Cat Cobain – Editor

I’m a fiction editor with more than twenty years experience of commissioning, editing and publishing, at Penguin Random House (Transworld) as a Publishing Director, Hachette UK (Headline) as Associate Publisher and as a freelancer including for top publishers Bookouture and Orion Books. I moved back to my hometown in Northern Ireland a few years ago and now work entirely on a freelance basis in editorial assessment, development and structural editing. I also love working on general publishing consultations and reviewing author submission packages (agent letters, biographies and sample chapters). I enjoy a good line edit which gets a book into as polished a place as possible.

I am excited about helping authors with all of these aspects of their writing at almost any stage of the process and I am very honest about whether the service you're asking for is the best thing for your writing right now. Paying a professional editor can be a big investment and I want you to get the most useful and productive support that I can give. I find working at the developmental stage very rewarding, helping authors see when and how to move their story on to maintain page-turning pace, working on how to create drama and tension through plot hooks and turns, and how to tie everything up into a satisfying finale. I also enjoy close line editing where I can support writers to get their work to a professionally polished state.

I’ve been lucky enough to work in some of the most successful divisions of the world’s biggest publishers, working on fiction strategy and my personal passions – growing new names into established authors and helping authors to find good publishing homes and successful careers. I can't take on a huge amount of work due to existing commitments, but I'm always open to discussing a flexible approach built around what an individual writer needs.