Readers, this is a post I’ve been waiting to do for some time.   Since I started this blog, I’ve often referred to my editor as just that…my editor, or the editor.  This was out of courtesy to her.  I didn’t feel I had the right to blithely share her name all over the internet, you know?    Well, all over the internet is a very loose term considering the volume of “traffic” to my blog.  I could liken it to small town volume, as in a one stoplight town that you zip right through, never really knowing you were there.

For writers, this could be my most important topic to date.  I’ve mentioned in a previous post that this editor has been my secret weapon.  I really felt like that, and I guess in some ways I felt a bit selfish, wanting to keep her for myself.

Without wasting more time, the editor’s name is Caroline Upcher.  She has a website, http://www.carolineupcher.com which explains in detail how she works, so I won’t delve into it here.  Go visit her site and read about how she approaches helping writers of first books.  I think you will see from the author recommendations, as well as her background, qualifications, and experience in the publishing industry, all this makes her uniquely qualified to help writers with their first book.

It is because of her clear vision on what she thought my manuscript needed that enabled me to write the sort of book that could grab the attention of an agent.  If and when she thinks your manuscript is ready, she will solicit agents – on your behalf.  It is the same concept as already having the agent who can get a publishing editor to read your book, except she’s helping manage it a step further down the ladder by getting your manuscript in front of an agent.   This can be THE hardest step in the process to overcome as we all know.

All of those complaints about how to get to the top of the slush pile??  My answer, Caroline Upcher.

I am deeply grateful to her for agreeing to work with me, and when the time was right, for helping to place me with an agent.   Without Caroline, I’d still be cold querying from that forlorn agent list I’d made before I met her.  Working with Caroline has given me a foot up  in the publishing world, and even if my book does not sell, I have stood a better chance for that to happen – all because of her ability to objectively see what a story needs coupled with her industry savvy.

She is a first class editor with an aptly named business – First Base Editorial Services.