Testimonials

“To summarize my experience with Hannah in one paragraph is nearly impossible. There are several elements of her mentorship that are worthy of mentioning. First off, she’s authentic, meaning she brings with her nothing but loyalty and commitment to your work. She is genuine, humorous, and fun to work with. You can’t beat those traits when working knee-deep on an important project! 

“Not only does she work on your project, she works on YOU, going above and beyond providing links, educational materials, tips, and resources to make you a stronger writer. Hannah’s work ethic, organization, and timeliness are impeccable. She has a passion for bringing your written dream to life. 

“When working with Hannah, not only do you gain a mentor, you gain a friend who truly cares about your success. Hands down, Hannah Kates will direct all of my future projects.” 

“Hannah is a true Word Wizard! She takes the voice of my mission, vision, and love for what I do and translates it into something that is so beautifully and perfectly written. She is a thoughtful, humble, and genius writer that has the ability to capture the very essence of each story and make it relatable, informative, and captivating! She’s the absolute best to work with because she truly cares and assures you that you have a story worth telling. I highly recommend working with Hannah. Every word with her is pure magic!”

“Hannah was able to bring my writing to life. I had so much content and advice to put out into the world, but the right words or phrases weren’t always there. She was able to understand my audience and my voice to edit my work to express exactly what I wanted to get across to my reader. She gave me the extra help I needed to continue creating great work. I highly recommend her work as a writer.“

“As a mentor, (Hannah’s) enthusiasm, energy, and vision are unrivalled, and she puts everything into helping writers develop their stories. Her craft knowledge is exemplary, and she has an eagle eye for spotting areas for development, but also has massive moral support for those she works with. I would recommend working with Hannah unreservedly.”

“I could not speak more highly of Hannah and her editing expertise. She was incredibly reassuring, and I couldn’t be happier with the guidance she provided me through the entire process. Working with her has been nothing short of fantastic. I consider her more like a magician, turning my manuscript into the spell-binding story it is today. If anyone needs a fairy godmother to help transform their book from an idea to a work of art, Hannah is the perfect editor for you. That’s why I will only be working with her on any future projects I pen.”

“Hannah Kates’ feedback is invaluable. She sees straight into the heart of a story and homes in on what works and what doesn’t. Her feedback is insightful and sharp, always delivered with kindness and encouragement. Her comments always resonate and her input ups my game every time. She’s a fantastic brainstormer, too. I give my highest recommendation for her skills that deliver. I love her wisdom, humor, and freshness that brings a new edge to any story.”

“Hannah is an amazing mentor, editor, and an awesome human. I met her during my #WriteMentor mentorship in 2019. Hannah helped me to polish up my manuscript to a whole new level. She completely understood my story and my vision. She was spot on all her editing suggestions. I loved the way she approached editing my story. She told me clearly what worked and what didn’t, and she did it in such a kind way! There were no ouch moments when I read her edit letter.

“She asked questions that got me thinking of new ways to make my story better structurally. She worked with me to plot out my character arcs. And last but not least, her eye for detail when it came to line editing helped me so much! She showed me how certain words and phrases I used took my reader out of my character’s voice and taught me how to show effectively and not tell by using a wide variety of writing mechanisms. She even proofread my manuscript and caught typos, grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. You’d be lucky to work with her!”

“Hannah mentored me in the Write Mentor Summer Showcase 2020. I knew from my first contact with Hannah that I wanted to work with her editorially. She immediately understood my story (even though it was not her own genre) and saw with laser-precision what was cluttering up the voice and message. She came up with a brilliant list of content changes, carefully and tactfully explaining why these were needed. Once I’d addressed those, we worked further on characterization, in particular improving character arcs. 

“Hannah has a really sound working knowledge of writing craft. She knows what a story needs to elevate it to the next level. When it comes to the minutiae of line edits, I will always trust her implicitly to improve the flow and precision of my prose without sacrificing my personal style. 

“Hannah is a true talent and her own work is compelling, gripping, funny, and page-turning. I can’t recommend her services highly enough. Even better, she keeps things fun! And we should all enjoy our writing. Hannah never forgets this.”

“I love working with Hannah Kates. She’s edited several books for me, and every time I’ve seen vast improvement. She can work with books in any stage of the revision process, since she has both a keen eye for catching typos and expertise in overall plot/character development. I was impressed by her reading speed. In addition, she has a lot of experience preparing submission packages. I dread writing a synopsis, but Hannah turned mine into something I actually like. Most of all, I appreciated how she balanced critique with enthusiasm for my story. She truly wants her authors to succeed!”

“Hannah…has been an invaluable step to my writing process. I make sure to get her eyes on every first (or second!) draft, as her careful editorial eye and unmatched insight always take my books to a higher level just by having her read them! Her feedback is positive and encouraging while still pushing me to hone my craft and grow as a writer. I’m positive that I would not be where I am in my writing career (agented and on submission!) if not for Hannah’s incredible skill as an editor.”

“Hannah Kates was brilliant at being both an enthusiastic champion for my story and an honest critic at the same time. I wanted the no-holds-barred, give-it-to-me-like-it-is feedback, but what I didn’t know was how much I would also value her belief in me and my writing. My favorite part of working with Hannah was the opportunity to brainstorm with someone who knew my story intimately and understood (sometimes better than I did) what I was trying to do.“

“I’ve always been a really awesome ‘idea gal.’ I have these grand and miraculous thoughts that I’m SO excited to put together. Once I finally make a point to sit down and do the task, I stare at my computer screen with a blank face and still fingers trying to figure out where to start. Hannah is the cure to the brain freeze and fog. We clicked immediately, which made working with her an absolute dream. She is personable, kind, and hilarious.

“Hannah knows exactly what questions to ask to get my thoughts flowing, and WOW does she articulate those thoughts beautifully. She was incredibly clear in her timeline for meetings and rough drafts. If I had questions or modifications, she was quick to make them or explain why her thought process may be more optimal (turns out she was correct every time, ha!).

“It was nothing short of a privilege to get to meet and work with Hannah. Her services are worth every penny. I cannot recommend her enough!”

“I reached out to Hannah when I finally decided to query for my first traditionally published novel… Writing my cover letter with Hannah was a practice in making my accomplishments shine. After reviewing my letter for the last time, I brimmed with pride. Her suggested changes made my story sound like a bestseller.

“Hannah immediately got what I was going for with my synopsis. Her tips and tricks were smart and easy to implement. She was incredibly knowledgeable about multiple elements in my story and shared information freely with me. She was very attentive during our time working together, staying in touch with me as I edited. Turning 228 pages into only 7 would have been impossible without her. 

“By using thoughtful questions, Hannah actually helped me develop my novel without taking a single look at it. Her questions prompted me to dig deeper into the story to find what it was really about and present that in my page starved synopsis. It also showed me some major plot holes that needed to be patched up which led to developmental edits on my novel which were invaluable! And all this even after beta readers had reviewed the document!

“Hannah respected and valued the culture of my characters. As a Black author, it’s important to work with allies when we tell our stories. Hannah never tried to alter my voice, the voice of my characters or the tone of my story. She embraced my character’s traits and helped me to perfect their arcs. 

“She truly has an eye for editing. She managed to find every little segment that I had a funny feeling about and isolate it for revision. Her comments about what needed to be changed for the benefit of the synopsis were also spot on. I would highly recommend Hannah and plan to work with her again!”

“If you are considering working with Hannah, do it, do it now!

“When I received my first edited draft from Hannah, I had to stop reading and send an email to thank her for such helpful commentary. She had understood what I was trying to say and had taken my sometimes clunky wording and provided suggestions that made it not only clear but also vibrant. At no point did I think, ‘Ouch, that hurts.’

“Even better were the follow-up Zoom consultations. Part editor and part coach, Hannah provided reassuring and calming feedback that was thoughtful. The conversations had an ebb and flow that felt organic, a beautiful give and take of question/response that varied from the nitty gritty of plot or character arc, to how the publishing business works, to my overall goals in this thing we call a writing life.

“Hannah isn’t just an exceptional editor. She’s someone who makes dreams real.“

“Hannah is a delight and a talented editor who is very familiar with the querying process. She is responsive and generous with her time and was willing to adapt her process to fit my needs. I was struggling with the query package for my sci-fi novel, and she was incredibly helpful with getting them revised to a much better form and then adding a final polish to make them really sparkle. Now, I can resume querying with confidence that my package accurately represents my book, which is a huge relief after an onerous struggle before I found Hannah. I highly recommend working with her!”