Developmental editor and publishing consultant: Fiction and cultural anthropology
Fiction and cultural anthropology are powerful tools for understanding the perspectives of others
As a developmental editor and book/story consultant I can help you with:
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Figuring out your genre and audience
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Creatively imagining future visions for your book
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Navigating academia and publishing as a member of a marginalized group
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Linking your book organically to your life
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Improving your relationship with writing
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Making your writing an act of collective care
My work is grounded in the following principles:
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Publishing can be awesome, but parts of it are elitist and capitalist, and that sucks
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Human creativity and human editorial judgement are at the heart of storytelling: It takes a human to reach a human
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Anyone can learn to write well – creative writing is not a “natural gift”
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Stories, like people, are social and live in ecosystems
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Tight (but not rigid) plotting is important for the reader experience
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Words and tropes can cause harm, so we should choose them carefully
About Andy
Editor
I've been working in the publishing industry as a fiction and anthropology book editor and consultant full-time since 2019 and part-time for much longer. I've completed 100+ titles, including for Hugo finalists and New York Times bestselling authors, collaborating with Penguin Random House, Pan Macmillan, HarperCollins and top university presses. I love supporting cultural anthropologists and fiction authors, invigorating, improving, and polishing their writing to meet their publishing goals, either as indie authors or traditionally published authors.
Writer
I'm the author of three anthropology monographs, including one on queer approaches to football fan activism in Croatia (Routledge) and more recently, a coauthored monograph on shipyard ethnography (University of Toronto Press).​ I've discussed my work on national television in Australia and in Red Pepper magazine. I've written a dystopian fantasy novel, and I'm currently writing a queer contemporary novel. I've published a few short stories and many academic journal articles too. You can find my publications here.
Leandra Bias, Feminist Political Scientist
“Andrew's detailed review crucially supported me in making decisions about how much and which work I was ready to do on the proposal and what publishers would be suitable. Within two weeks of revising the proposal based on his feedback I got two major UK university presses interested in reviewing my manuscript!”
Sam Keir, LGBTQ+ Fiction Author
"Supportive, precise, and constructive feedback for manuscripts in need of a boost. I wasn't sure where to head next with my novel, but Andrew had plenty of options for me to consider. Andrew's work helped me revise Tea, No Sugar nicely, and a year later I received a contract with an indie press."
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