Emily Young

Services Offered:

Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing
Substantive Editing
Author Coaching
Query Critique

Preferred Age Level & Genre of Expertise:

Middle-grade, Young Adult, New Adult and Adult Fiction in the following genres: speculative (science fiction/fantasy), including: Portal fantasy, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, alternate universes, time travel, paranormal and supernatural, urban fantasy, speculative adventure, and contemporary with a fantastical edge. Emily is also proficient in thrillers, suspense, superhero stories, character-driven contemporary, animal-centric stories, and survival adventures.

More About Emily…

Emily Young (she/her) holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults program and attended the Tin House Young Adult Fiction Workshop in Spring 2021. She is the winner of the Hunger Mountain 2021 Katherine Paterson Prize in the Middle Grade category. Her experience working as a writing tutor for students ages 9 to 90 means she knows how to inspire clients during their revision journeys, while her craft expertise enables her to deliver editorial advice grounded in best practices.  

When evaluating a story, Emily focuses deeply on character. In her opinion, almost every part of the manuscript – from sentence-level flow to big-picture structure – can be improved by delving into the authentic emotions of your characters. Her favorite stories are science fiction and fantasy novels that pay as much attention to their characters’ journeys and internal growth as to the external adventures.

She has particular expertise in dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories and has delivered lectures and workshops on those genres. Emily’s MFA critical thesis focused on writing antiheroes.

Emily tries to help writers find joy in the revision process. Creative play is central to writing, and it should be part of the editing and rewriting journey, too. Through brainstorming sessions and writing exercises, Emily equips writers with the tools to strengthen their manuscripts. Her editorial assessments and developmental edits often contain mini craft lessons, so writers can benefit from her MFA experience, too!

When she is not writing, Emily’s day jobs have included working at a library research desk, tutoring students of all ages, freelancing for the Pulitzer-Prize winning paper The Tampa Bay Times, and delivering lectures/workshops at local nonprofits and colleges.

Emily is not the best fit for stories that involve animal cruelty.

Follow her on Twitter.

Favorite Books:

- Middle-Grade Fiction:

  • Coraline by Neil Gaiman

  • Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

  • The Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins

  • The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

  • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

- Adult Fiction:

  • Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

  • Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel

  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

  • Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

  • The Road by Cormac McCarthy

  • The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

- Young Adult Fiction:

  • Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

  • The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

  • The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater

  • The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

  • Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

  • Night Road by A. M. Jenkins

  • The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

  • Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

  • Legend by Marie Lu

  • Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

  • The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

  • Calvin by Martin Leavitt

  • Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

  • Echo After Echo by A.R. Capetta

  • Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older  

Favorite TV Shows:

Being Human (BBC); Game of Thrones (until the last season!); Schitt’s Creek; Derry Girls; Fleabag; I’m Sorry; Lost; Fringe; The Magicians; The Umbrella Academy; Undone; Stranger Things

Testimonials.

“I doubt I would have an author career were it not for Emily Young. Her thorough understanding of story helped shaped all of my early novels and made them far superior to the drafts I started with. Her knowledge of character development is especially keen, and she asks the right questions to make me dig deeper. Her skill as a copy editor and storyteller is superb. I highly recommend her as an editor.”
- Nathan Van Coops, author of the time travel series In Times Like These, The Skylighter Adventures, and The Kingdom of Engines

“I felt like Emily took time to get to know me and my book before diving into the edits so she really understood what I was trying to do. Her comments felt very tailored to that insight, very individual, not like she was applying a cookie-cutter template or trying to make my story into something it wasn't. Her manner was always energetic and encouraging, but she never shied away from pointing out hard truths – which she then helped guide my brainstorming for a solution. I never felt like she was trying to take over the story, but helping draw out the better version of the story she knew I had in me. I am very grateful for her knowledge, insight and enthusiasm.”
- Deborah B.

“If you're a debut author and are unsure what's wrong with your Query Letter or Synopsis, or think that it could be better... then EMILY YOUNG is for you! I came to Emily after submitting 15 queries and receiving a large number of rejections very, very quickly. As someone with zero experience in this world, I assumed the issue was my Query Letter by relating it to a resume for a job application. Emily quickly put my mind at ease with her patience and interest in MS. She put my mind at ease with a number of things I'd been unsure about (e.g., the genre of my MS) and provided guidance through references, feedback, and recommendations on how to construct the best Query Letter and Synopsis for my MS.”
- Michael Terrance

“Emily Young provided feedback on my query letter and she was phenomenal: she replied quickly to my questions and her insights were always substantive. I had never written a query letter for a novel before, and in my first draft, I had thrown a bit too much at the wall, hoping something would stick. In particular, I was trying too hard to forge a connection with each agent, and I provided too much info on future novels and what I perceived to be my relevant assets. Ms. Young taught me how to better focus my letter, restricting agent "bonding" to one key connection while circling the wagons around the novel itself. She excels at structuring a strong letter. On two occasions, rather than firing an answer to a question from the hip, she instead canvassed her colleagues for their perspectives, and then she shared the consensus opinion. Receiving community feedback in this fashion was unexpected and most reassuring. Frankly, it would be a great privilege to work with Ms. Young again in the future.”
- Douglas Heil