Book Craft With Susie Helme
Susie Helme is an American from Nashville, Tennessee, living in London after sojourns in Tokyo, Paris, and Geneva. Once a journalist and editor of mobile communications magazines, she now writes historical fiction novels and works as a freelance editorial consultant, proofreading and editing other people’s novels.
She writes reviews for Historical Novels Review, Reedsy Discovery, and GetBooksReviewed, and she has been a judge on the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion and Claymore Awards and also on the Historical Novel Society First Chapters Award.
Her first novel, The Lost Wisdom of the Magi (Dec 2020), was the Winner of the 2021 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical. Book 2 in the Academy of Sisters series, The Genizah Codex, is a Finalist in the 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Awards for Best Historical.
What is your book craft? I offer developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading.
How did you get started offering these professional services? I work through Reedsy Marketplace. I recommend Reedsy as a one-stop shop for authors.
What fulfills you most about working with your clients? I love the feeling that my knowledge and experience can help other people. The greatest fulfillment, though, is when I see their book published.
What ROI can your clients look forward to by working with you? My clients are happy with my editorial suggestions and the amount of time and attention I put into every detail.
What makes you and your services unique? I have a broad knowledge and experience of literature and of life, and I bring that to my work. I am uniquely me, and I always remind my clients that my suggestions are only subjective. They are the author.
Who is your ideal client? Someone who has the bare bones of a masterpiece and needs some fine-tuning. Or they may not yet realize just how good their work is and need encouragement.
What is one of your most memorable client engagements? Once in a while, I discover an absolute masterpiece. In the Joshua Sea by M. Stillman was one.
How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? I immerse myself in the job at hand and give it all my attention.
How do you help your clients do the same? The biggest challenge for writers is ‘going ahead and publishing the d*** thing,’ and I try to encourage my clients to be brave and take the plunge. If I see that they haven’t yet published, from time to time I contact them to ask how they’re doing.
How can people get started working with you? Send me an email su********@***********co.uk, or if you don’t mind paying Reedsy’s %, find me on Reedsy Marketplace.
What else would you like people to know about you? When I was a teenager, I set myself the goal—like Aristotle— of learning absolutely everything about the world. With the huge and complex world of today, that is impossible, but I haven’t stopped trying. I am absolutely driven by the desire to change the world, and I am fascinated by all the means by which people try to do so.
Image Courtesy Susie Helme
