Shannon | Editor of Words | Writer of Words | Lover of Words
banner
editorshannon.bsky.social
Shannon | Editor of Words | Writer of Words | Lover of Words
@editorshannon.bsky.social
👩🏾‍🏫 Story Coach 🔎 Developmental Editor 🏳️‍🌈🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏼LGBTQ+ Romance Editor 🕵🏽‍♂️ Detective Thriller Editor 🧠 Neurospicy 🏳️‍🌈 Queer AF (she/her) 📚 Bibliophile

Website: https://sageediting.com
Alter Ego (MM Romance + Detective Thriller): @authorkalibenson.bsky.social
I've got new tools dropping soon, as in TOMORROW.

Genre-specific workbooks for queer romance + detective thriller authors.

Which story challenge do you wish you understood better?

#AmWriting #QueerAuthor🌈✒️ #DetectiveFiction
November 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Broke down and joined the Insta... Regular editing and writing tips throughout the week + the occasional writing prompt to spur your creativity!

www.instagram.com/shannonscott...

#WritingCommunity #EditingCommunity #AmWriting #AmEditing
November 11, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Rule No. 1 of the internet: You must watch this video whenever it crosses your feed on any social media platform.

Rule No. 1A of the internet: This video must ALWAYS be reposted every time it crosses your feed on any social media platform.

ALWAYS.
November 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
A light in the nihilistic darkness that is this planet right now.

#MarriageEquality #LGBTQRights #PrideWasARiot
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I finally started tracking my analytics over the past month and used it to create a more effective campaign across all my social media touchpoints. My engagement numbers have shot through the roof.
Spring Clean Your Social Media

It's time to air out your social media accounts, your website, and maybe some pillows around the house.

tinyurl.com/5n6huk2f
November 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Richard Bradburn has a very extensive book called "Self-Editing for Self-Publishers" if you're looking for all in one at the granular level.

#AmEditing #EditingTips #WritingCommunity
Could anyone please recommend a comprehensive guide on grammar, speech, and tense in fiction? I'm usually ok with self-editing, but finding some issues that I never came across in academic writing. I'm happy to buy a book, but preferably not several books.
#AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingCommunity
a woman is holding a yellow sticky note with help written on it
Alt: April Ludgate, played by Aubrey Plaza, is holding up a yellow square sticky note. As she looks to one side, the camera zooms in so the text becomes legible. The note is handwritten and says HELP!
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Have definitely been in this situation multiple times. It's not even about the lack of understanding of craft, there's just something innate missing in how I think readers will identify with the characters. Because what is story without believable, relatable characters?
#stephenking #readmore #amediting #indiepublisher
I can always tell when I'm editing a manuscript if the author is a reader or not. In no instance, has the non-reader produced a superior work.
Ironically, I can't really put it into words how I know or what the difference is. I just do know.
November 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
“The authorial voice from a flesh-and-blood writer remains a differentiator and that’s something the onslaught of AI Kindle uploads doesn’t have—publishers’ years of honing creative instincts and cultivating talent pipelines matter even more in a flood of content.”

👆🏾

#ReadMoreBooks
November 10, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I know it's kind of a cliche, but why use three words when one word will do?

Punchy sentences, even long ones, draw readers in more easily if each word resonates emotionally in the context of the scene.

#WritersCoffeeClub #WritingCommunity #WritingTips
#WritersCoffeeClub 10/11: What have you recently learned which will have a big impact on your work?

Not so much learned as re-learned, by example: how a small goal can make a story just as engaging as a grand one.
November 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Craft book reading? ✅
Social media content prepped? ✅-ish
Reading for fun? ✅
Daylight savings time ending still kicking my ass? ✅

#SundayFunday
November 10, 2025 at 12:39 AM
My regular depression waiting for the seasonal depression to show up...
November 8, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Got a bunch of admin work to do today, but hoping to get in some writing this afternoon/evening.

What are your Saturday plans?

#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #QueerAuthor 🌈✒️
November 8, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Give myself the same permission I give other authors: You can change the outline to fit the new direction your characters want to go in.
Q4: What can you do in the next three days to make the next week of #FirstDraftFall easier for yourself? #WeeknightWriters
November 7, 2025 at 1:22 AM
I mostly outline-ish to the next major scene. What happens between then and that scene is anyone's guess. Though I do have a fairly tight outline for a novella-in-progress, I still have to drag out every word. It's making it harder to write than I expected.
Brutally accurate...chapter that refuses to write is the worst. Taking notes is a genius workaround. Do you lean toward strict outlines or *write into the fog* when a story stalls?
November 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
My newsletter The Editor–Author Perspective is back next Tuesday. One monthly issue especially for queer romance & detective/thriller authors.

Quick craft moves you can use in <20 mins.

Want it? Subscribe here: shorturl.at/worAQ

#QueerRomance #ThrillerAuthor #WritingCommunity #AmWriting
October 30, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Lies I Tell Myself, Chapter 40 Footnotes

1: This is the only time the novel won't write itself.
2: I'll take notes on how to make all future novels write themselves.

#WriterProblems #SelfEditing #AmWriting
Lies I Tell Myself, Chapter 40:

"My novel will write itself, right?"

#WritingCommunity #amwriting #amediting #writerslife
October 28, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Structure is story's spine. Without it, even great ideas collapse. Thus, every chapter should move the plot forward.

#WritingCraft #WritingCommunity #AmWriting
October 25, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Friendly reminder: Imposter syndrome isn’t proof you can’t write. It’s proof you care about getting it right. Pause and recognize how your care for your craft drives your persistence.

(1/4)

#WritingCommunity #WritingProblems #QueerAuthor
October 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Shannon | Editor of Words | Writer of Words | Lover of Words
I was just fucked over $1k so if you guys could like sell this bundle into the stratosphere, I'd appreciate it
We're disabled and queer. 🏳️🌈 We sell our writing to eat.

We launched two book sales — each has 20 books for $30. Itch bowed to conservative pressure, and hid them without warning.

Do you agree this is bullshit? Then help us make them pay.

disabilitypac.carrd.co

#MakeCensorshipCost #BookSky
Disability Pride Against Censorship
We’re Disabled and Queer — Itch.io and the Payment Processors Are Starving Us.
disabilitypac.carrd.co
July 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Y'all follow my author account, please??

@authorkalibenson.bsky.social

That's where all my writing updates will be since I apparently really am doing this publishing thing...

#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #PublishingJourney #MMRomance
September 21, 2025 at 1:08 AM
My bank account demands I work.
My heart demands I write.

#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #WriterSky #AuthorSky #MMRomance #ShortStory #Novelette #AllTheWords
September 2, 2025 at 10:33 PM
It's going to be the third week of the month before I can poke my head up.

🤔 Memoir proofread
🤔 Queer YA paranormal proofread
🤔 Thriller line/copyedit
🤔 ACES #VCON25 speaker
🤔 Story coaching client

I can't complain. I thrive under pressure. (Most of the time.)

#AmEditing #EditingCommunity
September 1, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Doing a little thing in a few weeks. 😏

For the third year in a row, I count myself truly lucky to present a topic that drives what I do and how I do it: Theory versus Practice in Developmental Editing of Fiction

#ProfessionalDevelopment #ACESVCON25 #ConferenceSpeaker #AmEditing
August 28, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Shannon | Editor of Words | Writer of Words | Lover of Words
I don’t want to be that cranky old lady, but it’s hard seeing people excited about a celebrity’s engagement when the world is on fire. Not a peep on climate change, Palestine, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, reproductive rights, etc. but a football player & a singer gets y’all worked up. Make it make sense. 🤷‍♀️
August 26, 2025 at 8:20 PM
It's been a long couple weeks of direct labor, trying to put together website resources, working on my own fiction, and keeping my newsletter going. So what did I spend this morning doing?

Signing up for submitting my Reedsy editor profile for review. 🫣

#FingersCrossed #AmEditing #Freelancer
August 19, 2025 at 3:50 PM