Paul W. Cover

Book editor, proofreader, and creative writing consultant specializing in

science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal genres

A dedicated editor, copyeditor, and writer with over 25 years' experience in a wide variety of media. A proven ability to find and develop marketable new talent. Successfully built and managed new line of fiction eBooks and paperbacks under strict time and budgetary constraints. Professional writing credits in fiction, non-fiction, television, the Internet, and comic books.

Uniquely valuable knowledge of traditional and electronic publishing.

Consistently meets or beats deadlines while maintaining highest literary and editorial standards.

M.A. in Creative Writing and English.

Published novelist and biographer.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS – 1986 to Present

Editor, iPublish.com, Time Warner Books

Built and directed science fiction/fantasy line of eBooks and paperbacks for electronic division of major print publisher. Worked with best-selling writers as well as previously unpublished authors. Managed science fiction/fantasy desk at iPublish website, including message boards and online writing workshop. Surpassed assigned goals by successfully negotiating electronic rights for over 100 Time Warner and Little Brown titles.

Attracted award-winning authors as well as promising new writers who have since published books and acquired agents.

Titles well- and widely-reviewed by major publications such as Publishers Weekly and Locus.

Fostered a vibrant sense of online community through personal interaction, enhancing site popularity and traffic.

Freelance Editor, Copyeditor, and Proofreader

Line editing for Nightshade Books.

Line editing and acquisition for Del Rey Books.

Line editing for TokyoPop.

Copyediting for PenguinPutnam.

Copyediting for Tor Books and St. Martin’s Press.

Copyediting, proofreading for Small Beer Press.

Copyediting for Scifi.com.

Copyediting for Kensington Books.

Copyediting for Harlequin Books.

Freelance Promotional Copywriter for Major Publishing Houses

Jacket copy for Random House, HarperCollins, Bantam, and Avon, including many New York Times bestsellers.

Freelance Writer/Researcher for The Gale Group Publications

Freelance Writer for Electronic and Print Publications

Articles for The Golfer magazine.

Advertorials for Audubon magazine.

Book and movie reviews for scifiweekly.com.

Regular book review column in Realms of Fantasy magazine.

Regular book review column for Locus magazine.

Interviews with leading authors, scientists, actors, and directors for scifi.com, scifiweekly.com, and galaxyonline.com.

Helped create, managed and conducted online writing workshop for Del Rey Books, the science fiction/fantasy division of Random House; discovered and assisted new talent in acquiring agents and publishers.

Developed Teacher’s Guides for select Del Rey titles for use by instructors in grades 7 through 12.

Write reading group questions for Ballantine Books.

Interviews with Random House authors, including New York Times bestselling authors, published on Random House website, in print and internet newsletters, and in mass-market paperbacks.

Ghostwriting projects for Random House.

Novelist, Biographer, Fiction and Non-fiction Writer

Everland, a short-story collection, PS Publishing

Dracula: Asylum, a novel, Dark Horse.

Tumbling After, a novel, HarperCollins.

Waking Beauty, a novel, HarperCollins.

"Everland," title novella in Everland, and Everland as a collection, both finalists for World Fantasy Award.

"Everland" a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award.

“Left of the Dial,” a novella, SciFiction.com, finalist for the Nebula Award.

Waking Beauty, a novel, published in hardcover from HarperCollins, and in trade paperback from HarperPrism; short-listed for James J. Tiptree, Jr. Award.

"Everland," title novella in Everland, and Everland as a collection, both finalists for World Fantasy Award.

"Everland" a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award.

“Left of the Dial,” a novella, SciFiction.com, finalist for the Nebula Award.

Waking Beauty, a novel, published in hardcover from HarperCollins, and in trade paperback from HarperPrism; short-listed for James J. Tiptree, Jr. Award.

Zora Neale Hurston, a biography, published by Chelsea Books.

Short fiction and critical essays in, among others: SciFiction, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Twilight Zone, Night Cry, The Further Adventures of the Joker (Bantam Books), The Adventures of Superman (Bantam Books), Locus magazine, Realms of Fantasy magazine, Science Fiction Eye, and The New York Review of Science Fiction.

EDUCATION

M.A. in Creative Writing and English, City College of New York

James Ruoff Memorial Essay Award

Goodman Fund Loan Grant

B.A. in English, the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Feedback

“Paul drew out the story I had written by foregrounding the manuscript’s strengths, excising its excesses, and working collaboratively to fix broken plot threads, develop characters more fully, and tease out themes nascent in the draft. Working with him felt like having a dialogue with my best writer-self, and the result is a finished work far beyond what I could have accomplished myself in a dozen rewrites.” (On file with network coordinator)

"You did such a fantastic job matching me up with a great editor (Paul Cover)! Thank you very much." (On file with network coordinator)

“Paul is absolutely amazing. There really is no other word to describe him as a person and as a book editor. He is always available, eager to help, and ridiculously good at what he does. He brainstormed with me, helped me understand different perspectives of the industry, and shed light on the best way to approach certain areas in my novel. He not only pays acute attention to detail (grammar, sentence structure, word usage, etc), but he also has a great strategic side to him that helped me shape dialogue, craft character arches, and of course, make sure the overall plot ties together in such a way to keep readers hooked. The guy has been around the block in the writing industry, and had no restraints sharing all of his knowledge and experience with me. Outside of this expertise, he has a trait that is hard to find: he is dead honest. He told me what he loved, he told me what needed to be fixed and the best way to go about fixing it. I would recommend Paul to anyone looking to not only grow as a writer, but also to prepare a solid novel for agent submission.” Kaitlin Adams

"Absolutely satisfied. From my first contact with the Book Editing Associates network I felt I was in good hands. Paul is comprehensive, informative and encouraging in all of his correspondences and has a great eye for style and coherence. His editing is generous and efficient. His suggestions for the story are precisely what it needs." - Andrea Nix

"Paul is a top-shelf editor. He enhances the author's vision and voice rather than inserting his own, communicating with intelligence, wit, and clarity. Any author, whatever their credentials or bibliography, would learn something working with Paul. I know I wouldn't have a career without him."—E.E. Knight, author of the Vampire Earth series.

"I first encountered Paul back in 2001 when he was an editor for a division of Warner Books. I directly attribute my eventual book publication and what success I've achieved as a novelist to his comments and suggestions then. He remains the shrewdest and most caring editorial voice I've discovered in my career, able to address big picture/deep structure issues as well as micro details. As a highly articulate and accomplished writer himself, he's able to communicate his impressions and views with fine accuracy. He also has a keen eye for balancing artistic concerns with real world market factors. Any literary project will benefit greatly from his involvement."—Kris Saknussemm, author of Zanesville and Enigmatic Pilot.

Submission

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

EditMyBook@Gmail.com

Alternates
2012@Book-Editing.com
Help2012@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?:

(12) What is your budget for the entire project?
$ ________________
(Note: The editors will quote their regular rates, but having an idea of your budget allows the editors to tell you what services they can provide to stay within that budget.)

(13) Your name:

(14) E-mail addresses:

(15) Day/evening phone numbers (required -- in case the response to your e-mail bounces or the editors need clarification regarding the scope of service needed, deadline, etc.):

(16) City, State, Country (or time zone):

(17) The name(s) of the editor(s)/writer(s) you'd like to contact.
(If no names are selected, your e-mail will be sent to several consultants chosen by the coordinator):

(18) Do you want the coordinator to reroute your submission if you requested editors/writers who (a) are not available by your deadline date, (b) do not handle the type of material you submitted, and/or (c) do not perform the service(s) you want?

(19) How did you learn about our service?:

(20) Attach the first 50 pages of your manuscript (include prologue/preface, proposal, query)

Notes:

No hidden charges
We won't quote you one price and charge you another. When possible, we'll provide you with a per-word or per-page rate so you'll know up front exactly how much your project will cost. (Of course, we ask that you fairly represent the scope of your project.)

To learn more about the rates charged by professional editors, please see: Editorial Freelancers Association

It is a mistaken notion that freelance editors work "on spec" (speculation) with no payment to the editor. It is basically asking the editor to work for free. There's no guarantee that a book will see a profit (or even be published). The editors posted here do not work on spec.

LIVE AGENT

Note: Questions about price and turnaround times cannot be given over the phone or via chat.
To obtain a price quote please follow the procedures listed on our quotes page.

Contact live support if you do not receive a response within three hours (M-F, 9a-7p central). Expect longer response times if you submitted after U.S. business hours or on weekends.

You may also send your submission to our alternate e-mail addresses if you do not receive a response within three hours M-F:

Help2012 at Airmail.net
editingnetwork at gmail.com
contact at editing-writing.com

You may also leave voice mail for the network coordinator: 469-789-3030. This number is for verification of e-mail submissions only.

Please be as complete as possible in representing your project's scope and size so you will receive the most accurate estimate.

Disclaimer: Your agreement, whether oral or written, is with your editor or publishing consultant, not with the editing network as a whole or its coordinator.