(she/her) is a writer and editor from Boston, Massachusetts currently pursuing a BA and MA in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. She first got into publishing when she self-published her own trilogy as a teenager, and since then has helped other authors do the same from providing detailed beta reads to complete editorial evaluations to helping authors develop social media accounts.
In college, Patricia has completed internships across the board in publishing as a Copywriting and Publishing intern with a boutique hybrid agency, a Marketing and Publicity Internship with traditional publisher Simon & Schuster, and Marketing and Publicity with the esteemed Yale University Press. On campus, she serves as the president and Head Publisher for the organization Undergraduate Students for Publishing and has published three student written novellas and oversees large production teams. With a deep understanding of the publishing process, she wants to help translate this industry for you and make your work shine in it.
Her work can be found in SIEVA Magazine and Half and One Magazine. On top of helping other authors, she is writing a fantasy novel inspired by the Irish landscape. She lives in Boston with her cat familiar Jinx and can be found on social media @psmallwoodauthor.
Patricia Smallwood
I approach editing as someone who has been both the editor and the edited. Editing, like writing, is a skill that is constantly growing and evolving within the self.
I believe editing should be taking an author's work and making it accessible for a reader. This doesn't mean toning down language or hard-hitting issues, but rather letting the reader enter an author's world or idea seamlessly. The role and purpose of the editor I equate to the garden versus a meadow. Both are great for a promenade, but a meadow is natural: it can be overgrown in some parts but dead in others, and if there is a path it is trampled and overgrown. A garden, on the other hand, has cobbled paths, each section tempered and regulated to flourish, meant to exist to be enjoyed in splendor by the walkers (readers)! A good editor will take the author's ideas and MS and make sure it can meet most reader expectations, if not all.
My style is to talk. I provide suggestions, but even that I know comes from how I would write, and I want to guide the author to make it stronger. I am a vocal editor in my praise and commentary, and don’t expect the author to take all my suggestions–after all, it is your manuscript!
I thank you for your trust as you consider me for your work. If you’d like to schedule a call to discuss how I can fit into your needs, please check out my Contact Page.