Editing | Author Collaboration

“Without Carol, I would not have completed my fictionalized memoir, Stella in Heaven.”
— Art Buchwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, author

 

Carol Rial I began my editorial career in 1999 as developmental editor for Art Buchwald when he was working on his fictionalized memoir, Stella in Heaven. Since then, I have edited fiction and nonfiction books, with specialties in memoir, fiction, screenplays, and political and academic writing.

The subjects of the books I’ve worked on include working for the United Nations, thriving in the face of cancer, and raising a child with learning disabilities.

Besides Art Buchwald, authors whose manuscripts I’ve edited and/or consulted on include Anne Dick, widow of Philip K. Dick; June Bingham, writer and wife of Congressman Jonathan Bingham; and Nicholas C. Forstmann, a co-founder of Forstmann Little & Company.

I have worked with both seasoned authors as well as first-time writers. Working with any kind of writer calls for encouragement and an incisive, no-nonsense critique.

I have also worked as a script analyst for Turner Network Television and as a book scout for Miramax Films. Well-versed in the elements of storytelling, I enjoy helping screenwriters figure out what will make their scripts sing.

In 1997 I joined both the Hunter College and Baruch College English Departments in New York City. I am now a grievance counselor for the labor union that represents CUNY faculty and staff.

Finally, my short story was a finalist for The Iowa Review Award in Fiction for 2012, and I am writing a novel about gentrification in Harlem. With my MFA in Fiction Writing, I have personal knowledge of the writing life and the kind of staying power necessary to see a work all the way to publication. I am committed to helping writers go the distance—and enjoy the process in the meantime.

 

Read author endorsements >

Stella in Heaven
Before Central Park
Braided Lives
Laughing Allegra
920 Fifth Avenue A Centennial Celebration