Writing an essay or novel? Your work can operate in different dimensions: analytical, emotional, aesthetic.
Feedback strengthens your final outcome. The experience can empower you and connect you to others.
Let’s talk about where you want to go, and let’s go there together. I care about diversity and respect, and I care about who you are and what matters to you.
Who I Am
Literary and Professional Background
I write books, and I’ve published many articles that you can read free online. Please explore my work on this website if doing so might help you decide whether I can help you with your work. My literary CV is also available as a PDF, and clients have left me recommendations on LinkedIn.
For a decade, I worked for an investment technology company, so I have professional experience with technical documents and with web design and maintenance. Now I write literature.
Identity and Formation
Sometimes writers choose an editor based on personal traits. These kinds of factors can help them determine who might be a good fit for their work.
I am an atheist Jew and a secular humanist. I am a white USAmerican, originally from New England, who has been living in Bogotá, Colombia for five years. I am a native English speaker who also reads and speaks Spanish. I’m past 40.
I grew up as a girl; while the internet was still dial-up (and we still capitalized “Internet”), I transitioned to live as a man. A decade after a challenging same-sex divorce from a man in the United States, I entered a same-sex marriage with a man in Colombia.
I have traveled a fair amount: India, Israel, South Africa, four European countries, two South American countries, as well as Canada, the United States, and Mexico on my home continent. I have participated in peace and environmental activism.
I have degrees in philosophy from Brown University (2002) and journalism from Boston University (2005). On my own time, I’ve done historical research and fact-checking.
Let’s Change Something
I’ll meet you at any stage, from initial brainstorming to final polishing. No draft is too rough to show me. Mindfulness brings us into the process. Your art is your process.
It may be about to look very different. It may be about to really, truly change. Sometimes sharing the rough draft and asking for a response is the pressure point that will bring it to the next stage.
What We Can Do
I can help you with prose, especially literary fiction or creative nonfiction. If you’re serious about it, I take it seriously. If it’s complex, let’s figure it out.
I love to read poems, but I’m not experienced in editing them. Feel free to inquire if you believe I can help.
What Happens When We Work Together
If you haven’t started to write, we can unpack ideas and feelings. Broken pieces that fascinate you might be seeds.
If you’ve got a rough draft but some parts feel broken, those spots may mark great insights that are about to unfold and burst open.
If you’ve got a near-final draft, we can smooth it out and make it shine.
I want your art to resonate with you as its creator as well as make sense for me as its reader. I want the story to have a sense of its own boundaries, whether you decide to keep challenging them or to finally accept them.
You do not have to apologize for the grief/madness/trauma that generates the art. You do not have to explain the dynamic of knowing-and-not-knowing. “You do not have to be good.” — Mary Oliver Your story has its own symbols; I am not scared of them. You have ambition and are taking a risk; I admire that. If you don’t love it yet, let’s “level up” the draft until it reaches a point at which you love it. It can be weird. It will not be boring. It might be transformative.
Where We Can Meet
Phone, video chat, or email. You pick.
How to Pay Me
I suggest US $0.02/word for each round of feedback, which could involve developmental edits, line edits, or significant copyedits. That comes to $100 for every 5,000 words. This rate enables me to keep doing this work, but it is also competitive (take a look, for reference). Payment methods: PayPal or CashApp.
If this is not the number for you, propose a different number. I do not need the arithmetic. I’m interested in the profound offering of why you are here. Bring me the story.
Reach Out
Tell me what you’re looking for.
Tucker Lieberman 