Action and Military Fiction Editors
A great “action” novel will keep readers flipping pages. Action fiction is a literary genre that includes spy novels, adventure stories, mysteries, and tales of terror and intrigue. Each of these genres requires similar elements of fiction—and each is a challenging task.
A strong action novel will feature a protagonist with a deep backstory whom we empathize with and hopefully grow to love. This hero faces a conflict that becomes more complicated, more dangerous, and seemingly insurmountable as the novel progresses. Fueling the conflict is a persistent nemesis who seems undefeatable.
Brisk, crisp prose with energized action verbs is often required to keep the story’s engine running. So too are multidimensional side characters, vividly drawn settings, and appeals to our emotions and senses—sights, sounds, smells, and feel. Whether traditionally publishing or self-publishing, reviewers will notice and remark about the pacing, the dramatic climax, and the resolution—the essentials of a great action novel. If you didn’t hire a professional editor and/or proofreader, they will also notice typos and narrative grammar mistakes. If your dialogue is grammatically correct, they’ll point that out as well.
Military fiction has a special challenge. A large percentage of military fiction readers are current or former service men and women. Military service itself is based on careful adherence to rules and procedures, and such readers expect military novel authors to be meticulously accurate. Our military editors are well versed in the vernacular and terms of the armed forces, and they are laser focused on accuracy and consistency of style and spelling.
Completing a publish-ready novel is a monumental effort, and you can’t do it without professional help. Team with Book Editing Associates in your quest to fulfill the book of your dreams.
Ann Aubrey
Ghostwriter, Book Indexer, Copy Editor, Proofreader
Ann Aubrey has 30+ years of experience as a writer and editor, including fiction, nonfiction, medical, academic, technical, and college-level textbooks.
She began a career as a technical writer: geophysics, geology, and information technology. Then transitioned into journalism, working as Associate Editor/Editor of the Catholic newspaper of San Diego and teaching fiction writing at the university level.
David Aretha
The author and editor of more than 300 books, David Aretha knows what it takes to get a book published.
David Aretha has edited and authored books for 30+ publishers, including St. Martin’s Press, HarperCollins, Lyons Press, Random House, Running Press, Warner Books, Total/Sports Illustrated, and Scholastic.
His books have generated more than $20 million in revenue and have appeared on the Today show, The Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR. His rating on Goodreads.com is 4.2, based on more than 3,000 ratings.
Henry Denard
Major Commercial Fiction, Nonfiction, and Screenwriting
Publishing a book at a traditional (Big 5) publisher is pass/fail . . . where pass is a 97%.
I excel at taking material from a “B-“ and putting it over the top, to an “A+.” Your material may, or may not, sell, but I’ll turn it into the best manuscript it can be.
Apart from editing adult trade, young adult, and middle grade fiction and nonfiction, I’m also a screenwriter (WGA) and film producer for the studios.
My recently edited books include Girl From Nowhere by Tiffany Rosenhan (Bloomsbury, 2020) and Sixty Stories About Thirty Seconds by Bruce Van Dusen (Post Hill/Simon & Schuster, 2020). Both are debut authors.
My past bestselling authors include Anthony Bourdain (my name is at the top of the acknowledgments of Kitchen Confidential), Chris Wallace (Character), Richard Marcinko (Rogue Warrior), Steven Pressfield (The War of Art), Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket Diaries), and Brett Favre (Favre).
My titles have been featured on: Sixty Minutes, The Today Show, Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and the front page of The New York Times. Two books I bought, edited, and published sold to studios (Warner and Universal) for over $1 million.
I founded and was editor-in-chief of Rugged Land Books, distributed by Penguin Random House, where I acquired, edited, published, and helped to write dozens of titles.
As an author, I recently completed The Last Duke for Duke University Press (2021). I have written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal among other publications.
On the film side, I developed and produced The Conspirator (Robin Wright, directed by Robert Redford), Gone in Sixty Seconds (Nicolas Cage, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) and The Negotiator (Samuel Jackson, directed by Gary Gray) among other films.
