Susan Dalsimer
Drawing on decades of experience, I work closely with the writer throughout the editing process to strike a delicate balance. I edit to clarify, compress and intensify the manuscript's meaning while preserving everything most meaningful to its author. At the same time, I work to produce a version of this manuscript that will be most marketable to the public. I have been an editor at E.P. Dutton, a vice-president of Creative Affairs for Warner Bros. and the Vice-President and Publisher of Miramax Books. Working in both publishing and movies has given me a keen eye for what books can translate into film and television. I edit literary and commercial fiction as well as young adult fiction. I am particularly drawn to mysteries, but I do not edit science fiction. In nonfiction I am interested in the areas of memoir, spirituality, psychology, theater, film, and television. Authors I have worked with include Paul Auster, Fredric Dannen, Florence Falk, Thomas Farber, Raymond Mungo, Bruce Frankel, Annette Insdorf, Iris Krasnow, Padma Lakshmi, David Levien, Anthony Minghella, John Pierson, Martin Scorsese, Andrew McCarthy, Kia Corthron, and Tracy Tynan.
“Susan Dalsimer was my editor on three books, written over the course of seven years. With each paragraph she edited, she challenged me to think sharper, to write more fully from the heart. I leaned on Susan to make me my best, and she came through time and time again.”
“Susan Dalsimer has the rare ability to read a novel in progress and sort out what it needs at its most fundamental level: the honesty of the story, the truth of the characters. But she also has an even rarer talent: the ability to offer specific, concrete, and workable ideas for how to fix the problem. I am grateful for her talents.”