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Even though she didn’t know it, Jen Ryan has been editing since she was a young girl. Much to the chagrin of her teachers, she’d often point out errors in her textbooks. Combining that sharp eye for detail with her love of books and the skills she learned through her formal education, Jen took it to the next level. She has established herself as an exacting editor, with a growing reputation for excellence.
Jen teaches English composition and writing at her local college. She also owns and runs her own editing company, in addition to being one of two partners in Ellysian Press.
Jen lives in the high desert of Southern Nevada with her husband, three children and assorted animals. She loves transforming fruit and vegetables into healthy (and sometimes decadent) jams, jellies and preserves. Her pumpkin butter is to die for.
You can find her editing website here:
http://imaginethatediting.com/.
The Ellysian Press website is:
http://www.ellysianpress.com/.
You can also follow Jen on social media:
Jen on FacebookJen on Twitter
1. How did you decide to become an editor?
I have always been an avid reader, and would naturally edit as I read (even text books in high school, my teachers hated it when I pointed out errors). So, when a friend, an author and fellow instructor at the college I teach at, asked me to Beta-Read for her, I accepted. She came back to me after and said something along the lines of "Jen, that's not Beta-Reading, that's editing." I laughed and told her I couldn't do the job half-way, it just wasn't in me. I then edited her next novel, and the next, and pretty soon decided to start editing for others. As time went on, I learned even more and eventually decided to open my own free-lance editing company. Now I also am partner in Ellysian Press (Maer, my author friend, just happens to be my brilliant partner), and I get to edit for some amazing, talented authors. I love every minute of it!
2. What are some of your favorite YA/children’s books?
While at EP we don't publish children's books, we do publish YA. As for personal taste, however, I read everything, and love many children's and middle grade books/series. My favorite is the Harry Potter series. I promise that's not just an easy out, it truly is my favorite book series (maybe in any age group).
3. What is more important: character, plot, or world?
This is a really tough question, a good one, but a tough one. I imagine every person who answers it has a different response, and I think that is the point. This will be different for every person -- author, editor and reader alike. Personally, I think they are all very important. What point is there in creating a wondrous world, if it is populated by uninteresting characters? I do believe that the main importance will depend on each author, and each book. Different genres and stories will need different things. So for one story character may be MOST important, while for another it may be plot or world. It will depend on the point of each particular story.
4. What’s your favorite part of being an editor?
That's easy, reading! Really, I truly enjoy getting to be a part of the process. I love books, I love authors, I love stories, and I love getting to help authors make their stories the best they can be.
5. What would you like aspiring writers to know about the publication process?
The best advice I can give to aspiring authors is to do their research. Before you submit to an editor or a publishing company, make sure you have researched your market. Make sure you have learned how to write a proper query letter. Make sure you know what you want (do you want to self-publish, do you want to go with a small press, a large one?) Research and know so that you are prepared and so that you don't get hurt along the way.
Today I have a special treat for you! Andrew Karre is an amazing editor (just look at his credits below) and has the kind of wry sense of humor that I love. This succinct and fun interview gives a glimpse into the mind of the ever elusive editor:
In 2005, Andrew Karre helped launch the YA imprint Flux. He was an editorial director at Lerner Publishing Group from 2008 through 2014, overseeing Carolrhoda Books and founding Carolrhoda Lab. He has published first novels by such noted authors as Maggie Stiefvater, A.S. King, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Blythe Woolston, Carrie Mesrobian, and E.K. Johnston. In 2015, he joined Dutton Books for Young Readers as executive editor, focusing on YA and MG, fiction and nonfiction. He works from his home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Follow him on Twitter at @andrewkarre.
1. How did you decide to become an editor?
I had a summer internship in college in the home arts department of a publishing house. I spent the summer working mostly on books about entertaining, drapery, and sewing. I loved it—not so much the content, but the process of making the books. I never considered any other career else seriously after that summer.
2. What is the biggest difference between an agent and an editor?
There are lots of different ways to be each, but I think the primary difference between the roles is that a good agent is accountable to his client and his job is to bring a manuscript to a market of editors, whereas an editor is accountable to his publishing house and his job is to bring a book to a market of readers. Both need skill in shaping manuscripts, but the final outcomes are very different.
In my conception, an agent is very good at taking a manuscript to a state where several editors will be able able to see potential for an exciting final form—and each of those forms may be quite different. When I edit, though, my goal is to bring the book a final state that feels inevitable and as though it never could have been another way.
3. What have you seen too much of? Not enough of?
I see far too much teenage wish fulfillment—teenagers imagined as adults would like them to be. I read far too little of teenagers as the grand, glorious, andunlikable train wrecks they so often are.
4. How important are trends when considering work?
Trends are just as important to me in considering manuscripts as is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
5. What is more important: character, plot, or world?
Character.
6. Literary or commercial?
Good.
7. What book do you wish you’d edited?
A Clockwork Orange
8. What’s your favorite part of being an editor?
Talking with authors about their manuscripts.
9. Coffee, tea, chocolate — what’s your vice?
Coffee
10. What would you like aspiring writers to know about the publication process?
It’s a process that requires patience and discipline, but it is also one that can be creatively fulfilling. It may not be perfect every time, but I hope every author has an experience of publishing at its best.
11. How many manuscripts come across your desk via agents and what percentage of those do you acquire?
A great many and a tiny few.
I am thrilled to introduce Stacy Whitman who has provided us with an incredible interview.
Stacy Whitman is the founder and publisher of Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books that publishes diverse fantasy, science fiction, and mystery for children and young adults. Books she has edited include Joseph Bruchac’s AILA YA Award and Top Ten Quick Picks titleKiller of Enemies, and Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, which received a starred review from School Library Journaland has been placed on numerous lists, including the Amelia Bloomer Project, School Library Journal’s Best of 2012 List, and the Lone Star Reading List. Stacy holds a master’s degree in children’s literature from Simmons College.1.
What drew you to publishing? Why specifically diverse books?I’ve always been a big reader, but I didn’t know that publishing was possible for me as a kid. I spent most of my after-school time at the library or up a tree, reading a book. Or riding a book on the back of a horse. Getting my first job in children’s books was a long, winding road. I actually grew up poor, on a farm, and was an animal science pre-vet major my freshman year in college. No one I knew worked in publishing—I had no idea it was a viable career choice. When you come from where I come from, practical majors in agribusiness or engineering are generally what you’re encouraged to study.
And even in college when I started seeing writing and editing as a viable path, I didn’t realize books were a possibility for me until much further down the road. It took me almost 8 years within my undergrad journey (I took time off to work several times during my undergrad years) until I came to the point of realizing that working in children’s books was something I could and would want to do. By that time, I nearly had a bachelor’s in child development, and a really great teacher helped me realize that all those part-time and full-time jobs I’d been holding down just to pay the bills because office jobs were easier than shoveling manure at the college dairy farm—working for the local paper, transcribing overland trails journals for the college library special collections department, typesetting college textbooks, and proofreading phone books for a living (yes, I used to edit the phone book)—would combine with my degree to give me the chance to do something I actually wanted to do: create books for children and teens, the kinds of books that made such a difference for me as a kid.
As far as diversity in the books I publish, part of that was personal experience with all the college roommates I had along the way (many of whom were American POCs or from other countries), who taught me how to see the world from a different perspective, combined with a desire to learn about the world through books and seeing a glaring gap in the stories I was reading—I started noticing the stories I *wasn’t* reading. At Mirrorstone, which is the imprint of Wizards of the Coast I worked at right out of my master’s in children’s lit—my first editorial job in children’s books—my senior editor emphasized that she wanted to see diverse characters in the books I acquired because librarians were always asking what we had in the way of diversity at library conferences. It felt natural to seek diversity, but I was pretty clueless at first about white privilege and centering the stories of people of color. The more I’ve learned over the years, the more I’ve been passionate about diversity in the books I publish.
2. What do you look for in a submission?
I look for good writing first and foremost—strong voice, in particular. I also want to see strong worldbuilding, characters I want to root for (which is not the same as “relatable,” which I don’t want to use—sometimes characters aren’t relatable, but you still care what happens to them, and root for them to succeed). I like culturally specific content, as appropriate to the story being told—whether the book is “about race” or “about culture” doesn’t matter so much that what content there is is specific and accurate. So whether there’s a lot of cultural content (such as the Slovak content in VODNIK by Bryce Moore, which is about a boy who can see characters from Slovak folklore, one of which is trying to drown him and save his soul in a teacup) or really not that much (such as the Chinese and Nordic content in CAT GIRL’S DAY OFF by Kimberly Pauley, which mentions the main character’s heritage very briefly and moves right along with the rest of the story about a girl who can talk to cats saving a celebrity blogger from kidnapping), as long as it works for the story, that’s what matters.
3. Do you feel that representation of diversity in YA is gaining ground? Is there a particular group that is more often ignored, misrepresented, or avoided?
That’s a hard question to answer right now. It’s definitely a hopeful sign that the CCBC numbers that just came out indicate a nice boost to certain groups’ numbers, as far as characters who are being written
about. But the gains in authorship by people of color aren’t nearly as big. (And, note, those numbers are all children’s books—picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and YA, so it’s hard to pin down exactly how we’re doing in YA.)
So as far as representation of authors, we have a long, long way to go. I’m very happy that white authors are just as excited these days about We Need Diverse Books as authors of color, but I think it’s also important for me and my fellow editors to be seeking authors of color and publishing them. And we in publishing—from the marketing and sales staffs to the booksellers on the other end—need to be promoting a wide variety of voices so that new voices of color aren’t lost in the shuffle. We’re nowhere near equity yet.
As far as groups you rarely hear from in YA, I am seeking Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander voices in particular because we don’t see much of them out there even in comparison to other groups. In addition, Native American representation is often hard to find, and even today, much of what you find in new books relies on stereotypes. So I seek to change that in the books I publish.
4. How do you feel about authors writing characters of different ethnicities and backgrounds?
If the writing is great, awesome!—with a few caveats. I have no problem publishing a wonderful book by a writer who is not from the background they’re writing about, as long as the author has done the necessary research, and done a good job. We evaluate that not just in the quality of the writing and of any sources the writer depended upon, but also by sending manuscripts out to expert readers from those communities, who give us critical feedback.
However, I also feel very strongly that should center the voices of marginalized writers. In fantasy and science fiction, that can be a challenge, so I reach out to those communities and share calls for submissions, and I’ve started a writing contest, the
New Visions Award, to seek new writers of color. We just
announced our most recent finalists, and will be picking this year’s winner in April. Debut authors of color who missed this last year should be working on their manuscripts for when we open again in June.
5. What do you recommend for authors nervous about writing a diverse character because of a fear of not being able to do her justice or accidentally misrepresenting something in a different culture?
First of all, no one should be writing diversity if they don’t feel qualified. The first step for writing cross-culturally is to *get* qualified, whatever that looks like for you. I’ve forgotten who said it, but someone said that you shouldn’t feel qualified to write about a community until you’ve “held their babies.” Sometimes that’s not possible in a literal sense—especially when you’re talking about writing about history; your research might involve more library time than holding literal or metaphorical babies—but the principle of spending time in the community you want to write about, really coming to understand people from the inside rather than from an outsider’s perspective, is hugely important.
A great place to start when thinking about writing from a cultural perspective not your own is Nisi Shawl’s excellent essays, “
Appropriate Cultural Appropriation” and “
Transracial Writing for the Sincere." In an ideal world, you want to be at a “guest” status—and not an imagined one. I’ve known a few white writers who have trampled on cultures they consider themselves a part of, who say that the people in the culture are fine with what they do, when in fact the culture is not known for telling someone to their face that they’re being offensive. No one wants to be in that position. No one wants to be the person who has committed a microaggression or outright aggression—few people go into writing about another culture
intending to cause offense or pain, but it happens. So understanding power dynamics, understanding what microaggressions are and how not to culturally appropriate, and how to politely learn about a culture not your own—these are all really important before you start writing.
Don’t let fear of blundering hold you back, either—accept that you will likely blunder, and that to err is human. We all make blunders, but learning how to apologize and do better next time is also very important. Learn to listen and respond politely to feedback before you publish, and to change what needs to change. And learn that even after doing all you can, you will make mistakes. Learn from them and move on to do better next time.
6. What are you looking for currently?
We’re still relatively new (we are 5 years old in March), so if a writer wants to know what we’d be interested in, take a look at the
list of books we’ve published so far and make sure that your submission isn’t *too* close to what we’ve already published. And be aware of trends that are waning. For example, I’m not terribly interested in dystopias right now—we’ve published a 3-book dystopian series and an anthology centered on dystopian stories, and right now, with so many dystopias out there, it’s just not something I’m interested in right now.
I am looking in particular for books with a strong adventurous streak, whatever the genre, and possibly a strong romance storyline. We’re open to science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction—and I love genre mash-ups. I love, for example, historical fiction set in a real-world setting but with a magical or steampunk twist. I’d love to see a steampunk set in colonial India or Hong Kong, addressing colonialism from a native worldview. I’d love to see more African American and African diaspora stories of all stripes, particularly futuristic (not dystopian—perhaps set in space!) or a contemporary fantasy drawing upon Gullah or Creole cultures and folklores. There’s such a wide variety of possibilities.
Most of all, I am looking for writers who are people of color themselves. While I welcome writers of all backgrounds who write well cross-culturally, I want to boost the voices of marginalized communities.
7. What are some of your favorite books and why?
This is one of the hardest questions to answer, because I have SO MANY. Can’t pin them all down! Growing up and through college, I loved Diana Wynne Jones, Robin McKinley, Robert Jordan, and other high fantasy authors of their ilk. One of the biggest reasons is the folkloric connection in high fantasy. I used to reread Franny Billingsley’s THE FOLK KEEPER in college because I just LOVED the connection to Irish folklore. My own ancestry includes Swedish, Irish, Scottish, English, Prussian, and German roots, along with—I discovered later—a very tiny connection to Cherokee and Choctaw people (though those ancestors could well have been lying about their deceased mother’s ancestry to gain land in Indian Country, so I don’t *identify* as that). I tell you that because I am a family historian and I loved to read books connected to the culture of the people I come from. But reading that high fantasy voraciously also brought out to me just how little I know about the folklore of other places in the world, and how much I’d love to read fantasy set in those cultures.
So, more recently, one of my favorites is Cindy Pon’s SILVER PHOENIX, which opens that kind of world to me in a Chinese-related setting.
On the science fiction side, a recent favorite is Shannon Hale’s DANGEROUS, which stars a Latina character who also has a disability who saves the world from aliens. I’m all about superheroes! On my list up next is Gene Luen Yang’s THE SHADOW HERO for that reason.
8. What book/author are you most proud of working with?
It’s really hard to pick any one particular book! I am very proud of the recognition that KILLER OF ENEMIES by Joseph Bruchac has gotten in the last couple of years—it was a QuickPicks Top Ten title, as well as winning the American Indian Youth Literature Award for YA book—as well as the starred review and multiple lists that SUMMER OF THE MARIPOSAS by Guadalupe Garcia McCall has been recognized with. These accolades are great because many of them are showing a connection to the readers themselves, at how these books have been hitting a gap our teens need filled.
I am also very excited about our new spring title, INK AND ASHES by Valynne Maetani, which is our first mystery title and the winner of our first New Visions Award contest. It’s already receiving wonderful blurbs from other authors, and is a Junior Library Guild selection.
But as far as an author I’m most proud of working with, they’re all important. They have each made excellent books, no matter the accolades received.
I am thrilled to announce that in addition to bringing you agents of note, we are now including editors as well!
You met my editor, Samantha already, now I'd like to introduce, Deborah Halverson.
Deborah Halverson spent a decade editing books for Harcourt Children's Books before becoming the award-winning author of Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, Writing New Adult Fiction, the teen novels Honk If You Hate Me and Big Mouth, the picture book Letters to Santa, and three books in the Remix series for struggling readers. She is now a freelance editor, author, writing instructor, and the founder of the popular writers’ advice site DearEditor.com. Deborah also serves on the advisory board for UC San Diego Extension “Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating” certificate program. She speaks extensively at workshops and conferences for writers and edits adult fiction and nonfiction while specializing in teen fiction, New Adult fiction, and picture books. For more about Deborah, visitwww.DeborahHalverson.com.
I secretly wanted to be a writer all my life, but having a practical streak even as a child, I figured I should get a “real job” in the publishing industry. Editor sounded good to me. Fortunately Harcourt Brace (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) had offices in San Diego at the time. I wouldn’t have to move to New York to pursue an editorial career! I added a copyediting certificate from UCSD to my English degree then applied at Harcourt until the managing editor of the Children’s Books Division took a chance on me. Boy, had I found my people! That was 1995. I learned how to make books in the managing editorial department, then moved over to acquisition, where I worked with veteran and debut authors as they revised and perfected their manuscripts. But that desire to write was still niggling at me. It took seven or eight years, but I finally worked up the courage to see if my dream was worth holding on to. Sure I could write, but could I finish a whole book? And then write another, and another? On the sly, I began what became my debut YA novel,
Honk If You Hate Me. In 2005, as my second novel for children was publishing, I had to give up corporate editorial life to be home with my infant triplets. I hung out my freelance editor shingle, and ten years later I couldn’t be happier. I bring my in-house editorial experience to bear as I work with writers to get their manuscripts ready for submission to editors and agents or for independent publishing.
2. What are some of your favorite YA/children’s books?
I’m a sucker for writers who can give the obvious a fresh spin that startles me in the most moving ways. Salina Yoon melts my heart with the unexpected
Penguin and Pinecone. A friendship between an animal and a pinecone? Inspired!
The Day the Crayons Quit and
If You Find a Rock both celebrate items so common in childhood that we barely notice them anymore.
Kids notice them though… and so did these authors, who found brilliant ways to make us grown-ups take notice once again.
3. What is the biggest difference between an agent and an editor?
It’s crucial to understand the scope of each one’s involvement in your career. An editor is focused on single projects and your potential body of work with that publishing house. Your agent cares about each project, too, but she also has your full career in her sightline. I am very experienced in this business—I could negotiate my own contracts and I’ve got plenty of editorial contacts. Yet I value expert consultation and support for my career so much that I have an agent for my children’s books and an agent for my adult craft books.
4. What have you seen too much of? Not enough of?
With the current enthusiasm for contemporary realistic stories, I see too many manuscripts that showcase above-average writing but fail to deliver a fresh angle on the contemporary teen experience. What makes your story about a regular kid in high school stand out from all those other well written stories about regular kids in high schools? I want to see more great writers find their distinct angles so that they can find publishers and places on bookstore shelves.
5. What title are you most proud of and how did you find the author?
I love every novel I worked on with Jean Ferris. I remember my very first week as an editorial assistant—Jean’s
Love Among the Walnuts was in design stages at Harcourt. Jean’s editor, Diane D’Andrade—my boss—asked me to give the jacket copy a whirl. Eager to impress, I worked on it that night at home, trying to capture the tone and convey the special cleverness of that story. Then I felt it: a
click. It was the first time I experienced that soul-deep connection that strikes an editor when she finds a writer she truly “gets.” Jean is so clever with the words and the stories, and her quirkiness jives with my own. I worked on several other books with Jean as an assistant editor before I started acquiring her manuscripts myself, including
Much Ado About Grubstake and
Eight Seconds.
6. How important are trends when considering work?
Most of the time, books on the market at the height of a trend were written and even acquired before that trend existed. The boring every-day reality of acquisition is editors looking for manuscripts in the genres or styles they enjoy, then singling out those that are exceptionally written and that have noteworthy angles they can play up in cover and promotional copy. They want to love the book and see ways to bring readers’ attention to it.
7. What is more important: character, plot, or world?
I need well developed characters in even the most plot-driven books to feel like I’ve had a satisfying reading experience. As for world, I see that element as more than just the place and time in which we embed our characters. Too many writers stop at those two aspects of world-building and then aim the rest of their story-building efforts at their characters and plot. Having your character
act upon and
react to the time, culture, environment, and props can greatly enrich his characterization and the story as a whole. I see setting get shortchanged too often in manuscripts—to the detriment of the story—so I dedicate a full chapter in each of my craft books to using setting to enhance all other aspects of your story.
8. Literary or commercial?
Oh boy, can I revel in a rich story with layered themes and complex stylings! But I’ve always been a pop culture girl, so toss me a well crafted commercial book any day.
9. What book do you wish you’d edited?
I’m crushing hard on
The Day the Crayons Quit, let me tell you. To have been a part of it’s creation in any way would have been a treat.
10. What’s your favorite part of being an editor?
Learning that a writer I’ve worked with has landed a publishing contract sure rocks my boat, but my greatest pleasure is in the editing itself. I will cheer out loud when I work out that elusive something that can crack open a writer’s revision strategy, and I love it when I’m so excited by a revised manuscript that I fill the margins with happy faces and exclamation points. Helping a writer move her project to the next level is immensely rewarding.
11. Coffee, tea, chocolate — what’s your vice?
I’m sorry, could you repeat that? The word
chocolate hijacked my brain….
Today I have a very special guest to introduce. My editor, the lovely Samantha Streger! The best news? FFF Digital is open to submissions (including YA) Read below to find out more about Samantha and the company.
Samantha Streger is the Publisher of Full Fathom Five Digital, where she has the badass job of publishing and promoting commercial books. Before joining FFF, she was Associate Editor in the teen & children’s department at Open Road Integrated Media, so ebooks are her forte. She also holds a publishing certificate from NYU and previously worked at Disney Publishing Worldwide and the Wallace Literary Agency. When she’s not reading and editing, Samantha can be found watching "Vampire Diaries" and re-runs of "The Office," and trying to quit the gym.
Submission/contest info:
Full Fathom Five Digital (www.fullfathomfive.com) is accepting manuscript submissions. We’re looking for young adult, new adult, and adult commercial fiction, especially genre-driven work in the Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance, Horror, and Mystery Categories. Please send a brief description of your work and a manuscript to [email protected]. Questions? Read our submission Q&A before you ask! We also hosted a $10,000 fiction contest this November. Stay tuned as we announce the finalists and Grand Prize Winner on February 25th—the same day you’ll be playing hooky from work and reading Lisa Green’s Soul-Crossed :D! 1. How did you decide to become an editor?
I wanted to be an editor since the third grade. Of course, at the time, I thought being an editor was the same thing as being a copyeditor or proofreader, fixing typos and perfecting grammar! I was a stickler for mistakes. When I learned more about content editing, though, I found it even more interesting to give creative input. Even though I don’t have a large opportunity to edit these days, I keep taking on projects because of how much I enjoy being involved in the artistic process.
2. What are some of your favorite YA/children’s books?
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine—the best Cinderella. The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce is one of those series that forever changed me as a person. And I’m not ashamed to say that I love Harry Potter. (And I trusted Snape all along.)
3. What are some things NOT to do when submitting work?
Do not describe your book as containing "the marketability of Harry Potter with the mystery and intrigue of the Hunger Games.” Yes, that’s a real pitch letter I’ve received. Comparing your book to the most popular mainstream titles of the day digs a hole of expectation it’s almost impossible to crawl out of.
4. What title are you most proud of and how did you find the author? Besides myself of course! LOL
I am incredibly proud of my first acquisition for FFFDig:
The Apartment Novels by Amanda Black (an adult romance series). I was a fan of Amanda’s stories when they were originally published online for free, and for years I'd dreamed of acquiring and publishing one of the amazingly talented fanfiction authors whose work I admired. I reached out to her on my first day at Full Fathom Five Digital; she had just begun the process of sending the manuscript out to agents. It was meant to be!
5. What is more important: character, plot, or world?
Character. Particularly in YA / coming-of-age novels, there’s nothing better than the emotions evoked by a characters reactions and misperceptions. An incredible world and a strong plot is useless without characters to care about.
6. What book do you wish you’d edited?
I wish I’d edited Fifty Shades of Grey, because Anastasia Steele would not have become the Editorial Director of a publishing company after working there for about a week. (It takes at least two).
And then I’d be the editor of Fifty Shades of Grey!
7. What’s your favorite part of being an editor?
Getting notes like this from authors: "Ha, I swear to God that you have a finesse translator, because that's what I MEANT it to sound like.”
8. What does FFF Digital offer an author that’s different?
In 2014, we saw large publishing houses still operating in a lot of traditional ways, while the realm of self-publishing cracked wider and wider open and was packed too full of content from many worthy authors looking for an audience. FFF Digital offers the expertise and services of a professional publisher, but also works with our authors to navigate the individual need for continual marketing and exposure. We also have a Full Fathom Five Productions arm in LA and thus an enormous opportunity to bring our content to the big screen!
9. Coffee, tea, chocolate — what’s your vice?
I love coffee, but I wouldn’t call it a vice. I just have to have it before anyone speaks to me.
Me too. And that's why we get along so well. Thank you, Samantha!
Even though she didn’t know it, Jen Ryan has been editing since she was a young girl. Much to the chagrin of her teachers, she’d often point out errors in her textbooks. Combining that sharp eye for detail with her love of books and the skills she learned through her formal education, Jen took it to the next level. She has established herself as an exacting editor, with a growing reputation for excellence.
