I edit and critique most genres.
However, please no erotica, sexual violence, depicted violence against children, or POVs in the head of misogynists or racists or sociopaths.
I do submission packages, query critiques, and story consultations regardless of content, age category, or genre here.
For Manuscript Critiques, email me your genre, age category, and total word count at querylara[at]gmail[dot]com if you think we’d be a good fit. If you’d like to send your query, feel free. Don’t worry if your query isn’t perfect! If you decide to hire me, a query edit is included at no additional cost.
The following are genres or topics I’d especially like to read.
Writers with a picture book or graphic novel script, good gracious, send that baby to ME.
I’m a very omnivorous reader, so genre doesn’t matter as much as story. I want a story I can escape into—one peopled with uniquely human characters, not underdeveloped stereotypes. I want subverted tropes. I want something that isn’t cookie-cutter. What makes your story different from everything else out there? Tell me. What makes it like the things I like below? Tell me that, too.
Note: I’m not going to assume that anyone has read the same books I have, so I’ll give TV and movie examples to illustrate. If you haven’t seen them, it only takes an hour or two to rectify! See my favorite books here.
For any age category
- Comics, graphic novels, and illustrated novels, especially in KidLit!
- BIPOC or neurodiverse #ownvoices fiction or nonfiction
- A protagonist that could easily played by Emma Stone, Ellen Page, or Jennifer Lawrence (someone smart, tough, and funny!)
- High-concept, genre-illusive pieces (Princess Bride, Doctor Who, Galavant)
- Bromances (Sherlock, Psych, Castle)
- Will-they-won’t-they spy and crime-fighting duos (Chuck, Castle)
- Anything with a happy-for-now ending or a story that’s depressing yet funny (500 Days of Summer, Casablanca, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
- Adventure stories that pass the Mako Mori test (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Firefly, Pacific Rim)
- Character-focused historical fiction (The Great, The Young Victoria, Indiana Jones)
- The book version of Judi Dench’s As Time Goes By
- A fantasy starring Athena
- A story about J.R.R. Tolkien’s mother Mabel
- Anything with interior designers or house flippers
- A romantic comedy in the vein of one of Steven Carrell’s—Dan in Real Life, Crazy Stupid Love, Date Night
- A love story in the vein of Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s novels—one in which romance is only one side of a multi-faceted portrayal of love.
MG
- Anything #ownvoices, especially historical fiction with a BIPOC protagonist
- MG historical disaster novels (especially if illustrated!)
- Speculative MG with a 50/50 female/male cast (think Avatar: The Last Airbender).
- Adopted protagonist not on a journey to find birth parents, not in an abusive foster or adoptive family
YA
- Give me your fluffy #ownvoices stories. Especially with BIPOC and autistic protagonists.
- A smart feminist falls for a nerd hero—think a Hermione & Neville pairing, but different place and/or time.
- Geeky or fun mysteries with clear character development (especially if you’ve got a Veronica Mars Season One type of romance! I love LoVe!)
- BFFs who figure out they love each other—and they have all along (Emma Approved, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton)
- Historical fiction about a midcentury doo-wop group like Dream Girls
- Non-gory thrillers with unknown antagonists (like the Pretty Little Liars TV series)
I’d also love to see any of the following:
If you have any other questions, Tweet me @LaraEdits or comment on my blog. Since I’m a freelance editor, not an agent or publisher, you can pitch me on Twitter—just let me know you’re looking for a manuscript critique!
Do you critique “Westerns” ? It’s not a cowboy killing everyone who he meets story.
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I’ve only read two books I might consider westerns, and neither were written for adults. So I’m really not familiar with the genre. But if that is enough, and you don’t mind waiting until I open up to editing again in the fall, I can take a look!
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