Renni Browne has been editing fiction and nonfiction for nearly fifty years. Before she became an editor for Scribner’s in 1966, she was a copy editor for Time-Life books, co-author of a novel, and assistant fiction editor for Woman’s Day. When she left Scribner’s she worked part-time for a paperback publisher and a literary agent while reviewing books for Kirkus and Library Journal.

In 1968 she became senior editor at Stein & Day, where she stayed seven years until she became a senior editor at William Morrow. Not allowed to take the time needed to edit the books she acquired, she dropped out of mainstream publishing in 1978.

In 1980 she founded The Editorial Department, where she still works full-time editing fiction and nonfiction writers. In 1991 she and Dave King wrote Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, the bestselling title on editing year after year, now in its sixth printing and second edition from Harper Collins. She has written book reviews, magazine articles on writing, and has appeared on NPR.

Renni is from Charlotte, N.C. She now lives in Asheville, N.C., where she enjoys old-time mountain music and Asheville’s downtown scene. She watches movie and TV, but her favorite pastime when she shuts down her laptop for the day is reading, usually but not always fiction. “I’ve been reading since I was four years old,” she says. “When people ask me what I read for pleasure, I tell them reading is pleasure.”