Aemilia Phillips

Aemilia Phillips – Editor

Literary Agent representing award winning authors. Query/proposal/manuscript edits, specializing in character driven narratives and pitching

Overview

Aemilia has worked in the publishing industry for nearly a decade, primarily as a literary agent representing a range of fiction and non-fiction writers, including Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, National Book Award nominees, Story Prize finalists, and a PEN award finalist.

Aemilia has experience in all aspects of book publishing, including the development of an idea, the writing of a pitch letter and book proposal, coordinating major book auctions, in depth manuscript editing, publicity and marketing, and sales and event outreach. As an agent, she’s worked with editors, film and TV representatives, international rights coordinators, book scouts, and more. She's been invited to lecture at conferences around the world.

Aemilia has seen what works and knows what makes a project successful, and loves sharing that advice with writers in a down to earth, accessible manner. She's excited to help craft an attention grabbing query letter and proposal, go through a longer edit addressing what makes a manuscript commercially successful, and provide real world examples for navigating the publishing industry and getting attention from agents.

*PLEASE NOTE* as per the Association of American Literary Agents code of ethics, hiring Aemilia in an editorial capacity will prevent her from representing your work as your literary agent.

Aemilia graduated from Harvard and holds a Certificate in Publishing from Columbia. She lives in Manhattan, and is an avid New York sports fan.

Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Cultural & Ethnic Poetry Young Adult
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc.

Oct, 2016 — Present

La Unidad Latina Foundation

Oct, 2020 — Present

The Paris Review

Jun, 2016 — Oct, 2016 (4 months)

Phelps Media Group

May, 2015 — Sep, 2015 (4 months)

Portfolio

Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims

Washington, Kate

Beacon Press

Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Promises of Gold

Olivarez, José

Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Book Coaching

Aemilia has 52 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

shannon S.

shannon S.

Jun, 2026

Pinned
Aemilia is a phenomenal developmental editor. She provided the exact dose of cold, hard industry reality my manuscript needed, while remaining incredibly supportive, clear, and amicable throughout the entire process. She pinpointed my structural strengths and weaknesses with absolute honesty, all...
Read more
Dijana K.

Dijana K.

Apr, 2026

Pinned
I had a great experience working with Aemilia, truly exceeded my expectations and had a sharp eye for identifying areas in my writing that needed attention, presenting me with feedback in a clear and thoughtful way. Throughout the process, Aemilia was professional, friendly, kind, and highly res...
Read more
Elaine Y.

Elaine Y.

Apr, 2025

Pinned
I highly recommend Aemilia. I booked a one-hour coaching session with her to prepare for my first-ever pitch event, where I had just three minutes to pitch and five minutes with each agent. I knew I had to make every second count, and Aemilia helped me do exactly that. She offered incredibly ins...
Read more
Trina T.

Trina T.

Jun, 2026

I am blown away by the level of care and insight that Aemilia has displayed throughout our collaboration. She knew exactly what was needed to polish up my query and book proposal, and made appropriate suggestions that have taken it to the next level. She taught me where I need to elaborate and wh...
Read more
Roald G.

Roald G.

May, 2026

I am extremely happy that I chose Aemilia Phillips to critique my manuscript. She not only has the technical expertise of an excellent editor, but maybe more importantly, the discriminating eye of a literary agent. I have read her assessment of my work many times over and get something useful f...
Read more

Sign up to read more reviews

Create a free Reedsy account to connect with Aemilia and thousands of other publishing professionals on Reedsy.

Professionals similar to Aemilia

Get a range of offers by requesting quotes from multiple professionals.

Staci F.

Developmental & copy editor for over a decade, including NYT bestselling authors. Especially love memoir, contemporary fiction.

San Francisco, CA, USA

100% reply rate

View profile

Helen W.

Experienced, collaborative non-fiction editor - worked for more than a decade at Hodder and HarperCollins.

Bath, UK

100% reply rate

View profile

Lori G.

Trad published author of 7 novels inc. KISS, MARRY, KILL (Harper, 4/7/26) & NPR Book of the Day ROMANTIC FRICTION (2025). Query specialist.

Boston, MA, USA

100% reply rate

View profile