Hi, I'm Matthew Patin
I help writers bring their creations to life,
engage new audiences,
and advance literary careers
Welcome, and thank you for reading.
My career in publishing, literary arts, and live creative events began twenty years ago, as a bestselling author’s assistant. I’d grown up an avid reader, but that first bookworld job helped me realize that the art, craft, and business of writing, publishing, and sharing ideas and stories was where I belonged. Helping writers and thinkers—over a thousand of them so far—bring their creations to life and engage new audiences has been my mission ever since.
I hold a BS from the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, earned my Certified Ghostwriter designation from California State University, am an alumnus of the Author-Editor Clinic in Seattle, and have contributed book reviews, author interviews, and more to Kirkus Reviews, the Austin Chronicle, and other outlets.
I’ve worked in-house at multiple publishers, including a small press and one of the Big 5. As an editor for hire, I work directly with authors—nearly 200 to date—and with major imprints, publishers, and book packagers. I’ve had the pleasure to ideate, create, and/or polish millions of words’ worth of literature.
I’ve also been privileged to work nine annual “editions” of the Texas Book Festival, the state’s premier literary-arts institution and the home of one of North America’s largest and most long-standing celebrations of literature, live journalism, and ideas. I spent three of those years as the organization’s full-time Literary Director—its chief creative, curator, and head of programming—and collaborated with hundreds of book professionals and 900+ New York Times–bestselling, critically acclaimed, and buzzworthy authors and panelists to plan and host 600+ live conversations, group discussions, keynotes, and book-signing sessions. Separately, I spent six years as a non-executive director at Austin Bat Cave, a literary and education nonprofit whose writing programs empower students of all ages find their voices and tell their stories.
That’s a long way to say I’ve spent my life in books, writing, events, and audience engagement. And it’s a joy to bring that experience, insight, and perspective into each new manuscript and collaboration.
My Mission, Approach, and Core Principles
My mission is to help writers bring their creations to life, engage new audiences, and advance literary careers.
No matter the subject matter or genre, my guiding principles remain the same:
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Be clear. Before the edit begins, the shape, scope, timeline, and terms of our agreement will be crystalline, as will be my understanding of your goals and vision. During the edit, the notes I provide will be unambiguous. By the end of the edit, you’ll know what to do next.
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Be candid. I love helping authors, especially when I’m convinced my experience matches their needs and goals. If I don’t feel I’m the best fit for your book, however, I’ll let you know upfront, charge you nothing, and refer you to a colleague. If I feel instantly that you don’t need me—that your book is already submission-ready—I’ll provide free advice on the agent-submission process if you want to go the traditional-publishing path; if you’d like my help with your agent query, synopsis, and/or book proposal, we can discuss the shape of such an engagement.
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Be comprehensive. When you get your Full Manuscript Edit back from me, you’ll find hundreds of observations and suggestions, in both a lengthy editorial memo and the manuscript itself. I don’t scrimp.
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Be constructive. More than merely diagnostic or observational, my big-picture notes are often practical and solution-oriented.
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Be compassionate. Writing has a unique, keyboard-smashing, temple-rubbing way of testing us—our creativity, our ambition, our perseverance, our priorities, our patience. I get the struggle, and I enter each author relationship with that understanding. My goal is to instill greater confidence in writers, and to empower authors to craft stronger, sharper, more sculpted manuscripts.
I look forward to learning about your story and your expertise.