About Me

As the author of fiction and nonfiction books for children and adults, a one-time children’s book editor, and a long-time manuscript editor, I have an insider’s knowledge of book publishing from both the writer’s and the editor’s side of the desk. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I’ve had successes too.

Over the course of my editing and writing career, I’ve read thousands of queries and drafts by writers of everything from picture books to scholarly monographs. I am intimately aware of the ways they go wrong. 

Since 2010 I’ve been researching and blogging advice for writers and copyeditors nonstop. As a contributing editor and blogger for The Chicago Manual of Style, I understand how fiction writers can make the best use of this authoritative reference book to negotiate effectively with the agents, editors, and copyeditors who handle their work.

My own book The Subversive Copy Editor is all about win-win strategies for editors and writers. Publishers Weekly says, “Saller writes with wisdom and a great generosity of spirit. . . . An ideal complement to any style guide: practical, relentlessly supportive and full of ed-head laughs.”

WRITER, EDITOR, HELPER is my free email newsletter for aspiring writers and self-publishers. The blog is ending early in 2023, but if you’ve enjoyed reading it, consider hopping over to the newsletter!