Welcome to THE EDITORIAL GOBLIN!

I am Scott Oden, author, former slush reader for a literary agency, and founder of THE EDITORIAL GOBLIN.  Publishers and agents are inundated with manuscripts; I did not realize the extent of this until I started reading unsolicited submissions (“slush”) for a friend who was also a literary agent.  I discovered these budding writers fell largely into two camps: those who could write (as in, make functional sentences and paragraphs) but did not understand the basics of storytelling, and those who could tell a story but could not write.  But, if you can do both, if you can tell a story and handle the demands of prose, then you stand a much better chance at getting your work noticed.

It’s a cold hard fact that 98% of manuscripts submitted (sometimes 99%) will be rejected — for the most part because they are simply god-awful. 1% will show real promise, but require more tweaking than an agent has time to do. These will get the personalized rejections, possibly with an idea of where the writer can strengthen or revise, and an invitation to resubmit. The remaining 1% will be of publishable quality, or close enough to it that the agent can sign the writer, get started on a few rewrites, and still submit to publishers. Now, “publishable quality” is subjective, and each and every one of us can point to a book and wonder how the hell THAT got published. For agents, publishable quality is based on what they’ve sold in the past, their genres of choice, and the nature of their relationships with acquiring editors. Obviously, if an agent has had the most success selling literary fiction (such as Annie Proulx or Michael Chabon), then for her “publishable quality” is not going to extend to sword-and-sorcery or historical adventure. She can *appreciate* the writing, but not have a clue who she can approach in order to sell it. This is something every writer needs to remember, and to plan for accordingly.

THE EDITORIAL GOBLIN was created to help the 1% of writers on the cusp of breaking through.  I’ve been where you are.  I started writing with an eye toward publishing at the age of 14. I wrote short stories in blatant emulation of my favorite writers (Robert E. Howard and Karl Edward Wagner), submitted them to print magazines, and harvested a forest of rejection slips. I bought how-to books, magazines like Writers Digest, took a few classes, and wrote like the end was nigh.  Still, year after year, I collected rejections like a dog collects fleas. Finally, in 1998, I switched from short stories to novels (because I am stubborn and apparently a glutton for punishment). It took 2 years to write my first, and two more years to find a small, freshly-minted literary agent willing to take me on.  All told, I received 79 rejections from agents before she said yes, and another 20+ rejections from publishers before a small press editor with a love of all things ancient Egyptian got a hold of it and bought it.  My first novel, MEN OF BRONZE, came out in 2005.  I’ve written two more since (MEMNON in 2006 and THE LION OF CAIRO in 2010) and I have four more under contract — one with Medallion Press, Inc. and three with Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press.

What does THE EDITORIAL GOBLIN offer?

• An OBJECTIVE critique of your work, combining the experience of a working writer with a past spent reading slush pile submissions.
• Help with MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION, to get your work in the best physical shape possible.
• Some LINE EDITING — very light, with an eye toward spelling and grammar, style, and the like.
• GOBLIN-NOTES: besides the official critique, each and every manuscript will be returned to its author with my initial thoughts embedded in the manuscript (via the “Track Changes” feature in Word).  These can be invaluable, as they chart my progress in your work as I read it, indicating areas where my interest flags, where the writing falters, or where confusion sets in.  Conversely, GoblinNotes can and will be positive, as well, indicating areas where your prose leaps off the page or where your characters come alive.

NOTE:  THE EDITORIAL GOBLIN is not a ghost writing service.  I cannot write your book for you.  Also, this service is geared toward those writers who seek commercial publication and a career as a writer.  In most instances, self-publishing fiction is not recommended unless the writer already has an established following.

Want to know more?

Follow the links in the header to pages on Rates and Services and Contacting the Goblin.