We are an editorial partnership—partnership being the operative word. For the last 30 years we’ve collaborated on books, magazine and newspaper articles, and on digital platforms. If you’ve been edited by one of us, chances are you’ve benefited from the wisdom of the other. 

 

In our careers at The Atlantic, New York, and The Economist (Laurie), Premiere, Outside, New York, Wired, and The New York Observer (Lisa), ELLE and Mirabella (Laurie and Lisa), we’ve worked with many of the country’s best writers and reporters. Laurie has written two of her own books, and we’ve each edited books from proposal stage to finished product. We’ve edited great works and have helped save others that were in trouble. We edit for structure, for ideas, for clarity and beauty of language, and for accuracy. We are trained literary journalists. Hire us if you are:

​

• a publisher with a book that requires developmental editing and/or rewriting beyond what can be handled in-house

• a writer seeking coaching, or who wants an extra set of eyes on a manuscript 

• a non-professional writer developing a pitch for a book or article proposal

• a custom publisher 

• an academic or expert in their field who needs help with talks, speeches, promotional materials

• an agent helping clients hone their proposals and manuscripts or seeking a ghostwriter

• a website developer who needs a content overhaul

​

Recent clients include: Jonathan Eig, Orna Guralnik, star of Showtime docu-series Couples Therapy, E. Jean Carroll, Clara Bingham. Among writers we’ve worked with over the years are Marie Brenner, Stephen J. Dubner, Nora Ephron, Paul Ford, Rivka Galchen, D.T. Max, Daphne Merkin, David Michaelis, Peggy Orenstein, Akhil Sharma, Megan Stack, Salamishah Tillet, Rebecca Traister, Amy Wallace.

 

This is how our business works. You engage one of us as your editor, and the two of us initially will confer on your project. If you think back on your best writing experiences, you probably had at least a couple smart editors reading your work and offering advice. You also may have had someone who gently kept you on track and found ways to motivate you. You probably had a copy editor. You get all of the above with us. We understand that writing can be hard and lonely. Why do you think we’re launching this business together?

 

Finally, loud and proud: We are old. Otherwise known as experienced. We saw ourselves in the advice that Lucy Santé, in a recent New York magazine article, says she offers her writing students: “Go with the oldest editor. The younger ones are going to be literal-minded. They’re going to be cops.”

 

We are not rewriters (unless you need us to be). Our egos are not on the line. Our perspective and developed talents are in service to the writer. We hope you’ll think of us the next time you’re working on a project that you want to be great. Contact us for a consultation and our rates. We look forward to working with you. 

​

Laurie Abraham & Lisa Chase

​