Jestine Ware

Reviews

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"Jestine is amazing. I have had the privilege of working with her on 3 scripts for Rebel Girl's Black Girl Magic podcast series. She wrote the stories of Naomi Osaka, Rosetta Tharpe, and Octavia Butler. All very much so favorites of mine as a producer on the podcast. Her work is thorough, creative, immersive, and enriching. I look forward to continuing our working relationship and bringing magical content to the world."

~Camille Stennis, Audio Producer & Sound Designer at Rebel Girls, camillestennis.com

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"I've worked with Jestine Ware on two stories now both published in Spider magazine. On one of them she worked with me as editor and co-author. I found her, over those two stories and as I got used to her style and approach, to be an absolute pleasure to work with. She is decisive and incisive without being overbearing. She approaches editing with a writer's eye, ear, and hand, very much aware how much each RIGHT word, or RIGHT cut of a word, counts toward the sanctity and integrity and impact of a piece of writing. I look forward to continue to work with her in the future."

~Tololwa M. Mollel, folklorist and children's book and magazine author, tololwamollel.com

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"Jestine is a keen-eyed editor with an ability to bring out a story’s quirks while still maintaining a readable, coherent structure. The end result? Stories that children adore!"

~Tori Telfer, author of Lady Killers: Deadly Women throughout History, toritelfer.com

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"Jess is such an insightful and supportive editor. Her ideas and suggestions always improve my work, and she has a fabulous ear for a child's language and dialogue. I also admire and appreciate her commitment to having children's stories reflect the diversity of families and of the world."

~Debbie Urbanski, short story author, debbieurbanski.com

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"I always enjoy working with Jestine. Her ideas are fresh and her editing is thorough, professional, and always framed in a positive light. If you have the opportunity to work with her, jump at it!"

~Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, children's book and magazine author, kristintubb.com

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"Jestine Ware was my editor for a nonfiction piece with Spider magazine. Under her creative direction, I was inspired to write a companion science activity that was published along with my original article. Jestine's insightful and creative feedback helped bring great kid-appeal to my manuscript and helped make my writing shine! Her comments and suggestions were shared in a collaborative way with opportunities for me to review her suggestions and offer my feedback throughout the process. Jestine has a gift for bringing out the story and child-like wonder in a nonfiction piece. I would be delighted to work on future projects with Jestine!"

~Sue Gagliardi, children's book and magazine author, suegagliardi.com 

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“I learned so much from Jestine’s very clear edits. Her comments ‘See what you think’ or ‘I like this new detail you added’ always filled me with confidence in my writing. Jestine possesses an uncanny ability to take long passages by the writer and condense them while keeping the spirit and incorporating key details in other parts of the article. Brilliant! Her overall focus was to create writing that gives young readers the feeling of being right there with the main character, in my case, Sen, from Myanmar, entering a monastery as a novice. Jestine posed questions about the five senses, allowing me to bring the reader into the story; fact checked my work, deleting information that could not be verified; added dialogue and characterization; helped trim distracting information and clarify the story; and added new information that left the story feeling fresher, tighter, and more interesting than it started. All in all, Jestine is a respectful professional and empowers the writer to join her on the editing journey to ensure the reader is on that journey, too.”

~Arlene Mark, children's book and magazine author, arlenemark.com

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"I worked with Jestine Ware when she edited my first published short story at Spider Magazine. Previously I'd been a picture book writer, and she helped me dig deeper on the story to suit the demands of the genre. She pushed me harder and was always collaborative and insightful, creating a stronger story. She's an incisive and sensitive editor, and I'd love to work with her on another project."

~Kell Andrews, children's book and magazine author, kellandrews.com

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"Jess recently edited one of my articles for Spider Magazine. She has a real talent for helping writers make their work sing. In her expert hands, the article went from so-so to super. She really understands the mind of Spider's child readers and helps authors tap into their child-like mindsets while ensuring factual accuracy."

~Kirsten Larson, children's book and magazine author, kirsten-w-larson.com

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"I relied on the editing skills of Jestine over many months while writing my doctoral dissertation. She provided a professional, timely, and valuable resource to me during this critical time. She edited 9 chapters and 240 pages, including references and APA formatting. Her attention to detail and to my specific needs were very valuable to me. She helped me achieve a quality product and become a better writer along the way. I highly recommend Jestine as an editor."

~Barbara J. Zappia Ed.D., Greater Rochester Health Foundation, thegrhf.org

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"Jestine has been my editor for several children's stories, and she has made each one better. Her sensitivity to tone and nuance is exemplary, and she has the uncanny ability to see the effectiveness of removing or adding a single word. She sees what the author hadn't noticed, and she is always spot-on. Best of all, as she comes alongside the writer, she works with grace and kindness. I highly recommend Jestine for any writing project."

~Rhonda Telfer, children's book and magazine author, rhondatelfer.com

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"I've worked many times with Jestine Ware, as a writer lucky enough to have her editing, and to me she's the consummate pro.  She has a super-keen eye and a superb literary sensibility, and she's also helped me learn to consider broader aspects of editing, those that go beyond mere textual revision.  But she's also unfailingly gracious and flexible, and very writer-friendly.  She's one of the reasons Cricket Media publications are The New Yorker of children's magazines."

~Tim J. Myers, children's book and magazine author, timmyersstorysong.com

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"Jestine brings out the best in writers. She is an experienced, professional editor with child-like sensibilities. Her kind and caring encouragement has turned many a good poem and story into a great one."

~Charles Ghigna, children's poet, charlesghigna.com

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"Jestine is a highly skillful and dedicated editor. As a freelance writer who has worked with her on several projects, I find Jestine easy to communicate with and always eager to look at my work. She has provided great suggestions for improving material I’ve submitted to her for publication, while still allowing me to have the final say (although I usually go with her suggestions, because it makes the work even better)."
~Neal Levin, children's poet, neallevin.com

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"Jestine Ware has worked with me on stories for Spider magazine. She’s demonstrated skill at helping me improve the protagonist’s characterization. Furthermore, she’s suggested additional scenes which worked well with the plot. I hope to work with her again in the future."

~Pamela Love, children's book and magazine author, Amazon Author Page

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"When I edited Spider magazine for kids, Jestine was our Assistant Editor. She wrote and developed many pieces for me (including the excellent 'Lipong and the Ostrich Chicks,' a collaboration with Tololwa Mollel) and grew quickly over the two years we worked together. This was thanks in part to her being such a hard worker, a diligent researcher, a *voracious* reader, and a careful navigator of workplace conflict. She cares about her writers and prepares deeply for her projects. She clearly had the vision and fresh ideas to run a magazine, so when I left the company, I was happy to watch her take over Spider and make it her own."

~Danny Resner, former editor of Spider magazine, LinkedIn