Sophia Dembling – Editor

A good editor doesn’t just make sure your commas are properly placed. That’s only where the job begins.

A good editor makes sure your vision for your book comes through as clearly and elegantly as possible. That your paragraphs flow like a stream tumbling over rocks. That your sentences are crystal clear and the words within them sparkle with just the right meaning. That the structure of your plot is solid and your characters move through space in ways that the laws of physics support. That your historical references are accurate, and celebrities’ names are spelled correctly. A good editor gets to know the characters in your book well enough to recognize and flag when they stray out of character or behave in ways counter to human nature. A good editor does all this and more without interfering with your voice as a writer​, and has a good ear for when to follow the rules and when to break them.

In my years of working with St. Martin's Press, I have edited everything from memoir to sci fi, and I love working with first-time and self-published authors. With many years experience as an editor and an author myself, I can help make your good work even better.

ENDORSEMENTS

I had the pleasure of working with Sophia , an experience I wholeheartedly endorse and would recommend to other people.

My publisher, St. Martin’s Press, assigned Sophia to be the copy editor of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, and Sophia could not have been better suited to the job. Her corrections, suggestions, questions and feedback were clearly articulated, extremely thorough, and thoughtfully delivered. Her careful attention to the book helped to make my writing as clean and felicitous as it could possibly be, and I am grateful to have gotten the opportunity to work with her.

---Kathleen Rooney, author, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

I can recommend Sophia as a copyeditor unreservedly and without hesitation. Her work is meticulous and thoughtful with a keen sense of narrative voice. Her queries to authors are always reasonable and unfailingly polite.

She is a pleasure to work with and a great favorite with many of my authors.
--- Meryl Gross, Managing Editor, St. Martin's Press