Carly Cantor

Nonfiction

Carly often works with academics, psychologists, and medical doctors on high-caliber material in the social and life sciences, helping to make their writing more accessible to a trade audience. One happy client, a medical doctor, said of her, “She is a consummate wordsmith, with the facility of not only understanding and integrating scientific and technical material but also illuminating arcane and otherwise opaque descriptions.”

She has also worked closely with memoir writers and has a knack for preserving an author’s own special voice while helping him or her avoid narrative mistakes that come across as awkward or amateurish. Some of her memoirists have been people documenting struggles with mental illness, addiction, and/or abuse; an adoptee who found her birth mother; a man convicted of the mercy-killing of his wife; a Korean woman who grew up feeling oppressed by her culture’s sexism; a man prosecuted for federal crimes he did not commit; a son of a Holocaust survivor who learned his father’s story after 50 years of silence; just to name a few.

She has authored two history books. For several years, she was an acquisitions editor at Carol Publishing Group, New York, NY, where she acquired and edited numerous hardcover and trade paperback titles on a variety of nonfiction subjects, mostly in the areas of self-help, health, history/current events, how-to, memoir, and pop culture.

Fiction

Carly edits fiction with an appreciation for how the brain works and for the fact that readers like to pick up clues while they read, as they do in real life, and figure things out rather than be constantly told how to interpret what characters are thinking and feeling. She pays attention to pacing, descriptive detail (the Goldilocks rule: should be just right; not too much, not too little), narrative arc, character development, dialogue, and general writing issues.

She knows the New York publishing world (and has access to the current thinking about what is hot and what is not).

One novelist said of her, “I have been guided by a number of different editors throughout my career. Without any hesitation, I can say that [she] is the best editor I have ever worked with.”

Nonfiction

Carly often works with academics, psychologists, and medical doctors on high-caliber material in the social and life sciences, helping to make their writing more accessible to a trade audience. One happy client, a medical doctor, said of her, “She is a consummate wordsmith, with the facility of not only understanding and integrating scientific and technical material but also illuminating arcane and otherwise opaque descriptions.”

She has also worked closely with memoir writers and has a knack for preserving an author’s own special voice while helping him or her avoid narrative mistakes that come across as awkward or amateurish. Some of her memoirists have been people documenting struggles with mental illness, addiction, and/or abuse; an adoptee who found her birth mother; a man convicted of the mercy-killing of his wife; a Korean woman who grew up feeling oppressed by her culture’s sexism; a man prosecuted for federal crimes he did not commit; a son of a Holocaust survivor who learned his father’s story after 50 years of silence; just to name a few.

She has authored two history books. For several years, she was an acquisitions editor at Carol Publishing Group, New York, NY, where she acquired and edited numerous hardcover and trade paperback titles on a variety of nonfiction subjects, mostly in the areas of self-help, health, history/current events, how-to, memoir, and pop culture.

Fiction

Carly edits fiction with an appreciation for how the brain works and for the fact that readers like to pick up clues while they read, as they do in real life, and figure things out rather than be constantly told how to interpret what characters are thinking and feeling. She pays attention to pacing, descriptive detail (the Goldilocks rule: should be just right; not too much, not too little), narrative arc, character development, dialogue, and general writing issues.

She knows the New York publishing world (and has access to the current thinking about what is hot and what is not).

One novelist said of her, “I have been guided by a number of different editors throughout my career. Without any hesitation, I can say that [she] is the best editor I have ever worked with.”

Testimonials

“Carly provided great insight and clear comments when she critiqued my latest manuscript. She was professional and completed all work before the contracted date. She was easily accessible and quick to respond.” – Darlene Batrowny

“Carly was the perfect fit for my project. She did a fantastic job. She was thorough and insightful in her comments on my manuscript. Carly was always easy to reach, helpful, and delivered her critique in advance of the deadline. Working with Carly and the network was a great experience and I would highly recommend both.” – Barak Bassman

“I carefully researched editors that matched my criteria and am extremely pleased with the consulting and admonition I received in the critique of my work. I firmly believe when you hire a professional to give you an opinion you should listen very carefully. Too many times people are upset because they don’t hear what they want to hear and that is completely missing the point. I agreed with what I was told to do with reference to my material and am proceeding forward with my work based on the direction given by my editor.” – Bill Powers

“I love your editing. … I wish I had met you sooner.” – Charles Anderson

“I deeply appreciate your insightful critique on the structure of the book but more importantly directing me concisely on much better technique of my storytelling skills. It is a challenge to have a whole story in one’s head and tell it one word at a time. I am beginning work on a re-structure of the basic storyline and then employing the POV suggestions you have made. You were absolutely correct in the observation that the story is written more like a screenplay. I have studied screenwriting and want to make this and other stories easily adaptable to the medium but I have come up short on ‘character’ development and engaging storytelling in the novel form. I will make a much better writer with your continued assistance.” – Bill Powers

“I am with the depth of your critique and edits—so much more than I’d anticipated for this first phase. Many, many thanks for the time and thought you put into this.” – Jon

“Carly was indispensable for the birth of my memoir. She helped me to not only tighten my writing but also improve the structure of the narrative to make it more thrilling. I found a very effective, inspirational guide in her ability to culturally translate my experience in Korea for American audiences.” – Jid Lee, author of To Kill a Tiger (Overlook, 2009)

“My personal experience in working with Carly has been very rewarding. She has the grit to drill down into the material so that nothing is taken for granted. She also demonstrates an intuitive skill to help add an overarching structure to the work that helps expand its scope, further increasing the book’s accessibility to those audiences we wish to reach. Her persistence in getting the content to seamlessly flow from one technical subject to the next is a true gift.” – John W. Cassidy, MD, author of Mindstorms: The Complete Guide for Families Living with Traumatic Brain Injury (Da Capo Press, 2009)