Amber Qureshi

Amber Qureshi – Editor

I'm a longtime writer, editor and publisher in NYC who has worked on both bestselling and prize-winning fiction and non-fiction.

Overview

I've worked at the biggest NYC publishing houses on every kind of narrative project there is, including the Booker Prize-winning bestseller The White Tiger, the Orange Prize-winning Small Island, and Voices from Chernobyl, whose author won the Nobel Prize in 2015. My journalism has been published in The Guardian, Conde Nast Traveler, and other major media outlets, and I continue to write for hire when my editing schedule allows.

I see editing as an open-ended conversation: I read an author's work more closely than anyone else will, questioning and suggesting as much as possible, in order to make sure that the work accomplishes whatever the author wants it to do. Authors tend to like this. I can make your text sound polished and professional, bringing your ideas and your message to the forefront, where they belong.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Humanities & Social Sciences Self-Help & Self-Improvement True Crime
Fiction
Cultural & Ethnic Literary Fiction Short Story Women's Fiction
Languages
English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

Catapult, Conde Nast, The Guardian, The Columbia School of Journalism, Fat Possum Records, etc.

Jan, 2014 — Present

Seven Stories Press

Oct, 2012 — Jan, 2014 (over 1 year)

Viking/Penguin

Jan, 2011 — Sep, 2012 (over 1 year)

Free Press/Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Apr, 2006 — Dec, 2012 (over 6 years)

Picador/Macmillan

Apr, 2003 — Mar, 2006 (almost 3 years)

Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, Inc.

Aug, 2000 — Mar, 2003 (over 2 years)

Portfolio

We Learn Nothing: Essays and Cartoons

Tim K.

“Kreider locates the right simile and the pith of situations as he carefully catalogues humanity’s inventive and manifold ways of failing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).In We Learn Nothing, satirical cartoonist Tim Kreider turns his funny, brutally hones... read more
Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories

Travel books bring us to places. War books bring us to tragedy. This book brings us to one woman’s travels in war zones: the locals she met, the compassion they scraped from catastrophe, and the food they ate.Peace Meals is a true story about conflict and food... read more
Feed the Hungry: A Memoir with Recipes

Nani P.

An author whose fiction has been praised by Mary Gaitskill ("Passionate, intelligent, and piercingly beautiful...an altogether striking debut") and Darcy Steinke ("Nani Power...shows that sensuality pervades all of life and is too powerful to be contained in t... read more
The Madonnas of Echo Park: A Novel

Brando S.

Reminiscent of Luis Alberto Urrea and Dinaw Mengestu, The Madonnas of Echo Park is a brilliant and genuinely fresh view of American life.The Madonnas of Echo Park is both a grand mural of a Los Angeles neighborhood and an intimate glimpse into the lives of the... read more
The Gin Closet: A Novel

Leslie J.

From the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collection The Empathy Exams and the memoir The Recovering, Leslie Jamison’s “exquisitely beautiful” (San Francisco Chronicle) novel about three generations of women and the inescapable brutality of love.... read more
Songs for the Butcher's Daughter: A Novel

Peter M.

In this acclaimed fiction debut, "a rich, often ironic homage to Yiddish culture and language" (Publishers Weekly), Peter Manseau weaves 100 years of Jewish history, the sad fate of an ancient language, and a love story shaped by destiny into a truly great Ame... read more
The White Tiger: A Novel

Aravind A.

A stunning literary debut critics have likened to Richard Wright’s Native Son, The White Tiger follows a darkly comic Bangalore driver through the poverty and corruption of modern India’s caste society. “This is the authentic voice of the Third World, like you... read more
Small Island: A Novel

Andrea L.

Small Island is an international bestseller. It won the Orange Prize for Fiction, The Orange Prize for Fiction: Best of the Best, The Whitbread Novel Award, The Whitbread Book of the Year Award, and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. It has now been adapted for ... read more
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

Svetlana A.

Winner of the Nobel Prize in LiteratureWinner of the National Book Critics Circle AwardOn April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history occurred in Chernobyl and contaminated as much as three quarters of Europe. Voices from Chernobyl is the fir... read more

Amber has 15 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Kamlesh J.

Kamlesh J.

Jun, 2023

Thank you very much for your thoughtful review of my manuscript, especially you did so from the perspective of a more general audience than I had originally planned. It has taught me a lot about writing a memoir. Since writing such a narrative was my maiden attempt, I really appreciate your detailed comments and suggestions for improving not just the memoir but my writing in general. Your su...
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Abigail O.

Abigail O.

May, 2023

Amber is an excellent editor, making my nonfiction scholarship book so much more empowering, self-motivating, and resonant. She turned the book around sooner than the deadline, and was a great pleasure to work with! I'm glad I got an excellent, understanding, and passionate editor for my first book!
Julia G.

Julia G.

May, 2023

I have nothing but positive things to say about working with Amber. She made a genuine effort to learn about my work, is incredibly thorough, personable, and knowledgable. She had so many great ideas and so much thoughtful feedback. I would definitely work with her again in the future, and recommend her highly!
Laurie W.

Laurie W.

Mar, 2023

I don't know how I got so lucky. Most things in life are disappointing, but working with Amber is an exception. Even though I'd read all these highly positive reviews before reaching out to her, I still couldn't quite believe how perceptive and thoughtful her feedback was. Amber helped me on an essay that has a somewhat ambitious structure with multiple threads. She understood what I was trying...
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Karen G.

Karen G.

Sep, 2022

Amber Quereshi did a deep and thorough dive into my novel. Her thoughtful editorial assessment and detailed line edits have given me a wealth of new ideas to explore and further develop. She identified where I was vague and the plot stumbled. She pinpointed ways to strengthen my characters, narrative arc and thematic threads. Her literary and worldly knowledge, pop culture smarts, emotional sen...
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