. She has the ability to transform your work and the insight to pull for the message from your words that you did not even know you were going for. If I could make her my editor for everything I write, I would." –Carol H. Hood, freelance writer
"Her intelligence, instincts, and thoughtfulness have finally made me understand and appreciate the value of good editors in general and her value in particular. There is no other editor I work with that makes me feel safer or less physically ill." –Sarah Kurchak, author of I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder
"Jess is an impossibly insightful, gentle, and precise reader and editor, and her capacity to know what you actually mean before you do is genuinely uncanny." –Helena Fitzgerald, freelance writer
"Jess has incredibly keen editorial instincts. Not only is she a terrific writer (who therefore has terrific line edits), she fundamentally understands how to build different types of projects, from essays to books. She has a sharp sense of pacing and structure and knows how to take a mess of pages and ideas and shape it into an argument or story." –Angela Chen, author of Ace
"Jess is a truly brilliant editor, and getting her feedback (in our writing group) on my book proposal was invaluable. She helped me understand my project, explain it, write it well, and sell it. She is really, really good at this." –Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life (forthcoming)
"Jess is by far one of the most beautiful editors I've worked with. She has the ability to transform your work and the insight to pull for the message from your words that you did not even know you were going for. If I could make her my editor for everything I write, I would." –Carol H. Hood, freelance writer
"Her intelligence, instincts, and thoughtfulness have finally made me understand and appreciate the value of good editors in general and her value in particular. There is no other editor I work with that makes me feel safer or less physically ill." –Sarah Kurchak, author of I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder
"Jess is an impossibly insightful, gentle, and precise reader and editor, and her capacity to know what you actually mean before you do is genuinely uncanny." –Helena Fitzgerald, freelance writer
"Jess has incredibly keen editorial instincts. Not only is she a terrific writer (who therefore has terrific line edits), she fundamentally understands how to build different types of projects, from essays to books. She has a sharp sense of pacing and structure and knows how to take a mess of pages and ideas and shape it into an argument or story." –Angela Chen, author of Ace
"Jess is a truly brilliant editor, and getting her feedback (in our writing group) on my book proposal was invaluable. She helped me understand my project, explain it, write it well, and sell it. She is really, really good at this." –Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life (forthcoming)