Ali edits and critiques:
Literary Fiction, Romance, Erotica, Mystery, Horror, Young Adult Fiction, Memoir, Travel Essays.
Ali is booking for May 2016.
ALI WILLIAMS is a well-published author and editor, with 10 years of experience in literary and genre fiction, and a strong literary background. Her work has been seen in The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and on National Public Radio. She is on the editorial board of noted literary magazine Brevity.
A successful veteran of the query process, Ali knows how to help you present your book in its very best form. She edits and critiques literary fiction and a broad range of genres, including romance, erotica, mystery, horror and young adult fiction, memoir and travel essays.
Editorial Services:
Manuscript Evaluation, Critique, with Editorial Letter: Receive feedback on the overall concept and execution of your manuscript, with questions and suggestions for further work.
Developmental Editing and Writing Assistance: Includes story-shaping and structural guidance.
Line-editing: Evaluaton and suggestions for improvement.
Copy-editing and Proofreading : Grammar and typo fixes.
Mentorship: Includes guidance for a specific publication or your writing career.
Query Coaching: Includes agent research.
Dramaturgy for Playwrights.
Ali excels at identifying strong, engaging writing and evaluating which elements of a manuscript are not serving the writer’s purpose. She gives explicit and specific notes in language the writer can receive and use. It’s not fun or easy to hear it straight. But if you’re up for it, Ali’s your editor. She’s not nasty or cutting, but she’s not kind. She doesn’t care about your self-esteem unless it affects your ability to keep writing, and she’ll only praise stuff that’s genuinely right. Your work deserves it. You deserve it.
APPROACH
I approach your work from a four-point perspective:
Concept. What’s the big idea? Is it original or tackled in a new way? Is it fundamentally interesting?
Craft. The basics: spelling, grammar, punctuation, word choice. Beyond the basics: sentence order, variety, brevity, cleanliness, style.
Structure. Plot, and how that plot is revealed. Chronology and time-shifting. Point of view.
Voice. Who are we listening to, and why do we want to spend time with them? Are the characters unique and specific? Can we tell who is speaking in a dialogue? What words and sentence structures make your authentic personality clear?
You’ll get feedback on each of these elements as well as specific notes throughout your pages.
CREDENTIALS
Ali holds an MFA from Western Michigan (one of the top 5 schools for graduate Creative Writing), where she studied with National Book Award winner Jaimey Gordon and noted literary fiction writer Stuart Dybek. She’s been a teaching fellow at the Prague Summer Program and the Kenyon Writers Workshop, an Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and done extended workshops with Dinty W. Moore and Rick Moody.
Ali’s also a writer, so she knows what the finished product should look like and how to get there. An essayist and travel journalist, she’s written about race, culture and comedy for National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and Travelers’ Tales: Prague.
Her fiction has appeared in Crossed Genres, Smokelong Quarterly and Deep South; essays in The Drum and Brevity. She has told stories on CBC’s Definitely Not The Opera and Intersections, and is a two-time winner of The Moth StorySLAM.
Ali was the President of the International Centre for Women Playwrights for five years.
Working with Ali is like taking a writing workshop. She not only fixes problems, she tells you why, and gives feedback on how to strengthen your craft.
TESTIMONIALS
“This is a terrific query and you should go out wide with it. Make sure you query [AGENT] and tell her I said to do that. I’d probably buy it just to find out what happens.”
Query Shark
“I really can’t say enough how smoothly [the author’s] stories read after they’ve passed through Allison’s hands. I know many of them well, have read the majority previously, and I am struck by changes that I can’t really pinpoint, but that are clearly evident.”
Reader of Martin Ewen’s Panto-Damascus: One Clown’s Alphabet
“You were the one who pretty much told me to quit jerking off and start writing, and it was the kick in the pants I needed to make myself friggin’ focus.”
Writer, USA
“I’m ready to climb out of this well of fear and back into the creative sunshine.”
Marina Petrano, USA
“I am crying now, tears of gratitude because this story would not be half as good if I didn’t have your guidance.”
Sonia Rao, India
“I wouldn’t at all say that the hints were harsh; they are forthright and well thought out and well presented, just how I like them!”
Writer, USA
“You have been one of my strongest allies.”
A. R. Kahler, USA
“Your insight has turned on a lightbulb for me.”
Writer, Australia
“Supportive, encouraging, honest. You are the midwife of my work.”
Kate Mrdja, USA