Services Offered:

Developmental Edits
Editorial Assessment
Proofreading

Preferred Age Level & Genre of Expertise:

Denise prefers to read speculative adult fiction with a bent towards science fiction and horror, as well as YA sci-fi/fantasy, contemporary fiction, and Own Voices. I'd love to read manuscripts written by BIPOC writers and/or books featuring a diverse cast of characters.

More About Denise C.…

Denise Conejo (she/her) is a freelance editor and a Communications Associate at New York University. She served as an associate fiction editor for FORESHADOW YA: A Serial YA Anthology. Though she is most passionate when it comes to editing, Denise also loves to write YA and speculative fiction in her spare time.

She received her BA in English and a publishing certificate from The City College of New York. It was there that she learned about the issue of diversity in the book publishing industry and its impact on cultural production and our national and global markets. After graduating, she set herself on the path to help amplify the underrepresented voices of POC writers.

Denise has had the privilege of working with YA authors such as Saundra Mitchell, Sophie Meridien, Stephanie Kuehn, Rebecca Barrow, Sara Farizan, Brandy Colbert and Nina LaCour.

She most recently edited a debut novel by Jasmin Hernandez, author of We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World.

Denise currently lives in the Bronx, but was born and raised in Harlem, to parents who emigrated from the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica to NYC. When she's not editing, writing, or reading, Denise is going for walks, daydreaming, and staring at the moon.

Favorite Books:

- Young Adult Fiction:

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

• Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

- Adult Fiction:

• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Garcia-Moreno

• Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin

• The Poppy War by R.F. Kaung

• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

• An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

• The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

Favorite TV Shows:

Insecure, Schitts Creek, Outlander, Parks & Rec, I May Destroy You, Jane the Virgin