Abby Parsons

Abby Parsons – Editor

Commercial fiction editor with over five years of in-house experience at Hachette UK (Little, Brown Book Group and Hodder & Stoughton)

Overview

'Abby is an insightful and nuanced editor, with excellent project management skills. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her' Clare Mackintosh, Number One bestselling author
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I specialise in commercial fiction – including women’s fiction, reading group and crime/thriller – and have five years of experience at the major UK publishing houses Little, Brown Book Group and Hodder & Stoughton, both part of Hachette Book Group.

I get enormous satisfaction in working closely with writers and have collaborated with some of the UK’s biggest bestsellers as well as many first-time authors.

Over the years, I have worked across the entire spectrum of commercial fiction – from heart-warming women's fiction to the grittiest police procedural. Recent projects include a high-concept crime thriller with an extremely unreliable narrator, a complex and intricately told cult thriller, a women’s fiction novel about two characters who see the world in very different ways (but are, inevitably, falling in love) and a multi-generational novel full of family secrets.

I started my career as a proofreader and editorial assistant and received training from the Publishing Training House in proofreading and copy-editing. Working in-house, I have also been lucky enough to form a part of the UK publishing teams for Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks, as well as UK-based authors Val McDermid, Mark Billingham and Clare Mackintosh, playing a pivotal role in developing the industry-leading publishing strategies for multiple Top 10 bestsellers.

Communication is vital to the editing process and is central to what I do; whatever the genre, I want to understand why you’ve made the structural and stylistic choices you’ve made in telling your story and work together to make it the best it can be.

Whether you are looking for help with the overall structure of your novel, a few tricky plot points, or if you’re ready for a forensic line edit and final polish, I would love to work with you.
Services
Fiction
Mystery & Crime Romance Short Story Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction
Languages
English (AUS) English (CAN) English (NZ) English (UK) English (US)
Certifications
  • BA English Literature (1:1)
  • Copy-editing – Publishing Training Centre
  • Proofreading – Publishing Training Centre
  • Working with Authors – Hachette Book Group

Work experience

Little, Brown Book Group

Jun, 2017 — Sep, 2019 (over 2 years)

• Edited, published and commissioned commercial fiction across a wide range of genres
• Supported on bestselling authors Clare Mackintosh, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid
• Managed the publishing of Bookouture digital titles into Sphere paperback editions

Hodder & Stoughton

Sep, 2014 — Jun, 2017 (over 2 years)

• Acted as desk editor across a wide range of fiction and non-fiction
• Formed part of the UK publishing teams for Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Sophie Hannah

Self-employed

Jan, 2014 — May, 2014 (4 months)

Portfolio

Hostage

Clare Mackintosh

'NO ONE WRITES A TWIST LIKE CLARE MACKINTOSH' PAULA HAWKINS'HYPNOTICALLY GOOD' LEE CHILD'FEELS LIKE A BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE' LISA JEWELL'A NAIL-BITER OF A THRILLER' SHARI LAPENA You can save hundreds of lives Or the one that matters most. 'HOSTAGE WILL HAVE YOU QU... read more
Our Daughter's Bones

Ruhi Choudhary

When Mackenzie opened the door to the kitchen, she froze. Her father lay on his stomach, blood pooling around his head. She lurched forward to touch him, but her mother held her back. Mackenzie felt like bursting. Her twelve-year-old heart couldn’t handle the ... read more
'The perfect read to curl up with' Zara Stoneley'A heart-warming tale of falling in love with life again' Debbie JohnsonWelcome to your new cottage in the country - complete with grumpy vet, village gossip and a very muddy dog . . .______________City girl Ella... read more
'Kay Langdale has got the knack of writing books that you carry on sitting in an empty carriage for a few extra minutes to finish, to stay a little longer with her characters' Lucy Dillon (author of A Hundred Pieces of Me)'There's no doubt Langdale is a wonder... read more
The Family Next Door

Sally Hepworth

FROM THE NUMBER 1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE MOTHER-IN-LAW'Fiction at its finest' - Liane Moriarty, Number One New York Times bestselling author'Perfect for fans of BIG LITTLE LIES' - Library Journal How much do we really know our neighbours?The top five Kindle... read more
'This gorgeous book completely carried me away' Jenny Ashcroft, author of Island in the East'The perfect novel to curl up with on a cosy night in' Hello'An absolute gem of a novel' Better Reading AustraliaYou are warmly invited to join the Fairvale Ladies book... read more
The Poison Garden

Alex Marwood

'I devoured The Poison Garden . . . Gripping and utterly convincing, it's Alex Marwood at the top of her (already impressive) game' JOJO MOYES_________Where Romy grew up, if someone died you never spoke of them again.Now twenty-two, she has recently escaped th... read more
Every Colour of You

Amelia Mandeville

How can one person change everything?'It truly broke my heart and put it back together again' Reader review'This story is beautiful, it has touched my soul and has lit up my heart' Reader review'You literally feel every emotion on the spectrum along with these... read more
Let Me Lie

Clare Mackintosh

Don't miss the powerful and page-turning new novel from Clare Mackintosh - AFTER THE END is out now____________________Read the addictive thriller and number one bestseller Let Me Lie - from the award-winning author of breakout sensations I See You and I Let Y... read more
After the End

Clare Mackintosh

Have you heard about the book that everyone's talking about?'If I could give this book 10 stars I would' (Reader review)'This book touched my soul' (Reader review)'I could not put it down. What a story. What a storyteller' (Reader review)'This is in my top fiv... read more
Inheritance

Jenny Eclair

From Sunday Times bestselling author Jenny Eclair comes an utterly compelling new novel of family secrets______________Beginnings, middles and ends; Peggy, Serena, Natasha and Bel. This is the room that binds them, this is how consequences work . . .In deepest... read more

Abby has 13 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Laura G.

Laura G.

Jun, 2022

I cannot recommend Abby highly enough. She totally got what I wanted to achieve and worked with me on improving every part of my manuscript whilst still keeping it my work. I was dreading the editing process until I got to working with Abby and ended up enjoying it almost as much as writing the book.
Janis W.

Janis W.

Dec, 2020

Working with Abby was wonderful. I got the excellent copy edit I was looking for plus extra suggestions where I needed them. I appreciated Abby’s clear communication about what the fiction edit would entail as well as her enthusiasm for my novel. By writing up a preliminary schedule detailing what she would produce and when, she gave me the confidence to know what to expect. I feel she put prof...
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Julie D.

Julie D.

Oct, 2020

What a great experience working with Abby! This was my first venture into writing a book and I asked if she could help me with editing because I felt like she would understand the sort of book I wanted to write. I definitely chose well! Abby has added considerable value to the manuscript - she helped me iron out some plot issues, develop the characters and sharpen up the prose. She went above ...
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Wilson S.

Wilson S.

Sep, 2020

This was my second collaboration with Abby, on the same story - I'd embarked on a major rewrite of the story after positive feedback from another industry professional. The benefit to me was a professional who knew already knew my characters and could offer her views where she felt the characters had strayed from their path through the narrative. She had an insight and offered it while always e...
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Gillian O.

Gillian O.

Sep, 2020

I have just finished working with Abby for the second time, and once again I'm delighted with her work. She did an editorial assessment for a novel I was thinking about shelving , and her suggestions are helping me to improve it more than I thought possible. I would recommend her editorial services and look forward to working with her again in the future.

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