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Novel Editing Services for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Romance (LGBT friendly)
Goblin Fruit does business with fanged lovers, glass-and-chrome planets, and tentacled horrors. The ethereal, strange, grotesque, and whimsical are welcome here. We believe in reading with a sense of wonder, and love for everyone.
Let’s make a new story.
Katherine Ervin
Over the last ten years, we have given feedback to hundreds of writers.
Nicole Balsamo
Our interests are fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, and romance. We would love to hear about your story!
Who Can We Help?
You feel like you’ve hit a plateau in your writing. There’s a huge gap between knowing the craft and applying it to the page. It can be hard to identify errors in your own work.
You love writing, and you’ve worked hard on your novel. You want to make sure your writing is as polished as possible before a major milestone, like self-publishing, submitting to agents, or applying to an MFA program.
You want to be competitive with other self-published writers, who often use professional editing services to keep their readers happy. Bad reviews don’t go away, and people care a surprising amount about even minor errors.
You’re too close to your draft. You know that there’s something wrong, but you (and your writing friends) can’t put your finger on it, or don’t know how to fix the problem.
You actually don’t have much craft knowledge—you learned to write by reading, and you fly by instinct. You’re good at what you do, but you want a qualified professional to edit your work and perhaps teach you theory.
WHAT CAN We DO?
We work with multiple plot structures in different genres, and we know the needs of stories that both center romance and have a romantic subplot. We understand the structure a novel needs to be successful, and we know the emotional and plot beats a story needs to feel complete.
We are well-versed in romantic and familial conflict, writing attraction, and putting nuanced emotions on the page. We’re skilled with deepening character relationships, strengthening worldbuilding, and enhancing pacing.
We help clients on the sentence level with sound, rhythm, and economy of language.
We explain what makes a literary image stand out and give suggestions to make descriptions and characters memorable.
We highlight areas of opportunity within the plot, guiding recommendations for revision. Our approach to feedback is kind, collaborative, and encouraging.
As experienced editors hailing from multiple publications, we can identify mistakes which prevent manuscripts from being accepted. We always work towards the client’s vision, enhancing their work while keeping it true to their voice and ideas. We aim to strengthen their novel with the same care and consideration they showed while crafting it.
Testimonials
“Thank you so much for the careful reading, insightful comments and astute suggestions for developing my work. I feel blessed to have stumbled upon Goblin Fruit, and for my first exposure to the whole process of getting a piece of writing out there I couldn’t have imagined finding an editor as sympathetic towards my extravagances and yet as firm about what a novel should actually be.”
Ralph Mills, The Anthropocenian
“Goblin Fruit provided a wonderful, professional copy editing experience!”
London Price, Acoustics, Harmony
“I’ve worked with Nicole across a number of projects, and I am continually impressed with her dedication to finding the core of something and expressing it just right. She always spots challenges that I’ve missed while being adaptable and open to talking through different possibilities to make sure the final piece is what you truly want it to be. I always look forward to working with her.”
Nadine Frassetto
“Katherine’s editorial skills and knowledge of story are absolutely first class. During a particularly challenging project Katherine delivered an exceptional edit and significantly improved the end story, but it was her communication with the writers and other editors that really impressed us. Creative work is extremely personal and sensitive, and it can be difficult to hit the mark with communicating effectively. Katherine understands how to best give feedback and work collaboratively with writers, which is a rare but essential skill with editing. Finally, she’s a professional: never missed a deadline, great communication throughout and genuinely cared about the project. I highly recommend working with Katherine on your next editing project.”
Harry Wallett, Managing Director at Relay Publishing
“As an extremely talented writer herself, Nicole has an innate understanding of story. She understands when and where plots should lean into convention, and where stories can benefit from breaking the mold. The result invites and engages readers while creating a story that is uniquely yours. Whether you’re working on something heart-pounding or heart-wrenching, Nicole’s an incredible asset at any stage of the story process. She truly cares about her authors, and I trust her implicitly with my writing. I look forward to working with her again in the future.”
“Katherine Ervin knows how to craft a compelling, original, and exciting story in dagger-sharp, gleaming sentences. She uses words like a sorcerer.”
Micah Dean Hicks, Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones
“Nicole is an amazing, empathetic editor who has an extremely gifted mind for prose, storytelling, and communication. Her editorial prowess helped shape and refine the specific cadence and tone of the story I was trying to tell. She provided insight for different perspectives that I hadn’t fully considered but were truly important to include. With Nicole’s expertise, she helped polish my story to a state that I would have never achieved by myself. Thank you for the great, collaborative experience!”
Jesse Olander
“Katherine knows how to write a beautifully crafted sentence, and her eye for language is superb.”
Brenda Peynado, The Rock Eaters
“Nicole is an editor with deep sensitivity. Her care in my work only uplifted my story without diminishing voice or authorial intention. She’s professional, prompt, and communicative. I truly enjoyed working with her.”
Melissa Ren, writer and editor
“Katherine is an incredibly gifted editor as well as a savvy and considerate businessperson. I sent her a creative draft to review that was so disjointed I wasn’t sure I was even getting the point across! But Katherine knew exactly what I was trying to do, and her feedback helped me develop my draft into a more well-defined piece. She adheres to all promised deadlines and isn’t afraid to kindly ask questions if it will help to understand the direction of the work and how to make it the best it can be.”
Erica Macalintal
“Nicole is so good at finding the emotional heart of a story and fostering it into something truly special. From the idea phase to the ‘I can’t figure out what’s off about this draft’ phase, her feedback is always invaluable to crafting the story I really want to tell.”
Madison Brake
“I went to Katherine with a story that had undergone a few rounds of editing at that point, one I was hoping to use for my admission sample to an MFA program. I was pretty confident that it didn’t need a lot of tweaking but I wanted a fresh pair of eyes on my plot and structure to be sure that all my editing hadn’t obscured the point of the piece. Katherine came back with a helpful, in-depth list of small changes I needed to make for it- but she also came back with the suggestion of a huge plot change I hadn’t considered. I looked over her suggestion and realized it would make the whole work flow much better and so, after another round of editing, the newly revised piece grew beautifully in this new direction. I’m thankful for her being bold enough to offer such substantial changes in addition to the small ones that ultimately put me perfectly on track.”
Charlie Klenk
“Nicole commands language in a way that completely elevates the work. Multiple times have I relied on her services to examine, expand, and transform my work in ways I wish most editors would. Stories feel safe in her hands. She has a keen eye for line level edits as well as global level edits for manuscripts. She is extremely quick to reply and work on necessary drafts.”
Kenneth Noguera
“In the three years Nicole has served as Fiction Editor for Olit, I have personally witnessed her thoughtful editorial process on multiple occasions. She engages with every story on a deep (and often time-consuming) level not to push one particular style over another but rather to sharpen and hone a story to its full potential. Her goal is always to better the work—at both a foundational and an “artistic” level. While her keen eye and editorial intuition help guide her process, what impresses me the most about Nicole is her respect for the writer’s original vision—a rarity in today’s literary landscape. I’ve seen her go back and forth, line by line, with countless writers simply because of her belief in the work, and more importantly, her belief in the writer. Aside from her editorial skills, Nicole is also punctual regarding deadlines and professional in her communication. I would highly recommend Nicole based on her many personal and professional attributes.”
Maggie Wolff, editor and founder of Olit
“Nicole Balsamo is a talented storyteller and editor who knows how to create gripping, conflict-rich novels in high-stakes, fascinating worlds. She is a master architect of plot, skilled in expertly structuring a story, spinning complicated character webs, and inciting complex conflict for maximum emotional impact. She writes vivid, fang-sharp prose that sings.”
Micah Dean Hicks, Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones
“Nicole has an astute sense of what will better a story without compromising your voice as a writer. She’s highly communicative and collaborative throughout the editing process and ensures that any suggestions are grounded in propelling the plot and bringing the vision for your story to life. Her editorial insight enhanced my story on both a micro and macro level, adding an electricity to my character’s interactions and making thoughtful line-level suggestions. I would happily work with her again, and highly recommend her editing and consulting services for any writer looking for a second opinion!”
Alexandra Persad
“Nicole was wonderful to work with in getting my short story ready for publication. Her input was invaluable at both the line level and regarding the larger picture (story arc, character development), and I was very pleased with how the story evolved under her guidance. Importantly, Nicole was always respectful with her input and suggestions for how I could improve the narrative and make the story the best version of itself without sacrificing my artistic intent. Overall, I very much enjoyed working with Nicole and would highly recommend her editorial services to all writers, no matter where they may be in their writing journey.”
Jamey Baumgardt
“Working with Nicole as an editor was a deeply satisfying experience. She helped pinpoint weaknesses in my story’s structure, identified areas that needed retooling and some that just needed to go. The story I ended up with was much stronger than the one I started with. Best of all, Nicole struck a fine tonal balance between her critical eye and the encouragement that made me want to push harder to do the best work I could. ”
Brent Larson
Reach out
If our editing services sound like a good fit for your work, contact us and request a free sample edit so that we can work together on making your story the best version of itself!
The Goblin Market
“We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?”
-Christina Rossetti