Editorial services
I cut my teeth editing best-selling and award-winning authors at Alfred A. Knopf, Doubleday and Ecco Books. I have an M.F.A. in Fiction from Johns Hopkins University, where I also taught fiction and poetry. I have worked with authors at every step of the editorial process, and can provide services including manuscript evaluation, developmental editing and line editing.
My editorial philosophy prioritizes guiding authors to the best version of the story they want to tell. My role as an editor is not to shoehorn, but rather to help writers bridge the gap between vision and execution, to help illuminate what might be buried just beneath the surface. I know that the best editorial feedback takes into consideration the overall arc of the book and its project, while also caring for the small parts—the words, the phrases, the sentences—that make up the greater whole.
I am genre omnivorous: I love working on literary, upmarket and commercial fiction, short stories, history, long form reportage, narrative nonfiction and essays. I have a particular interest in both fiction and nonfiction about climate change.
My rates vary depending on the project, but generally fall within the average range reported by the Editorial Freelancers Association. To discuss a project or inquire about rates, you can reach me at emma.d.dries@gmail.com. In your email, please include a brief description of the project, an approximate word count, and ideally ~20 pages of sample material.
I comply with the AALA canon of ethics, which means that as an agent, I do not represent editorial clients of mine. If you are curious about querying me for representation, please refer to the Triangle House Literary website.
TESTIMONIALS
“Emma Dries is an incredibly talented editor who brings enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity to every project she encounters. She has a rare ability to keep the big picture in mind while paying close attention to every detail. She is deeply skilled at everything from insightful developmental comments to structural overhauls done with an architectural eye and laser-focused line edits, and she is equally attuned to the needs of fiction and nonfiction. What’s more, working with Emma is a joy. I can’t recommend her highly enough.”
MEGAN LYNCH, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER, FLATIRON BOOKS
“Emma Dries is one of the best editors I’ve ever worked with. She understands what makes fiction work and delivers feedback that is insightful, pragmatic, and holistic. She makes manuscripts better because she has an innate ability to identify what will make a story more fully itself. I think it’s incredibly rare to find an editor with her skill set and we’re incredibly fortunate she’s available to freelance. I cannot recommend Emma highly enough.”
TRAVIS MULHAUSER, AUTHOR OF SWEETGIRL
“Emma is my favorite kind of editor: unabashedly excited and passionate about the projects she loves; curious about everything; both generous and sharp-eyed in her critiques. Most importantly, she is a collaborative partner, who always meets a manuscript on its own terms rather than trying to impose her own vision onto it. I learned from her constantly and miss working with her dearly. I envy the lucky authors who get to become her co-conspirators!”
CAROLINE BLEEKE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, FLATIRON BOOKS
“Emma Dries takes her great gifts as a reader—her intuition and sensitivity—and applies those as an editor. She has fabulous taste, she is skilled at assessing a project’s strengths and weaknesses, she offers clever solutions to editorial problems and she has made every book she’s worked on stronger. More than anything, Emma is a pleasure to work with and she brings her great spirit of creativity and discovery to the page.”
JENNY JACKSON, VP, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ALFRED A. KNOPF
“Emma is diligent and attentive, with the ability to be at once ruthless and gentle. This sounds a contradiction in terms, but is precisely what one wants in an editor. She’s a pleasure to work with, and the work itself is always the better for it.”
RUMAAN ALAM, AUTHOR OF NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
“Emma Dries worked intelligently and tirelessly on The Dakota Winters and expertly helped guide the book towards publication. She is great to work with, and at Ecco has learned from the best editors in the business. She knows the publishing world from the inside, and has the kind of great instincts any writer could benefit from.”
TOM BARBASH, AUTHOR OF THE DAKOTA WINTERS
Emma Dries 