Bio

Miranda Darrow’s a freelance editor, #RevPit board member, and story sleuth who digs deep into your manuscript to uncover the best version of your story. She’s a frequent presenter at online writing summits, writing conferences, and to writing groups. Miranda is the founder of the Concise Fiction Academy series of writing craft books and classes. She's a writer and a voracious reader who has turned her passion for books into a career helping authors develop the intricate facets of their stories.

Pronouns: She/Her

MSWL

For the 2025 RevPit Annual Contest, I’m limiting my Middle Grades to mystery and sci-fi, but I’m casting my net broadly for adult and YA this year (for pretty much everything except horror, which I do read but am not familiar enough to be the best choice as editor).

Here are some particular favorites, but this is not an exhaustive list:

• For sci-fi, I love alt history, with a clear pivot point and all the repercussions. Think Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth or the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal. Or space stories with humor, like Martha Wells’ Murderbot series or Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward.
• Women's fiction/contemporary novels about family drama and found families, adult siblings dealing with aging parents, and the juggling act of work-life balance. I loved All They Ask Is Everything by Hadley Leggett.
• Mystery/suspense/thrillers, my catnip are domestic suspense where the killer is someone in the family or close group of friends or neighbors. Trust no-one, but also bring your popular onion dip for the next mandatory social gathering. I loved Alyssa Cole’s When No One Is Watching.
• I love historicals where I can learn something new and help my team dominate at the next trivia night at our local dive bar! I’m only half kidding, as I definitely want well-researched historicals shedding new light on overlooked events. I loved James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James.
• For romance, I prefer working-class folks to billionaires and real stakes featuring grown-up conflicts that keep the lovers apart rather than a miscommunication like the plot of every episode of Three’s Company. I have a weakness for sports romance if they aren’t bully romance – that’s not my jam. Check out How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang.
• For fantasy, my faves lately have been curio fiction (see this link for more details) like The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burgess and V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

If you’d like more insights into the books that are “my jam” you can check out my YouTube channel where every week I post videos about writing and editing, and once a month I talk about a new niche genre and give a bunch of book recommendations. In the past few months, I’ve posted videos specifically about alternate history, contemporary romance, domestic suspense, women’s fiction, etc. Curio fiction is my topic for March, so those videos should be the most recent.

But more important than the genre or story content, I’m looking for a manuscript in need of a major structural overhaul and an author eager to make it happen, open to big picture edits like changing up their POV, willing to “rehome” entire subplots or side characters into your “Farm” folder of ideas for future stories or future author website or newsletter material. I’m looking for an author primed to co-star with me in a masterclass on revising your manuscript to bring out the best version of your story. If this is you (and if you’ve read this far into my bio), let me know by telling me you’re ready for an Extreme Makeover: Manuscript Edition in the “Why I selected these editors” section of the submission form Q&A because I’ll search my submission pile for those keywords. As a small business owner, I’m not ashamed to say I’m a hustler, always looking for the next step for my editing and publishing business. I love working with clients who are just as involved and engaged in moving their writing career forward. You don’t have to be involved in social media to be my winner (several haven’t been hardly at all), but if you are on social media and interact with my Meet the Editor and/or Ask Editor sessions, you’re more likely to get my attention and to make it to my #10Queries slots because this shows we share a level of engagement and could be a good fit.

Please submit to editors that you feel would be the best fit for you and your manuscript.

Happy writing!

Q&A

How can a manuscript’s first five pages make you sit up and take notice?

Jump right into the story and let us get to know your main character and their goal starting on page one with how your protagonist is going through life and its challenges. I’m looking for a strong sense of identity for your protagonist and a clearly defined universe, not a story set in Anywhere, Anytime. Make sure your character has agency, meaning they are making choices to try to obtain their goal, even if those choices are bad and lead to disaster.

What can writers expect from working with you during #RevPit, including communication?

My goal is for the story on the page to reflect the story vision the author carries, with the most impactful scenes and conflicts making it onto the pages. If you submit to me, be advised that this may include larger structural changes, so please list any deal-breakers that you wouldn't entertain. Note - I would never ask an author to change the identity of their main character. My recommended changes would be plot-based, possibly reducing the number of characters, but not changing who they are. See the testimonials on my website from my past winners if you'd like more insights into my process.

I’ll start with an in-depth assessment of developmental editing recommendations, which we can discuss after you read and review my assessment. Together, we’ll develop a plan for your revisions, which you’ll work on and send back to me. Depending on the timing and state of the manuscript after these revisions, we may have time to take another round of developmental edits. Email is the best way to reach me, and I’ll try to get back within a day with answers to questions, and will communicate my timelines for editing feedback once I receive your revisions. I’m not a night owl, so you’re more likely to catch me at 7 a.m. than you are at 9 p.m.

What do you expect from writers during the #RevPit revision process, including communication?

I want someone open to large-scale structural changes in their manuscript. For RevPit, I enjoy the challenge of tinkering with a story to rebuild it into something stronger, and I want authors willing to be open to that process. If your manuscript is (IYHO) nearly perfect or the book of your heart and you can't bear the thought of substantial structural changes, I'm probably not your best choice for RevPit Editor.

What hobbies do you have outside of writing and editing?

I enjoy reading (I'm a super-reader, ~150 published books/year), crochet, bowling (very poorly), and attending my teen sons' sports, esports, band, robotics, and other events. We like biking, walking my dog, and boating in the summers, Nordic ski and hygge in the winter (Minnesota winters are cold and dark). I really love trivia night with my team at the local dive bar. I'm much stronger at trivia than I am at bowling.