Experience

I’ve been working as a freelance editor since 2012. You can find out more about my background on my About Elizabeth page, but some of the highlights of my experience are listed below.

#RevPit founding editor & board member

RevPit Founding Editor

I’m part of the team of editors that founded #RevPit, an annual contest in which writers can win feedback on their full manuscripts from professional editors. We also offer mini events, including contests and writing chats, year-round as a way to give to the writing community.

As a participating editor, I read through around one hundred authors’ entries of five pages and query letters, tweeting advice to many of these authors and giving feedback on the first fifty pages of my shortlist. One author from that group wins over a month of free developmental editing as I help them prepare their manuscript and query letter for querying. As a board member, I have year-round responsibilities in making sure everything runs smoothly in the annual contest as well as regular mini events.

Other contest experience

I’ve had the opportunity to serve the writing community by taking part in other contests over the last several years, including Pitch to Publication, #ShoreIndie, and #pg70pit.

In both Pitch to Publication and #ShoreIndie, my work was very similar to that done for #RevPit, as both contests gave me the opportunity to work with a new author in revising their manuscript over several weeks. In Pitch to Publication, those authors were then given the chance to show their query letters and opening pages to a group of literary agents who jumped in to request manuscripts in the contest’s agent round. In #ShoreIndie, the other editors and I worked with indie authors who were interested in self-publishing their work.

I have also served as co-host and judge for #pg70pit, a unique voice contest run by Lara Willard, currently on hiatus. In that contest, writers anonymously send in the 70th page of their novel, which is then rated by the hosts and judges based entirely on voice. After reading and voting on a large category of entries, I tweet writing tips and voice feedback based on what I saw. Winners in each age category get sent to an agent round, in which they get a chance to have their manuscript directly requested by a literary agent.

Recent Testimonials:

Hi Elizabeth! Just wanted to let you know that the YA historical you worked on with me not only got me my (awesome) new agent, but will be coming out from Macmillan/FSG in Fall 2020! The deal was just publicly posted, and I just wanted to say that the clarity and insight you brought to the manuscript definitely made it stronger and more submission-ready than I could have done on my own. Thank you!

–Amanda McCrina (Traitor)

“When I finally finished my memoir, I had no idea how to write a book. I just knew writing had always come easy for me, and I thought I had an interesting story to tell. I reached out to a friend that published a book, and his editor referred me to Elizabeth. Elizabeth agreed to take me on as a client, and patiently taught me the ins and outs of writing a truly compelling memoir. Story arc, scene vs summary, character development, dialogue, etc., these were all important writing concepts that were completely foreign to me. Elizabeth never told me what to cut out or say, she simply guided me through the writing process with her knowledge and expertise. In the end my book turned out perfect! The response from the publishing community has been overwhelmingly positive, and I’ve received several write-ups in local and major news publications. One of the most commonly questions I’m asked is, “Who was your editor?” I proudly reply, Elizabeth Buege. My book and all the accolades I’ve received since publishing wouldn’t have been possible without her. Elizabeth is a highly skilled and brilliant writer and editor. I owe her everything.”

– Eric Anderson (Don’t Stop Dancing)