#76 - Balancing Editing and Writing with Joshua Essoe

On site at Superstars Writing Seminars, Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Joshua Essoe, freelance editor. In their discussion Mark and Joshua discuss:

• What led him to writing (the author’s notes at the end of a Piers Anthony novel he had picked up at an early age) and then, more specifically, what led him into editing
• The role that Brandon Sanderson played, at the very first Superstars Writing Seminars in Pasadena, in launching Joshua onto the patch towards editing
• The editing pitch that Joshua did to David Farland, which led to Joshua editing his Award-Winning Novel Nightingale
• The struggle that Joshua deals with in making the time to write while having such a heavy editing workload
• The benefit of consultation calls between a writer and an editor when the writer is at the early stages of working on their novel
• The types of works that Joshua mostly works on, including the types of manuscripts he would like to see more of (horror)
• The process of finding an editor who is a good fit for a particular writer
• A look at the different types of edits that an editor can do, or that different editors specialize in
• The benefit to a freelance editor of working with repeat clients
• The most common errors that Joshua has seen that writers make (and where a good editor can help them)
• Reflections on the difference between American English and British English
• Some of Joshua’s forthcoming projects including an anthology Joshua is co-creating with James A. Owen entitled Magic Makers (including stories by Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Peter Beagle)

After the interview, Mark shares some thoughts on how an element such as a post-text authors note can serve an important part in helping a reader feel more connected with a writer.