Joseph Demes
selected writing
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2015
editing services
Since 2015 I’ve worked as a freelance editor for multiple small presses and publications. My skills are available for writers looking for assistance with a project of any length at any stage, including: essays (individual pieces or full-length collections), hybrid/non-genre prose, memoirs, novellas, novels, short stories (individual pieces or full-length collections), and other work. Accolades for past clients include a 2019 IPPY award for short fiction and placement in the Best of 2019 fiction list for Entropy Magazine.
For all inquiries, fill out
this form. Below are some testimonials.
- "Joe is a pleasure to work with! He edited my 20,000-word novella, providing both line edits and big-picture feedback on the structure, flow, and plot of the book. Joe is nitpicky in the best way possible and gives the kind of detailed comments you want (and need) on your writing. Though I have enlisted four wonderful readers to workshop this book so far, Joe’s edits provided something unique. Specifically, he gave me insightful comments about character development and narrative voice that I really needed to move the work forward. I came away feeling excited about the ideas Joe generously shared for my novella, and inspired by the books he recommended I read and consider, which were all new to me. He is clearly an expert at writing and editing, and though I have only known him for less than a year, I came to truly value and trust his opinions. Plus, Joe is easy to get in contact with and very responsive, which is not always a given." – Ali Tomek, author of When Something Solid Collapses Under Itself
- "I am lost in an unending series of reality shifts, swallowed by fissures in existence, spat into alternate timelines. I’ve seen millions of other worlds and other ways in which things can be, and you’d think that Joe Demes would only exist in a handful of these alternate realities and that he would be a highly talented editor in only two or three of those worlds. False. Joe Demes exists in every timeline and Joe Demes is a highly talented editor within each of those. Joe's narrative instincts are loving and nurturing. Joe is a man of wit and extrasensory perception. Without his contributions, What's On the Menu? would be missing essential appetizers and entrées. In every reality, the man is word baby mid-wife. Trust your word babies with the editor from every timeline." — Chase Griffin, author of What's On the Menu? [Long Day Press]
- "Joe was able to make me see the light on a piece of writing that was giving me a lot of trouble. He is meticulous in his approach to the big and small stuff, and very easy to work with. I would recommend Joe to anyone who needed professional editing services." — Stuart M. Ross, author of Jenny in Corona [Tortoise Books]