Hello Lovely,
My name is Kate Marope, and I am a developmental and line editor with eight years’ experience working with traditional and self-published authors, both for The Ribbon Marker and as a freelancer for various publishers and editorial firms.
My journey in publishing hasn’t always been a straight shot.
I graduated high school at 15 with no idea what I was going to study in college (Mrs. Laos scared me off law despite my family’s assertions I would make a mint). And I sort of wasted my head start getting 3/4 of a biomedicine degree (I couldn’t open my Microbio text without breaking into hives) and a full undergraduate in Psychology (this one comes in handy when assessing character arcs and GMCs). And the master’s in Marketing was a “it’s related but I actually don’t want to work in corporate” kind of degree (also more useful now than I thought it would be at the time)
But you know what gave me solace during all of that?
Reading.
I crushed my English classes (I am very proud that my paranormal short story feat. characters named Sejiso–Poison– and Selepe–Ax–got me an A in high school and that I am the reason my 9th-grade class read The Tempest instead of Fight Club), and dove into fanfiction when my Biological Psychology buddy introduced me to Fanfiction.net in the middle of lecture (she was very into The Devil Wear’s Prada). And by the time I finished my post-grad studies, I had discovered Kresley Cole’s IAD series, Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series, and so many more romantic (for the times, because now…) worlds.
So before the ink on my certificate was dry, I went to the Dallas BookLovers Con (am I dating myself?) and found myself an internship with Latoya C. Smith (that’s a whole story in itself, but she’s an awesome agent now so go check her out). And that’s how my true journey in pub began.
Eight years later, and I have a job that I love, working with amazing authors who create fantastic worlds and characters I want to spend more time with. From Amazon Humorous Fantasy bestseller, PM Drummond, to Golden Palm Contest winner, Brooke Stanton, to a debut sensation like Charish Reid—I am exceedingly passionate about editing fiction (romance is my OTP, but I’ve been known to dabble).
I’m often described as a thorough, supportive, and approachable editor because I guide authors to think about story mechanics from a reader value perspective and using that objective to inform the choices they make during revisions.
Rather than tell you what to do, I compare it against your intentions for your manuscript, point out what works (and why), what doesn’t work (and why), and how what is currently there impacts the reader experience with examples of how you could change that (the exact details are left to you as you are the author). The point is to make the editorial and revision process an open discussion, with us as partners in this creative journey to actualize your manuscript into the best book it can be. (Learn more about what my clients have to say about my editorial style under testimonials).
I’m always excited to start new projects because each book is a new adventure, so take a look at the services I offer and get in touch via my project information form.
“Book magic happens at the intersection of function, intention, and execution.” – Kate Marope
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