Ernesto Mestre

Ernesto Mestre is an editor who can bring the working novelist's eye to your manuscript, helping you to get it in the best shape for submission to agents and editors. He is a Professor of Fiction at the Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn College MFA programs, two of the top-tier programs in the country, and has been working independently as an editor for over 15 years. Ernesto has published two novels, The Lazarus Rumba and The Second Death of Única Aveyano, and one forthcoming next year, Sacrificio, and has been awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for his fiction, as well as the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction. He has also translated four novels from Spanish. As an editor and novelist, he is finely attuned to and very meticulous about bringing out strengths in a manuscript while remaining true to the writer's vision and voice.

He is available for a range of editing choices:

Proofreading
Copyediting
Developmental Editing
Craft Critique
Ghostwriting
Publication Package (one of the above, with synopsis and query letter)

Available to work on any fiction or nonfiction memoir manuscripts.

Interviews with Ernesto Mestre:

It's Rumba Time http://www.barcelonareview.com/14/e_em_int.htm
The Second Death of Unica Aveyano http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400033164&view=qa

Article by Ernesto Mestre:

A novelist's obsessive memories -- of one room, of one day, of the many Cuban women of his past.

Education
1982-1986	Tulane University B.A. in English Literature
1989-1992	New York University Ph.D. in Renaissance English Lit.

Fellowships, Awards & Organizations
Fall 1993 & Summer 1996	Fellowship residencies at the MacDowell Artists Colony (Peterborough, New Hampshire)
Spring 1996	New York Foundation for the Arts 1996 Fiction Fellowship
Summer 2001	Quality Paperback Book Club International Storyteller Prize for The Lazarus Rumba
2004	John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction
2004-2009	Member of PEN, New York

Experience
2002 -	Freelance book editor
1999-2009	Sarah Lawrence College Fiction Faculty (Writing Department) Latin American Literature Faculty (Spanish Department) Serve on thesis and dissertation committees for students obtaining degrees in fiction writing.
2003-2009	Brooklyn College MFA Program Adjunct Assistant Professor Fiction

Publications Fiction
1996	"Monologue of Triste the Contortionist" story in Best American Gay Fiction 1996 (Little, Brown, 1996)
Spring 1999	The Lazarus Rumba, a novel (Picador USA, 1999)
2001-2002	Spanish and Portuguese editions of The Lazarus Rumba

Fiction
Fall 2002	"After Elián" story in Whistler in the Night World: Anthology of Best Latino Fiction (Plume, 2002)
Spring 2003	"The Bakery Administrator's Daughter" story in Cubanísimo: The Vintage Book of Cuban Literature (Vintage, 2003)
Spring 2004	The Second Death of Única Aveyano, a novel (Knopf, 2004)
Fall 2005	"Two Visits" story in Southern Review
Fall 2007	"Two Films," a story Guernica
Spring 2010	Sacrificio, a novel (Knopf, 2010)

Non-Fiction
Summer 2004	"Elsewhere Man" essay in The Washington Post Book World
Summer 2004	"A Spitting Tree in Brooklyn" essay in The New York Times Op-Ed Page
Spring 2006	"The Aesthetics of Tyranny: Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba" essay in Lincoln Center Theater Review

Translations from the Spanish
Spring 2005	The Last Masquerade, a novel by Antonio Orlando Rodriguez (Harper Collins, 2005)
Spring 2006	Malinche, a novel by Laura Esquivel (Simon & Schuster, 2006)
Spring 2009	Our Lady of the Night, a novel by Mayra Santos-Febres (Harper Collins, 2009)
Fall 2010	Call Me Brooklyn, a novel by Eduardo Lago (Knopf, 2010)

Feedback

"As writers, we invariably get to the point on a project when we lose objectivity. Despite the feedback of writer friends, we find ourselves stumbling through the smaze of indecision. We need impartial eyes to help us move forward.
I consider myself lucky to have found the requisite objectivity, skill, and laser-sharp intelligence in Ernesto Mestre. His copious notes and comments showed that he understood some aspects of my memoir better than I had. He pointed out connections that needed to be brought to the fore, and to characters that needed to be more fleshed out to make the reader invest more emotionally in them and in my book.
Mestre also has a good ear for what muddles a line, without compromising the writer’s voice and vision. His line edits are like good plastic surgery: effective but subtle.
In addition to all his written notes, he gave me an opportunity to talk to him, which helped to further clarify some of his observations.
In this difficult economic climate, writers must spend our money wisely. If we’re going to pay an editor, we must choose one who will help us do for our manuscripts what we couldn’t achieve on our own. Mestre delivers that and then some; he engages your text with both passion and compassion."
—Dean Kostos

"To my surprise, the network response was fast, and gave me several excellent options with regards to editorial services from which to choose. After careful consideration, I chose an editor that most closely related to what I wanted to achieve. I can honestly say that his work was both professional and timely. After having used other editorial services, those offered by Book Editing Associates was what I hoped all the others had been. I will use them again." —(Contact information on request)

Submission

Cut and paste the questions and answers into an e-mail:

EditMyBook@Gmail.com

Alternates
2010@Book-Editing.com
Help2010@Airmail.net
Contact@Editing-Writing.com

You may send your initial submission to all addresses to make sure it's received.

Required:
Submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript (Word/DOC or RTF attachment preferred). Large files should be zipped. Attachment not required if writing has not started (e.g., because you're looking for a ghostwriter).

A sample is required to receive an estimate
for editing services

Along with a sample, the following information is required. Ignore questions that do not apply to your project (e.g., footnotes).

(01) Word count of complete project (under "Tools" in MS Word):

(02) Put your 100-word (approx) synopsis/description here (or attach):

(03) Describe your genre and topic (e.g., nonfiction/self-help, science fiction, horror, romance, mystery, Western, young adult, children, poetry, Christian, creative nonfiction, literary):

(04) Deadline date, if any, for return of complete project. (Please be realistic. Remember that professional editors usually have a project in process.):

(05) If you have no immediate deadline, when do you want to start the editing process?: (For instance: within 30 days, within 60 days, within 90 days, 4-12 months)

(06) Level of editing desired/expected --

Copyediting / Proofreading / Line Editing (e.g., English corrections, typos, paragraph and sentence structure, word use)
Developmental (e.g., help with the big picture, such as flow/pacing, telling the story, characterization, structure, style)
Rewriting / Ghostwriting
Critique / Evaluation

(07) Number of charts/tables/pictures (if any):

(08) Writing style/format manual (e.g., Chicago Manual, APA, MLA), if applicable:

(09) Number of footnotes/references:

(10) Do you have a contract with an agent or publisher?:

(11) Do you plan to self-publish?:

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$ ________________
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Notes:

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