Alison Fraser - Editor
A professional book editor with extensive experience editing commercial fiction and narrative non-fiction.
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Overview
I enjoy collaborating with authors, assisting them to refine their manuscripts and prepare them for publication.
My experience working for over a decade for an internationally renowned publishing company has given me a strong understanding of what is required to achieve successful publication, particularly in relation to commercial fiction and narrative non-fiction.
I have worked on thrillers by authors such as Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly and John Grisham; women’s fiction authors such as Maeve Binchy and Sarah Addison Allen, and autobiographies by Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Kate McCann.
I have a strong ability to assess a manuscript, to determine whether or not it is ready to send to a publisher. If it’s not quite ready, I am able to outline the steps required to prepare your manuscript for successful publication.
I have an excellent understanding of narrative structure, and can assist with major or minor structural editing, as required. I am also available for copyediting.
Services
Languages
English (AUS)
English (UK)
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Fiction
Thriller & Suspense
Women's Fiction
Certifications
- Postgraduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing
- Bachelor of Arts majoring in English and Australian Literature
- Short course in Search Engine Optimisation
Work experience
Managing Editor
Self-employed
March, 2018
–
Present
(almost 5 years)
I'm currently managing a freelance editorial business that provides manuscript assessment, structural editing, copyediting, proofreading, book condensation and digital content editing. My editorial business also offers assistance with writing memoirs, and recommends books.
Senior Editor
Reader's Digest Australia
February, 2014
–
February, 2018
(about 4 years)
My position as a Senior Editor at Reader's Digest Australia involved producing a commercial fiction series. Our series produced 28 titles per year, many by bestselling authors such as Lee Child, John Grisham, Robert Crais, David Baldacci, Nicholas Sparks, Sarah Addison Allen and many more. My role was to select the most compelling new commercial fiction, and to produce the series, with the assistance of a team of editors, designers and proofreaders.
Editor
Reader's Digest Australia
July, 2006
–
February, 2014
(over 7 years)
My role as an Editor at Reader's Digest Australia involved assisting to produce a commercial fiction series and a narrative non-fiction series. I was responsible for ordering the latest commercial fiction and non-fiction titles, and arranging to have a team of reviewers choose the most gripping stories. I also edited and proofread titles for our narrative non-fiction series, including works by Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, John Cleese, Kate McCann and Andre Agassi, as well as many others.
Portfolio (21 selected works)
Night School: A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The incomparable hero of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back takes readers to school in his most explosive novel yet. After eleven straight global #1 bestsellers, discover the thrillers that The New York Times calls “utterly addictive.”Don’t miss a sneak peek of Lee Child’s new novel, The Midnight Line, in the back of the book. It’s 1996, and Reacher is still in the army... read more
Long Road to Mercy (An Atlee Pine Thriller)
David Baldacci
Introducing a remarkable new character from #1 New York Times bestselling writer David Baldacci: Atlee Pine, an FBI agent with special skills assigned to the remote wilds of the southwestern United States who must confront a new threat . . . and an old nightmare.Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by its toe.It's seared into Atlee Pine's memory: the kidnapper's chilling rhyme as he chose bet... read more
A supposed hunting accident becomes a dangerously complicated murder investigation in Stay Hidden, the intricately-plotted new thriller from Paul Doiron featuring Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch.A woman has been shot to death by a deer hunter on an island off the coast of Maine. To newly promoted Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch, the case seems open and shut. But as soon as he arrives on remo... read more
Sycamore Row (The Jake Brigance)
John Grisham
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Don’t miss an original essay by John Grisham in the back of the book. John Grisham takes you back to where it all began. One of the most popular novels of our time, A Time to Kill established John Grisham as the master of the legal thriller. Now we return to Ford County as Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial that exposes a tortur... read more
First Frost: A Novel
Sarah Addison Allen
From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves...It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic... read more
The Longest Ride
Nicholas Sparks
A remarkable story of everlasting love, about two couples whose lives intersect in profound and surprising ways, in the tradition of Nicholas Sparks's beloved #1 New York Times bestselling first novel, The Notebook.Ira Levinson is in trouble. Ninety-one years old and stranded and injured after a car crash, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes beside him: his b... read more
Scarlet Feather
Maeve Binchy
Fresh from cooking school, Tom Feather and Cathy Scarlet are hot new additions to the Dublin scene with their new catering company, but some people in the city, including their families, are not so keen on the idea of their success. 500,000 first printing.
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
The book that inspired the major new motion picture Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century ... read more
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small to... read more
Kate McCann's personal account of the agonizing search for her missing daughter "The decision to publish this book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts. My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth. Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal, intimate and emotional aspects of our lives. Sharing these with strangers does not come easily ... read more
Will be shipped from US. Used books may not include companion materials, may have some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, may not include CDs or access codes. 100% money back guarantee.
So, Anyway...
John Cleese
John Cleese’s huge comedic influence has stretched across generations; his sharp irreverent eye and the unique brand of physical comedy he perfected with Monty Python, on Fawlty Towers, and beyond now seem written into comedy’s DNA. In this rollicking memoir, So, Anyway…, Cleese takes readers on a Grand Tour of his ascent in the entertainment world, from his humble beginnings in a sleepy Engli... read more
Chasing Darkness: An Elvis Cole Novel
Robert Crais
Private Investigator Elvis Cole learns that LA fires bring more than heat, they bring his old friend Joe Pike and the past. Cole’s fight to clear his name brings murder and corruption terrifyingly close to home.It’s fire season, and the hills of Los Angeles are burning. When police and fire department personnel rush door to door in a frenzied evacuation effort, they discover the week-old corps... read more
Solitude Creek (A Kathryn Dance Novel)
Jeffery Deaver
Jeffery Deaver, "the master of manipulation" (Associated Press) and "the most creative, skilled and intriguing thriller writer in the world." (Daily Telegraph, UK) returns with the new, long-awaited, Kathryn Dance thriller.A tragedy occurs at a small concert venue on the Monterey Peninsula. Cries of "fire" are raised and, panicked, people run for the doors, only to find them blocked. A half do... read more
The Burning Room (A Harry Bosch Novel)
Michael Connelly
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Detective Harry Bosch and his rookie partner investigate a cold case that gets very hot . . . very fast.In the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit, not many murder victims die almost a decade after the crime. So when a man succumbs to complications from being shot by a stray bullet nine years earlier, Bosch catches a case in which the body is still fresh, but all ot... read more
The Woman in Cabin 10
Ruth Ware
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF IN A DARK, DARK WOOD Featured in TheSkimm An Entertainment Weekly “Summer Must List” Pick A New York Post “Summer Must-Read” Pick Included in Summer Book Guides from Bustle, Oprah.com, PureWow, and USA TODAY From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in C... read more
The Dry: A Novel
Jane Harper
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“A breathless page-turner, driven by the many revelations Ms. Harper dreams up…You’ll love [her] sleight of hand…A secret on every page.” ―The New York Times“One of the most stunning debuts I've ever read… Every word is near perfect.” ―David BaldacciA small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jan... read more
The Monogram Murders: A New Hercule Poirot Mystery
Sophie Hannah, Agatha Christie
"I'm a dead woman, or I shall be soon . . ."Hercule Poirot's quiet supper in a London coffeehouse is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. Though terrified, she begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done. Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a London Hotel have been murdere... read more
Lost Lake: A Novel
Sarah Addison Allen
Now a New York Times Bestseller From the author of the beloved bestseller Garden Spells comes a beautiful, haunting story of old loves and new, and the power of the connections that bind us forever... The first time Eby Pim saw Lost Lake, it was on a picture postcard. Just an old photo and a few words on a small square of heavy stock, but when she saw it, she knew she was seeing her future. Th... read more
Minding Frankie
Maeve Binchy
New York Times BestsellerA tale of joy, heartbreak and hope, about a motherless girl collectively raised by a close-knit Dublin community.When Noel learns that his terminally ill former flame is pregnant with his child, he agrees to take guardianship of the baby girl once she’s born. But as a single father battling demons of his own, Noel can’t do it alone. Fortunately, he has a competent, car... read more
Moriarty: A Novel
Anthony Horowitz
The game is once again afoot in this thrilling mystery from the bestselling author of The House of Silk, sanctioned by the Conan Doyle estate, which explores what really happened when Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty tumbled to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls.Internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s nail-biting new novel plunges us back into the dark and... read more
Alison has 2 reviews
Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality
Working with Alison has been an absolute pleasure. I appreciated that she took time to get to know me prior to editing my memior. Her feedback and edits reflected a keen understanding of my personality and my purpose for writing. She paid strict attention to detail to get the little things right, while keeping an eye on the big picture to ensure consistency and flow of my story.
Kofi Annan, July 2021
Alison was excellent to work with and enlightened me in so many ways to improve my writing and my future book. She is concise, detailed and professional. I enjoyed my first collaboration with her so much I'm hoping to work with her again in the future. Overall, working with Alison is a great value and experience and I highly recommend her.
Tenkara Smart, October 2019
Reply from Alison Fraser
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