Anna Jean

Anna Jean – Editor

Award-winning editor and publisher with a near-obsessive eye and over fifteen years experience in the industry.

Overview

Stories are magical, they have the ability to transport. Whether it be to some bizarre gaseous planet in an alien solar system, the myxo-riddled mind of a rabbit, or a trailer park in Iowa – I want to go there. My role is simply to make that journey as seamless as possible.

In my formative years I worked as a Big Five editor and at some of the best literary agencies in Britain, but traditional publishing can be rather... dry, so I've spent the past ten years building The Pigeonhole, a social reading platform with the aim of bringing authors and readers together via the digital pages of their book. In 2015 I was named Bookseller's Rising Star and was also shortlisted for the Digital Achiever Award. Most recently I have been working with Pan Macmillan and Head of Zeus, while offering my services as a freelance mentor with TLC and Next Up. As such I would be thrilled to discuss a mentoring schedule via Reedsy.

I am a very hands-on editor. l'm here to help you to map your plot and perfect your characters, highlight any issues and inconsistencies, and work on language and speech. I will also strive to pick out spelling, formatting and grammatical errors along the way. The purpose of my services is to help you see your book through a reader's eyes, as well as understand how to communicate each thought perfectly. In addition to providing notes on your book, I like to get a meeting or a call in the diary to discuss the direction of the edit at the end of the project, just to ensure that you are confident with the next steps for your book.

This is a partnership and I want you to be as involved in the process as I am.

FEEDBACK
"Anna's editing encompasses a keen eye for technical detail and a passion for narrative and message. Her enthusiastic input helps the writer tell their story in the most effective manner possible, and she always keeps two things in the forefront of the process – what the writer is trying to convey, and what the reader is going to experience. She is an exceptional editor and a pleasure to work with."
Ian Green, author of The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath

"Anna has been invaluable in helping me get my second novel ready for submission. Highly experienced and deeply insightful, she has the unerring ability to ask the right questions, call out half-baked thoughts and uncover a book’s best self from its early-draft mess. She’s given me some absolutely spot-on suggestions for how to streamline my structure, clarify my characters and superpower my stakes, and has made herself endlessly available to chew over ideas and thoughts. She’s also warm, kind, (very) funny and a total joy to spend time with. I cannot recommend hard enough."
Molly Flatt, author of The Charmed Life of Alex Moore

Services
Fiction
Fantasy Horror Literary Fiction Science Fiction Short Story Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction
Languages
English (UK) English (US)
Awards
  • Rising Star

Work experience

The Bookseller

Oct, 2018 — Nov, 2018 (about 1 month)

In 2018 I judged, edited and published the Bookseller's first ever short story competition. The five winning finalists were then launched onto the Pigeonhole. The winner of the competition was interviewed by me on a panel with Aki Schilz (The Literary Consultancy), Natasha Bardon (Harper Voyager) and Anwen Hoosen (The Bird Literary Agency) at the FutureBook Conference. The winner is currently writing his second novel and has already been offered representation on the back of this win.

The Pigeonhole

Apr, 2014 — Present

I have spent the past five years building the number one social reading platform in Britain. We have honed the tech, built a team and serialised over one hundred books through the platform, including novels by Sophie Kinsella, Jeffrey Archer and Susan Lewis, as well as the Caine and Wellcome Prize shortlists. Our job is to build an online presence for all of our books, while acting as a soap box for authors to discuss their ideas through the pages of their book.

Peters, Fraser & Dunlop

Jan, 2013 — Apr, 2014 (about 1 year)

- Negotiated and constructed contracts contracts
- Read and edited manuscripts in preparation for submission to publishers
- Offered structured reading reports
- Worked on a list of over fifty authors

Random House

Apr, 2009 — Dec, 2012 (over 3 years)

ASSISTANT EDITOR at Arrow, Windmill & Hammer Horror
- Commissioned and acquired titles for both the commercial and horror imprints, including Tim Lebbon
- Created a YA crossover list within Arrow with six acquisitions in six months.
- Commissioned established authors for the Hammer novella scheme
- Contracts negotiations
- Oversaw the Hammer straight-to-digital list
- Agent negotiations
- Cover briefing
- Copyedit and proofread checks
- Structural editing
- Author care
- Creation of AIs and initial marketing plans
- Biblio management

Curtis Brown

Sep, 2008 — Apr, 2009 (7 months)

Portfolio

Becky

May, Sarah

Hunger

Melvin Burgess

When Beth wakes up one morning covered in dirt, she puts it down to an extreme case of sleep-walking. But when reports of a desecrated grave start to circulate, her night-time wanderings take on a sinister air.Soon the city is being plagued by strange sighting... read more
Codename: Ubiquity

Devore, Wendy

Coldbrook

Tim Lebbon

‘Lebbon is quite simply the most exciting new name in horror for years.’ – SFX MagazineTHE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT HAS CHANGED FOREVER THE REASON IS COLDBROOKThe facility lay deep in Appalachian Mountains, a secret laboratory called Coldbrook. Its scientists had a... read more
No Be From Hia

Kalulu Banda, Natasha Omokhodion-

Fragments of Youth

Williams, Richard

Dance Prone

Coventry, David

The Bitter Trade

Alexander, Piers

Anna has 20 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Allison R.

Allison R.

Jul, 2023

Anna was so easy to work with and gave me many great suggestions in my developmental edit. So much to think about! My manuscript will be so much stronger after I've made my changes.
Peter M.

Peter M.

May, 2023

I hired Anna for an editorial assessment and my experience working with her was unreservedly positive. She is highly astute, puts her finger with care and respect on issues, explains herself very well, and was a complete pleasure to communicate with both in emails and in our lengthy zoom (generous with her time in both). She was sensitive to areas where we had disagreement (and there will alway...
Read more
Anna J.
Peter, thank you so much for your lovely comments. It was a joy to work with you and I'm looking forward to doing so again.
Stefano S.

Stefano S.

Jun, 2022

It was an absolute pleasure working with Anna! At every stage of our collaboration I found her to be encouraging, creative, thoughtful, and tough when needed - all qualities that make a great editor. She highlighted some major issues I had with characters and repetitions that I had not noticed while at the same time showing me where I excelled. I loved bouncing around ideas with her and it o...
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Elena K.

Elena K.

May, 2022

Anna is a joy to collaborate with. Not only is she detail-oriented but she has the expertise to find thematic links in my writing (a short story collection) and offer creative suggestions, pull on the threads not quite working and hone in on the strengths on the page and the possibilities to enhance my work. I'm so grateful having her expertise and feel in excellent hands. She went beyond my ex...
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JL L.

JL L.

Mar, 2022

Working with Anna was absolutely fantastic! Her edits and suggestions helped me elevate my manuscript and gave me a lot to work with. She is easy to communicate with and attentive to the writer's goals and vision.

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