Hi, I'm Martha Chargot.
I have 10+ years of editorial experience in a wide variety of industries including book publishing, journalism, and financial publishing. A s an editor, I believe an author's voice is their biggest asset. Rather than filtering it to make it sound marketable, like many editors do, I know preserving your voice and concentrating it is the key to making a lasting impression on your readers.
MY CORE VALUES
Every business has its purpose for providing services, and I would love to be transparent with you about why I'm here to work with you rather than working for someone else.
HONESTY
I'm here to tell you the truth. Many editors and agents hide behind coded language to give you clues to what needs fixing without coming out and saying it, but I believe in being blunt and fair in my reactions even if I don't think I'm the right person for you to work with.
We're a team in your editorial process. And though I'm going to give you blunt opinions on what I think we should tackle next, you're the author, and you're the one who knows what's best for your story. I'm here to work with you on what inspires you and fits the story you're trying to tell rather than overriding it based on trends.
COLLABORATION
EMPATHY
Each of us are trying to write a book with the same end goal of finding an audience for a story we think others need to hear, but we're not working with the same tools or life circumstances. I'm here to help you achieve your dreams with personalized strategies that work for you because your process is likely not Stephen King's.
MY LITERARY INFLUENCES
Miranda July
A true eccentric, Miranda July embodies art and femininity and beauty and literal insanity. She knows how to balance a short story collection, and her sideways characters always make me feel sane while still connecting so deeply. She puts a little magic in everything she touches.
Truus Matti
If you haven't read Mister Orange, give yourself the best gift and buy it. It has completely changed what I thought could be accomplished in middle grade fiction while being highly relatable and educational. I can only hope that she publishes more soon! Please?
Jay McInerney
Not only does he master 2nd person in Bright Lights, Big City, he also masters timing and the ability to make small details feel viscerally real. A man's man's writer. I would call him the writer Chuck Palahniuk wishes he could be. Fight me.
John Green
I know, this opinion is so 2011, but Green is a great example of a master of themes and the ability to write an excellent, extremely marketable novel while being completely unable to build worlds. You don't have to have a vivid imagination to have wildly deep characters. Also, I think he may be the most quotable man alive.
Margaret Atwood
She's a mistress of tone and pacing. She builds worlds in small gestures and the absence of certain acknowledgements. Why is Offred so compelling when she does essentially nothing the whole book? Because Atwood builds suspense by knowing exactly how much to show.
Erik Larson
Between high school and college, I had to read Devil in the White City three times for three different classes (literature, journalism, history), and I've since kept reading him as a study in nonfiction storytelling. My husband and I have several inside jokes about Schwieger from Dead Wake that make me bust out laughing.