Elizabeth Ridley – Editor

I’m an author, editor, and publishing consultant with more than 25 years of experience developing books and helping authors bring their work to publication.

My editorial work focuses on book proposals, pitch packages, query letters, project positioning, and developmental editing for fiction and nonfiction. I work with authors who have strong ideas and ambitious projects and want thoughtful, experienced editorial guidance to help make those projects as compelling, distinctive, and publication-ready as possible.

As a published novelist, I understand the creative process from the inside. I’m the author of five novels from commercial publishers, including Searching for Celia, selected by The Advocate as one of its “15 Best LGBT Summer Reads.” I’ve also coauthored five published memoirs and narrative nonfiction books, most recently The Dirt Beneath Our Door: My Journey to Freedom After Escaping a Polygamous Mormon Cult, written with Pamela Jones and published by Matt Holt Books in 2025.

My professional editing experience spans fiction and nonfiction, from literary and commercial fiction to mystery, suspense and thriller, memoir, biography, and narrative nonfiction. I have worked on books published by major and independent publishers, including Kensington, McGraw Hill, Amazon Publishing, and McFarland, and have helped authors develop manuscripts, proposals, and submission materials for the traditional publishing market.

I’m particularly interested in working with established authors, journalists, subject-matter experts, and other writers with commercially promising projects. Whether I’m helping shape a book proposal, strengthen a query and pitch package, rethink a project's positioning, or provide a deep developmental edit of a manuscript, my goal is the same: to identify what makes a project distinctive and help the author bring its strongest qualities to the page.

My approach is candid, collaborative, and thorough. I’ll tell you when something isn't working, but I’ll also help you understand why—and what can be done about it. After decades of writing, editing, publishing, and receiving my own share of rejection letters, I know that good editorial guidance isn't about taking over an author's work. It's about helping the author see the book more clearly and make it stronger.