Brett Hardman - Editor

Author Endorsements


Brett completed the first formal edit of We Used to be Kings. Her attention to detail was immeasurable and her advice invaluable. Somehow she managed to view the book from the dual perspective of the writer and reader, knowing that what one hasn’t done, the other may desire. I’m so grateful for her honest opinion and the level of understanding of my writing that led me to add layers and depth I didn’t know were there. Thanks for the faith and the push when I needed it. I got there in the end.—Stewart Foster, author of We Used to Be Kings, published by Jonathan Cape


Brett provided invaluable critical assistance while I was writing After Everything. She has a way of asking just the right questions and suggesting just the right changes that make all the difference to a manuscript. A terrific editor both for the fine details and the big picture.—Suellen Dainty, author of After Everything, published by Atria/Simon and Schuster in the USA and the UK and by Picador in Australia and New Zealand


When I was preparing my initial sample submission for The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones, which was later picked up by a leading literary agency, Brett was the only editor to whom I was happy to entrust my work. Brett had an intuitive and clear sense of exactly what I was trying to achieve, and like all the best editors, she was keen to bring out the essence of my vision without imposing her own. Her willingness to engage sympathetically with the difficult task of editing the archaic and complex language of my novel was extremely impressive and her comments always insightful. I am sure that the development and eventual publishing success of my novel owes a great deal to Brett’s early editorial assistance.—Jack Wolf, author of The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones, published by Chatto & Windus


Brett Hardman is an editor of the first order. It’s never easy giving up your manuscript to someone else, but I knew immediately that I was in good hands with Brett. She read quickly and incisively, articulating the problems facing my characters better than I was able to myself. She dismantled problematic areas, showed me where things weren’t working, then helped me build the narrative back up again so that it read more fluently. As the very best editors do, she understood my vision for the novel and worked to help me to achieve it. I couldn’t have written The Fever Tree without her, and would recommend her without hesitation.—Jennifer McVeigh, author of The Fever Tree, published by Viking


I am not only impressed by Brett’s own writing talent and by her extraordinary intellect, but by the great insight she offers in analysing writers’ work. As an author I have worked with many editors, and I have never met an editor with Brett’s instinct and talent. When I called on her to help edit a novel in preparation for publication, I did so because I wanted my work to be in safe hands. I was not disappointed. I would unreservedly recommend Brett as a manuscript editor to both published and unpublished writers. She is a professional, sensitive and incisive editor, and she cares deeply about writing and writers.—Kylie Fitzpatrick, author of Tapestry, The Ninth Stone and The Silver Thread, published by Head of Zeus