Andrew Lockett

Andrew Lockett – Editor

Hugely experienced editor, non-fiction/ fiction: reads, pitching, proposals, edits, indexes, a link between authors and publication.

Overview

Covering publishing process from range of angles. I am a highly versatile publishing professional across trade and academic and hybrid audiences always working with books. Having started in publicity (very useful) I have subsequently had first hand experience of sales, distribution, digital, websites, rights, marketing, senior management, line-editing, indexing, social media working at the largest and smallest of operations, in commercial, public, B2B and 'third' sectors. Working at publishing operations of all sizes (commercial, university press, small independent, mission-based) and have the benefit of hands-on knowledge and experience of most areas in the process. Always a massive reader of books too especially fiction, history, biography, social sciences and travel– the most rewarding use of spare time!


Throughout have commissioned book tiles taking part in process of selection and developing publishing ideas. Commissioning titles since 1986 variously at Duckworth Publishers, Oxford University Press, BFI Publishing, Explore Books, Routledge and others. Currently freelance. Specialities include trade non fiction (social sciences, popular science, travel writing, literature, history, sport, media and technology). Lists have included authors such as John Hands, Margaret Atwood (Strange Things), E.M. Davey, Lloyd Bradley, John Spurling, Jonathan Bate, Elleke Boehmer, Andy Mitten, Tom Feiling, Jacqueline Rose.

As writer and editor have edited or contributed to trade and academic titles on sport, media, film, TV, publishing studies and education. As a reader particularly interested in speculative, literary and historical fiction, biography, popular science and history, applied psychology, political economy, satire, football, travel writing and digital media (but not hype). I tag myself as 'omnicurious' and love the alchemy of working with an author to ensure what interests them will ultimately captivate readers, publishers, retailers and marketing and PR folk too.


Available for editorial assessments and script development, agent and publisher proposals pitches and proposals, manuscript reads with specific brief, editing, indexing, assisted self-publishing logistics, list-building, publishing strategies for trade (and academic) authors and imprints. Currently taking a pause from new Reedsy book coaching assignments, copyediting and proofreading to focus on existing clients.


"professional, erudite and a stable influence, hugely appreciated as a first time author […] demonstrated imagination, flexibility and clarity in his dealings with me."

Tarn Richardson, author of The Damned ('The Darkest Hand Trilogy').


''I just cannot thank you enough for your beautiful work. I am reading the index and it takes my breath away! It is a masterpiece.” Eglė Rindzevičiūtė, author of The Will to Predict: Orchestrating the Future through Science (Cornell University Press, forthcoming 2023).


Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs History Music Political Science & Current Affairs Travel
Fiction
Historical Fiction Literary Fiction
Languages
English (AUS) English (UK) English (US)
Awards
  • Two nominations for Royal Society Prize for Science Books
  • Limina International Film Publisher of the Year (BFI)
  • Silver Medal for Popular Culture in ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year Awards, USA (Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories)
  • The Amilcar Herrera Prize (ESOCITE) for best book in social studies of science and technology (Knowledge in Age of Digital Capitalism)
  • Shortlisted for shortlisted for the British Psychological Society Book Awards 2011 and the Guild of Health Writers Best Book Award 2012 (Rough Guide to Psychology)
  • Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2015 (The Ten Thousand Things)
  • Nomination, Edited Collection of the Year, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association, 2022
  • Masterton Award' for the Best Translated novel (English to French, The Damned, 2024)
Certifications
  • BA English (1st) Lincoln College, Oxford University
  • Advisory Panel Member, Goldsmiths Press
  • Formerly, LSE Press Editorial Advisory Board 
  • Formerly Ubiquity Press, Partner Advisory Board
  • Digital Content Strategy course (Media Bistro)
  • Invited Speaker San Francisco Writers Conference
  • Plenary Presenter, Cultural Studies Association 
  • Presenter BASEES, 'How to Get a Book Deal'
  • Author of peer reviewed academic articles
  • Co-editor of trade, professional and textbook titles
  • Contributor to several trade, academic books
  • Peer reviewer of selected academic works
  • Former Literature Advisor, Southern Arts (England)

Work experience

Duckworth Publishers

Sep, 2013 — Feb, 2015 (over 1 year)

• Wide-ranging publishing role including acquiring fiction and non-fiction lists, managing sales and publicity roles and overseeing eBooks programme and website.
• Fiction acquisitions included: Tarn Richardson, Ed Davey and John Samuel.
• Other authors included Max Brooks, James MacManus, John Spurling, Stephen Bates, Dylan Jones, the Queen of Twitter, Douglas McWilliams, Dayo Olopade and John Hands.

Self-employed

Oct, 2012 — Present

Sole trader with capacity to advise, undertake or arrange a wide variety of editorial tasks. Freelance publishing consultancy, commissioning, editorial for organisations and authors.

Bournemouth University

Jan, 2024 — Present

Online seminar lectures for the 'Design, Editing and Publishing Unit.'

Bournemouth University

Jan, 2024 — Aug, 2024 (7 months)

Higher Education contract teaching role for online students for the practically focussed Design, Editing and Publishing module of Bournemouth' University's established Creative Writing and Publishing MA.

University of Westminster Press

Feb, 2015 — Aug, 2021 (over 6 years)

Development (single-handedly) of an entirely new open access university press commissioning academic books and journals, initially part-time; some freelance editorial work. Role encompassed oversight of all aspects of operations with freelance and service provider assistance

Rough Guides

Nov, 2003 — Nov, 2012 (about 9 years)

Commissioning and editorial management of non-travel titles including several bestsellers in popular culture, technology, sport, music, psychology and popular science. Also some custom, sponsored and specials titles for corporate clients, book clubs and chains: international travel titles, social sciences and popular culture.

British Film Institute

Aug, 1997 — Nov, 2003 (over 6 years)

Commissioning Editor and Head of Section for books publishing . Leading small team with responsibility for all aspects of publishing activities including marketing, sales, distribution, rights and editorial. Working with leading trade and academic authors, formats including textbook, trade, educational, reference and academic monographs.

Oxford University Press

Apr, 1989 — Aug, 1997 (over 8 years)

Senior commissioning role with major reference and trade titles in OUP's prestigious English Literature list. Also European Literature. Developed, Film, Media (and later years geography/environment) ranges of titles. Formats included anthologies, biographies, histories, scholarly editions, textbooks, and reference (thematic and A-Z) with other innovative list-building including Handbook format and in Cultural Studies areas. Also many academic monograph titles and edited collections.

Routledge

Sep, 1986 — Mar, 1989 (over 2 years)

Specific focus on the Middle East, Politics, Soviet Studies and International Business. Monographs and textbooks.

Croom Helm/Routledge

Oct, 1985 — Sep, 1986 (11 months)

Publicity and marketing for several lists including Womens' Studies, International Relations, Geography, Politics, Sociology and Anthropology and Business Studies.

Portfolio

The Killing Gene

E.M. Davey

Prelude Books

OUT OF AFRICA, INTO DARKNESS... When an archaeologist goes missing in the Congo basin, Professor Randolph Harkness and young tearaway Ross McCartney go in search of her – only to stumble upon ... read more
Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Copy Editing Editorial Assessment Indexing
Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Ten Thousand Things

John Spurling

Developmental Editing Copy Editing
Les Maudits

Tarn Richardson

Sonatine

Des loups-garous dans les tranchées... Vous en rêviez ? Tarn Richardson l'a fait !Arras, 1914. Sur la ligne de front, le lieutenant Henry Frost donne l'assaut. À sa grande surprise, sa troupe ... read more
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Sleep in Peace Tonight

James MacManus

Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd

Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
The Napoleon Complex by E.M. Davey (2016-08-25)

unknown author

Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd

Developmental Editing Query Letter Review
What I Tell You in the Dark: A Novel

Samuel, John

The Overlook Press

Critical Communication: A Memoir

Mosco, Vincent

University of Westminster Press

Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism

Morelock, Jeremiah

University of Westminster Press

Editorial Assessment Indexing
Indexing
Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Sex vs Survival

John Launer

Duckworth Books

Who was Sabina Spielrein? Her dramatic life story is most famous for her notorious affair with Carl Jung, dramatised in the film A Dangerous Method starring Keira Knightley. Yet she was a woma... read more
Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Black Venus

James MacManus

Duckworth Books

In nineteenth century Paris, the young bohemian Charles Baudelaire roams the streets. Dressed impeccably - thanks to an inheritance that is quickly vanishing - and lost in the decadences of al... read more
Proofreading
The Harlem Hellfighters

Brooks, Max

Del Rey

Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Editorial Assessment
Forward, the Baggage!

Eaglestone, Arthur A

Overdale Publications

Copy Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Copy Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Indexing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Copy Editing Query Letter Review
Social Capital Online

Kane X. Faucher

What is ‘social capital’? The enormous positivity surrounding it conceals the instrumental economic rationality underpinning the notion as corporations silently sell consumer data for profit. ... read more
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review Indexing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
AI for Everyone?

Pieter Verdegem

We are entering a new era of technological determinism and solutionism in which governments and business actors are seeking data-driven change, assuming that Artificial Intelligence is now ine... read more
Editorial Assessment Indexing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing
The Big Data Agenda

Annika Richterich

This book highlights that the capacity for gathering, analysing, and utilising vast amounts of digital (user) data raises significant ethical issues. Annika Richterich provides a systematic co... read more
Editorial Assessment Indexing
From the Edwardian golden age of steam to the present, the railway has captured the hearts and imaginations of the British people like no other mode of travel. In wartime and peace, along majo... read more
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review
A Century of Hairstyles

Pamela Church Gibson

Nothing defines a person like their hairstyle – and what a century it has been for hair! Bangs, bobs, buns, beehives and bouffants have vied with pixie cuts, pin curls, perms and pageboys for ... read more
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review
After President Trump’s election, BREXIT and the widespread rise of far-Right political parties, much public discussion has intensely focused on populism and authoritarianism. In the middle of... read more
Editorial Assessment Proofreading Indexing
The Blitz Companion offers a unique overview of a century of aerial warfare, its impact on cities and the people who lived in them. It tells the story of aerial warfare from the earliest bombi... read more
Proofreading Query Letter Review Indexing
“Musicians often pay a high price for sharing their art with us. Underneath the glow of success can often lie loneliness and exhaustion, not to mention the basic struggles of paying the rent o... read more
Developmental Editing Proofreading Indexing
Developmental Editing Query Letter Review
Substantially revised and updated, this book highlights how Hollywood has transformed itself to attain ever global clout and reach and the material factors underlining Hollywood's apparent art... read more
Editorial Assessment
Marvelous Possessions

Stephen Greenblatt

Marvelous Possessions is a study of the ways in which Europeans of the late Middle Ages and the early modern period represented non-European peoples and took possession of their lands, in part... read more
Editorial Assessment
All the tips, ideas and advice given to, and requested by, MA students in Media and Communications, are brought together in an easy-to-use accessible guide to help students study most effectiv... read more
Proofreading Indexing
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
The Oxford History of World Cinema is the most authoritative, up-to-date history of the Cinema ever undertaken. It traces the history of the twentieth-century's most enduringly popular enterta... read more
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review

Andrew has 55 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

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Patricia B.

Patricia B.

Sep, 2024

Pinned
Andrew is the most thorough reviewer I have used. His publisher's perspective leads me to write a query with the most impact. I am eager to put his suggestions into my various approaches to agents and publishers. He has a subtle yet practical approach, and I enjoyed working with him.
Stephen A.

Stephen A.

Jul, 2024

Pinned
Professional, erudite, capable. Critical without being unfair, had one eye on the 'commercial viability' of the whole book which was much appreciated. Andrew was punctual and gave me precisely what I asked for. Strongly recommend for those who need the sensibilities of a commercial editor at Re...
Read more
Alison H.

Alison H.

Jun, 2024

Pinned
Andrew has given me a focused guide to submitting my manuscript. His targeted approach shows his background knowledge of the industry and has been particularly helpful to me as a novice author. He responded promptly to all messages, was clear with his requirements and finished my project on time ...
Read more
Fabiana F.

Fabiana F.

Feb, 2025

The Best! As always, Andrew continues to be the ideal adviser to have on my publishing journey. Thank you so much!
Uriel M.

Uriel M.

Dec, 2024

Andrew's quality of work was excellent, and he put more effort into it than I expected. I received a long, detailed report that is very helpful.

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