Craig Hillsley – Editor

I have edited a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, the most prominent being Graeme Macrae Burnet's "Case Study" and "His Bloody Project", both nominated for the Booker Prize. The books that I’ve worked on (for a variety of UK publishers) have won or been shortlisted for more than eighty major literary awards, including the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Wainwright Prize and the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown.

As Editorial Director of the award-winning independent publisher Saraband, I was named as a Bookseller Rising Star, and I’m particularly adept at editing historical, literary and crime fiction, as well as memoirs, nature writing and narrative non-fiction.

My strength is establishing fruitful working relationships with authors, be it on the overall development of manuscripts or detailed copy edits. A dozen years of editing experience has taught me to help writers hone the technical aspects of their writing and attain the essential balance needed in any manuscript: achieving commercial viability whilst preserving the author’s artistic vision.

Testimonials:

“I have always found Craig to be a sympathetic and insightful editor, sensitive to what I am trying to achieve as a writer. He has an incredible attention to detail both in terms of fact checking and in the appropriate use of language. I would recommend him wholeheartedly.” Graeme Macrae Burnet, Booker-nominated author

“Craig is an excellent editor. He possessed the skill, vision, tact and sensitivity that was required to help me edit my first novel, and he deserves a great deal of credit for the warmth of the reception the work received on its publication.” Donald S Murray – author of As the Women Lay Dreaming, winner of the Society of Authors’ Paul Torday Memorial Prize, 2020