Lenore Appelhans

Services Offered:

Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing
Substantive Editing
Line Editing
Copyediting
Author Coaching
Query Critique
Book Doctoring
Picture Books

Preferred Age Level & Genre of Expertise:

Picture Books, plus Young Adult and Adult Fiction in the following genres: speculative including dystopian, post-apocalyptic, alternative universes, time travel, paranormal, meta-fiction, fractured fairy tales and retellings, and contemporary with elements of fantasy.

More About Lenore…

Lenore Appelhans (she/her) is the author of numerous books for children and teens. Her debut picture book, CHICK-O-SAURUS REX was a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year (2013), won a SCBWI Crystal Kite award, and was featured on boxes of Cheerios. Her debut young adult novel THE MEMORY OF AFTER was published in several languages and optioned for film by CBS. She is also the author of the YA novel THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM BOY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT and the forthcoming picture book THE FAMILY BUSINESS (HarperCollins, 2022),

Lenore has been a professional editor and writer since 2002. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and her BA in Multilingual Communication and Journalism from Oklahoma Baptist University.

Lenore offers insightful critique and thorough assessment of your manuscript and works with you to overcome writer’s block and self-doubt. She will be your biggest cheerleader, but also hold you accountable for doing the hard work of going deep. Comedic picture books with heart are her specialty and she can take you all the way from idea to execution or work on shaping what you already have around an irresistible hook. Lenore is also well-versed in contemporary romance, thrillers, comedy, satire, memoir, popular non-fiction, business books, and anything that wrestles with the themes of identity, fate vs free will, memory, meaning and belonging. Lenore can also translate from Spanish and German. She is not a good fit for horror, high fantasy or off-world science fiction. For longer works, Lenore’s strengths are character development, thematic layering, and plot (her Master’s thesis was on creating satisfying twist endings).

Follow Lenore on Twitter or Instagram.

Favorite Books:

- Adult Fiction:

  • The Awakening by Kate Chopin

  • The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

  • The Likeness by Tana French

  • Trap for Cinderella by Sebastien Japrisot

  • Ghostwritten by David Mitchell

  • The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart

  • Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

  • Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

- Young Adult Fiction: 

  • The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

  • Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

  • Repossessed by AM Jenkins

  • Every Day by David Levithan

  • Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

  • Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

  • The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

  • Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor

  • The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

 

- Middle Grade Fiction:

  • Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

  • A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

  • Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

  • Schooled by Gordon Korman

  • Holes by Louis Sachar

  • When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

  • One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

  • Millicent Mn, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

- Picture Books:

  • I Don’t Want to Be a Pea! by Ann Bonwill

  • The Amazing Hamweenie by Patty Bowman

  • Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol

  • I Dissent by Debbie Levy

  • Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

  • I Love Cake! by Tammi Sauer

  • Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

  • Outside In by Deborah Underwood

- Nonfiction:

  • Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

  • Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

  • Stoned! Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden

Favorite TV Shows:

The Good Place, Parks and Rec, Black Mirror, The X-Files, Arrested Development.

Testimonials.

“Lenore is a real manuscript doctor. Manuscript therapist. Manuscript sorceress. My fairy godmother of writing. (Does that sound extravagant? Once you work with her, you'll understand). I was solidly stuck and overwhelmed revising my work in progress, hopelessly lost in a maze of ideas, ambition and words. Somehow Lenore figured out exactly what was holding me back. Her observations, questions and suggestions gently guided me back to stunning clarity. When I returned to revising, I could not stop! Lenore takes a whole view, explores the spirit of your story and you, its creator, to help you clarify your own approach and vision. Her craft knowledge comes with true insight into the human experience and intimate understanding of the artistic process. Lenore is compassionate, wise and terribly clever. You will have a great time working with her!”
- Katia Raina, author of Castle of Concrete

“Lenore consistently gives helpful, targeted feedback that gets right to the heart of a book’s issues. She strikes the perfect balance between motivating you and challenging you, always ready with both a kind word and a scalpel. If you put your work in Lenore’s hands, you’ll find that your writing glows and your vision pops. Lenore’s editing skills are top notch, and I highly recommend her to every writer!”
- Mary G. Thompson, author of Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee