The Personal to the Universal, and Other Priorities in Contemporary Memoir

Have you browsed the narrative nonfiction shelves lately and thought, “Oh man, I don’t have it in me to read another grief memoir”?

Here are a few thoughts on the memoir market as it stands, a few things you might prioritize inside and out of your own work. A note before we get started: This blog post should be seen as a primer. It contains observations I’ve made in the recent past, while working with memoirists who have attained agent interest, that I feel will help improve memoirists chances of trade publication, but it is certainly not the be all, end all of advice.

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Hatch Editorial Services' Stance on Generative Artificial Intelligence

Hatch Editorial Services LLC does not use generative AI (here referred to as “genAI” or “AI”) agents such as ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or Perplexity in conjunction with editorial work on any client’s manuscript, nor does it use genAI agents to create any editorial feedback or products for purchase. That is, it does not feed client work into an AI agent or use AI to draft editorial letters, line-edit manuscripts, or complete any other task related to clients’ intellectual property or to writers’ education.

Beyond the ways genAI is actively depleting our water supply; the fact it’s a probability machine that, by design, makes creativity trend toward the law of averages; and the piratical impact it’s had on our industry, Hatch Editorial Services has made this decision in order to fulfill its promise to provide high-quality, personalized work that retains the individual author’s voice. The use of genAI in an editorial capacity would only flatten that.

The choice to use or not use generative AI, however, is a personal one. Writers who use genAI as an assistant or as a tool in the early steps of the creative process (e.g., writing prompts, research, interactive outlining) are welcome to collaborate with Hatch Editorial Services, pending their ability to confirm the work is their intellectual property alone and does not include anyone else’s copyrighted material.

Proofreading and Copyediting: Why Not Use Spellcheck?

Artificial Intelligence is doing some pretty impressive things right now, but there are very few programs that currently meet the expectations we have for a human editor.

Though many writers have sophisticated word processors, they may still make egregious spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, while overseen by the software. Moreover, these programs can’t yet catch continuity or fact-check errors on their own.

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Five Organizational and Motivational Tips for Self-Revision (Video)

If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you’ve completed the first draft of your manuscript.

First off: Congratulations! Second: Hop in. I have five organizational and motivational tips to set you on the path for productive self-revision.

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