Susan Brearley

Susan Brearley Novelist & Developmental Editor

Mysteries, memoir, personal essays, poetry, and horror. I write about the people nobody bothers to watch, which is exactly how they get away with it.

Pushcart Prize–nominated writer & editor
1,200+ pieces published on Medium
Editor-in-Chief, MuddyUm & 11 other publications
Food Critic, Chronogram Magazine
Founder, Garden of Neuro Institute

About

The Long Game

Thirty years ago, doctors gave me a terminal diagnosis. Now I write stories about women who refuse to go quietly—grandmothers who've seen enough to know exactly where the bodies should go.

The mystery novels have a name for what they do. I call it grandmother noir, and the phrase earns its keep, because it means a protagonist old enough to be invisible, which is the single most useful thing a criminal can be. That is the series. It is not the whole shelf.

The rest of the shelf holds memoir, personal essay, poetry, humor, and a horror novel in progress. Decades of writing do not fit inside one genre, and I have stopped pretending they should.

When I'm not writing fiction, I serve as Editor-in-Chief for twelve Medium publications, including MuddyUm—the platform's premier humor destination. I write about food and culture for Chronogram Magazine. And through Garden of Neuro Institute, I publish anthologies and help other writers find their voices.

I am building a ten-year body of work. Planning to live to 140. Both of those are load-bearing statements.

The Shelf

Forms I work in
  • Mystery novelsSeries fiction with protagonists old enough to be invisible
  • MemoirBattlefield Hope, and the work that came after it
  • Personal essayPractice, reinvention, and the long game
  • PoetryHaiku and free verse, for the compression
  • HumorEditor-in-Chief at MuddyUm, the platform's premier humor destination
  • HorrorOne novel in progress

Services

Developmental Editing

Commercial Fiction

Structural editing for mystery, thriller, and suspense writers. I'll help you build tension that sustains, craft twists that earn their reveals, and create characters readers can't forget.

Humor & Dark Comedy

Scott Dikkers–trained perspective on balancing laughs with stakes. When to deploy the wisecrack. When to let the silence breathe. The architecture of funny that serves story.

Memoir & Personal Essay

Finding the story inside your story. Shaping raw experience into narrative that moves readers. Honest feedback from someone who's written through cancer, reinvention, and resurrection.

Food & Culture Writing

Portfolio development for aspiring food writers. How to pitch, how to structure, how to make readers taste what you're describing. Chronogram-tested approaches to regional storytelling.

See rates and what each service includes

Published In

Words in the World

Chronogram Magazine Medium MuddyUm Amazon Omega Institute

Coaching & Workshops

Work Directly With Susan

I teach through the Garden of Neuro Institute, where I serve as Founder and Executive Director, overseeing cohorts in commercial fiction, mystery, memoir, humor writing, and more. I also take a small number of private clients for one-on-one coaching and manuscript development. If you are a conference organizer, workshop platform, or institution seeking an instructor, I am available for engagements.

Private Coaching

One-on-One with Susan

For writers who want direct, sustained attention on their manuscript, their career, or both. I work with a limited number of private clients at any given time, which means the work is intensive, personalized, and results-oriented.

  • Commercial fiction manuscript development
  • Mystery and thriller series architecture
  • Memoir and personal essay shaping
  • Platform and publishing strategy
  • Workshop and conference engagements
Inquire About Coaching

Garden of Neuro Institute

Active Cohorts — 2026
  • Commercial Mystery WritingSeries architecture, plot machinery, protagonist development across 10+ books
  • Write Like Stephen KingProlific writing practice, voice, sustained tension, and the discipline of finishing
  • The Contemplative MemoiristShaping lived experience into narrative that moves readers
  • Humor Writing 101Wit as a craft tool: timing, structure, and the architecture of funny
  • Writing Romance for Commercial SuccessGenre conventions, emotional stakes, and marketable storytelling
  • Signal and NoiseFinding your personal voice, written for technology professionals
  • First Draft to Agent ReadyTailored developmental editing from manuscript to query
View All Cohorts

Working Together

Developmental Editing Rates

Editing is priced by the word, so the fee tracks the length of the manuscript. The tables below show what each service costs at common manuscript lengths. Every rate on this page sits inside the 2026 Editorial Freelancers Association median band for the service and category.

Founding rate. The founding column applies to my first five developmental editing clients and retires when the fifth project books. It covers that manuscript, not future projects.

Manuscript assessment

One full read, an editorial letter of ten to fifteen pages, a chapter-by-chapter outline map, a prioritized revision plan, and one sixty-minute call. No inline comments in the manuscript.

$0.018 per word standard, $0.015 per word founding. Minimum fee $750 standard, $600 founding.

Manuscript lengthStandardFounding
Up to 40,000 words$750$600
50,000 words$900$750
80,000 words$1,440$1,200
100,000 words$1,800$1,500
120,000 words$2,160$1,800

Developmental edit, fiction

Everything in the assessment, plus inline comments throughout the full manuscript and two sixty-minute calls.

$0.035 per word standard, $0.030 per word founding. Minimum fee $1,500 standard, $1,200 founding.

Manuscript lengthStandardFounding
Up to 40,000 words$1,500$1,200
50,000 words$1,750$1,500
80,000 words$2,800$2,400
100,000 words$3,500$3,000
120,000 words$4,200$3,600

Developmental edit, nonfiction and memoir

Same scope as the fiction edit. Nonfiction and memoir price higher across the industry because the work includes argument, evidence, and structure that fiction handles through story.

$0.045 per word standard, $0.040 per word founding. Minimum fee $1,500 standard, $1,200 founding.

Manuscript lengthStandardFounding
Up to 40,000 words$1,800$1,600
50,000 words$2,250$2,000
80,000 words$3,600$3,200
100,000 words$4,500$4,000
120,000 words$5,400$4,800

Add-on services

Available with any edit or on their own. These are flat fees and do not vary with manuscript length.

ServiceFee
Query letter package. Two drafts of the letter, a one-paragraph hook, a short author bio, one round of revision. $350, included free with a founding-rate developmental edit
Submission strategy consultation. Ninety minutes on publishing paths, agent research, and submission sequence, with a written summary. $300
Self-publishing setup guidance. Production sequence, vendor selection, metadata, categories, and launch planning, as a written plan plus one call. $800
Hourly, for work outside a defined scope $75 per hour, quoted before starting

How I work with AI

Every editorial judgment in your letter is mine. I use AI tools the way I teach writers to use them, for research, organization, and drafting my own working notes. No machine-written text enters your manuscript, and nothing you send me is used to train anything.

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