Michael Carr

Michael Carr – Editor

Literary agent with 15 years of industry experience offering developmental editing, editorial assessment, and query workshopping.

Overview

I am a literary agent with over 15 years of industry experience. I have worked on numerous bestselling novels as an agent or developmental editor, and specialize in all forms of fiction, as well as biography, history, and science. I regularly teach at conferences for aspiring writers in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. My style is warm and open, but I am always realistic and firm, ready with praise, but never willing to let flaws and weaknesses slide. The industry is too competitive for second best.


In addition to developmental editing and editorial assessment, I can also work on queries as well as half hour or hour long Zoom calls to discuss submission strategy, etc.


Testimonials:

“My collaboration with Michael exceeded my expectations. His feedback was encouraging, challenging, and extremely insightful.”

— Tad Vogels


“Michael gives a perspective that pulls from an editor/writer/agent. That combination alone is golden. The ability to sum up strengths and weaknesses is bar none.”

— Logan Payne

Services
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Fantasy Historical Fiction Middle Grade Middle Grade Fantasy Mystery & Crime Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

Veritas Literary

Oct, 2010 — Present
• Representing numerous writers across multiple genres, including several bestsellers • Hands-on editing and writing services in preparation for submission to traditional publishers

Self-employed

Aug, 2008 — Present
• Over 80 traditionally and indie published books • Experience with foreign rights, translations, audio, and other subsidiary rights

Michael has 97 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

David P.

David P.

May, 2025

Michael started out as a gun-for-hire developmental editor and ended up a kind of valuable ally in my project. He took a forty thousand-foot view of my historical novel as well as a micro view of its details—historical, organizational and those related to craft and clarity. He was candid with cri...
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Nicole M.

Nicole M.

May, 2025

Michael is a wonderfully insightful and kind editor. His advice was a wonderful mix of "I liked this but you can improve this."- it was always encouraging and challenging. He was very generous with his knowledge and time. I'd absolutely employ his services again on future projects.
Sasha S.

Sasha S.

May, 2025

Michael did an amazing job on my project. He made the query letter smoother and more engaging and explained how to improve the opening chapter. He's knowledgeable, prompt, and easy to work with. I hope to collaborate with him on future projects.
Shanti H.

Shanti H.

May, 2025

Great work! Thanks a ton!
Corey P.

Corey P.

Apr, 2025

Incredibly helpful and has some very insightful advice.

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Most recent contributions

How do you balance being critical while encouraging authors through your feedback?

Writing is an enormously personal endeavor where the writer nevertheless must expose his or her work to outside scrutiny. It’s a vulnerable moment, where hundreds or even thousands of hours of solitary effort is suddenly exposed to the light, and receiving the wrong sort of feedback can be destru...
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