Becca Stumpf Editorial

I’m a NYC-based word nerd/book hound/copy geek who likes using slashes and thrives on helping novelists and other creative people tell their stories. After starting my publishing career as an assistant at Writers House Literary Agency, I moved to Prospect Agency, where for over 10 years I worked as a literary agent representing authors of Adult, Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Children’s fiction, with a special focus on genre novels featuring unpredictable protagonists and big, fully-realized worlds (i.e., nerd lit for the masses!).

 

Along with the thrill of selling novels to publishers and negotiating book and subsidiary rights deals, what I loved most about agenting was working closely with authors and their manuscripts at all stages of the publishing process. Whether that be brainstorming new projects, writing pitches and book proposals, developmental editing, line editing, proofreading, or strategic career planning - I’ve worn more hats than a Victorian milliner and that’s how I like it. I’ve had the pleasure of editing a diverse list of books and writing the pitches that placed those books with editors at Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, among others.

 

I bring my passion for creative collaboration to each writing project, along with meticulous attention to detail and an eye for the big picture (some things never die: zombies, plastics, and an agent’s critical eye). Depending on the needs of your project, I can work with you on a plot or sentence level and strengthen your manuscript/pitch/proposal to best reach publishing professionals and even more importantly - readers. Because of my background I maintain strong ties within the industry, and I use this perspective in advising you both on your work and on positioning yourself as an author in the wider publishing ecosystem.

 

If you think I would be a good fit for your writing project, please check out my editorial services page and contact me!