Editorial Services

I’ve worked in and around publishing for twenty-plus years, in positions ranging from marketing copywriter to editor-at-large. In my roles as Senior and Executive Editor at Candlewick Press, I acquired and edited in all formats from picture books to “crossover” young adult novels. 

I’m especially passionate about historical, literary, and speculative fiction, narrative nonfiction and biography, and character-driven middle grade, and have worked with award-winning and best-selling authors and illustrators. 

As a faculty adviser in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts, I led workshops, remote-advised students with graduate-level creative and critical writing projects, and lectured at the college’s twice-annual residency.

I’m also a writer and short story anthologist (and evangelist) and have published or have titles forthcoming with Unbridled Books, Candlewick Press, Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, Viking Books for Young Readers, Random House Studio, Little Brown Ink, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time on either side of the editorial desk and bring sensitivity, empathy, curiosity, and a profound love of language and story to the table. 

Developmental editing 

What, you might ask, is a developmental editor? What can we accomplish together? 

Developmental editing is the first and most important step in the editing process. You’ve completed your first draft—perhaps even combed through it several times—and travelled as far as you can go alone. Now you need a guide, a fresh eye, a new perspective. That’s where I come in.

Unlike later stages in the editorial process—line editing, copyediting, and proofreading (if you’re self-publishing, I can point you to “next-step” resources as our process winds down)—developmental editing takes in the big picture. It’s a comprehensive review of your entire manuscript from nuts to bolts, bearing in mind your target audience and book industry standards. I’ll offer line suggestions, and correct typos that I spot along the way, but my primary goal is to work with you on fundamentals. We’ll take a deep dive into plot, theme, pacing, characterization, setting, style, structure, scene, dialog, and—if relevant—world building and historical context. I’ll provide a detailed editorial letter, usually in the range of 10-12 pages, plus extensive margin annotations throughout the digital manuscript. Taken together, this in-depth feedback will lay a path for impactful revision. 

Developmental editing can be strenuous, intimate, and galvanizing. Ideally, it gives you a whole new lens to view your work through, and a clear path forward.

“In midwifing manuscripts, Deborah Noyes somehow deftly deciphers those aspects of our mysterious minds, of our creative visions that even we struggle to fully access. With engaging wit and vast wisdom, she’s a wonder at offering spot-on suggestions and revealing questions to help writers unlock the potential in our manuscripts and in ourselves. I’m forever grateful for all I’ve learned from her.”

Cynthia Leitich Smith, NSK Neustadt Laureate, New York Times bestseller, author-curator of Heartdrum

Editorial mentoring—the packet plan

If you prefer ongoing support while you work on a project or projects, this plan allows you to submit up to 200 pages of new or revised work in each of four scheduled packets. Each packet receives a comprehensive “deep” edit that takes into account the installments before as well as your projections going forward. The packet format is a successful mentoring model used in many MFA in Writing programs around the U.S. and allows us to identify key editorial issues or narrative false turns before they settle into the fabric of the book. With this plan, I can offer professional development coaching as suits your experience level and suggest mentor texts to help nourish your revision process or shed light on particular craft techniques.

“I found in Deb Noyes my dream editor, not only the kind of editor most writers dream of—smart, sensitive, and subtle—but one able to articulate the hidden dreams of your character, or yearning. In From Where You Dream, the writer Robert Olen Butler suggests that fiction is the exploration of the human condition, with yearning as its compass.  Deb holds the compass straight and true.”—

 Franny Billingsley

An experienced anthologist, I’m available to curate, commission, and edit short story anthologies. I would also like to edit more adult fiction, particularly historical novels, story collections, literary fiction, and mysteries.

Let’s work together to realize your creative vision.