Melissa Pimentel promoted to editorial director at Paper Literary

Paper Literary has promoted Melissa Pimentel to editorial director, having joined the team in 2021 as editorial consultant.

In the past two years, she has worked closely with agents Catherine Cho and Katie Greenstreet on editorial work for their clients, “facilitating multiple six-figure and seven-figure deals and hotly contested TV/film option auctions,” Paper Literary said.  

Pimentel brings with her nearly 20 years of experience. Before joining Paper Literary she worked as a translation rights agent at the Curtis Brown Group for more than a decade. She is a published author, having written three romantic comedies under her own name and two thrillers under the pseudonym Jessica Barry. Her work has been translated widely and optioned for film and television. 

As editorial director, Pimentel works closely with authors on idea generation, structural edits and line edits, and “offers guidance to help their work achieve its fullest potential – from their débuts and beyond”. 

She said: “As an editorial consultant, I have absolutely loved working with the Paper agents and their brilliant roster of authors and I look forward to collaborating with them more closely in this new capacity. The future looks so bright for Paper, and I’m very proud to be a part of such a vibrant, inspiring team helping to foster a new generation of talent.” 

Cho added: “Melissa has been an integral part of Paper and in helping the agency grow. Having an in-house expert like Melissa is a sign of our commitment to our clients, and the time and investment we put into our authors even before they go on submission. Melissa has a brilliant editorial eye, she is incredibly supportive to our authors, and she brings a unique skillset with her author-agent-international rights perspective. I feel so lucky to have her as part of our team.”