Faith Black Ross

Faith Black Ross – Editor

Insightful, collaborative editing from an award-winning NYC editor with 20 years experience, formerly of Penguin Random House.

Overview

With 20 years of experience in commercial and trade publishing, I use my wide variety of editorial skills as a freelance editor on both fiction and non-fiction projects. I have worked on everything from cozy mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, and women's fiction, to true crime, pop culture, and academic textbooks. Regardless of the genre, what is most important is my relationship with the author. I pride myself on strong working relationships with all of my authors and on not changing the author's voice. It's your book, I'm just here to make it better. And that's a collaborative process. And a fun one, at that. I will help you fine tune your work until it's exactly how you want it, through an engaging (and hopefully fun) editorial process.

Services
Fiction
Cozy Mysteries Historical Fiction Historical Mysteries Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction
Languages
English (CAN) English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

Crooked Lane Books

May, 2016 — Present

Severn House

Jan, 2015 — May, 2016 (over 1 year)

Berkley Publishing Group - Penguin Group USA

Aug, 2009 — Oct, 2014 (about 5 years)

Editor handling high volumes of fiction and non-fiction including award-winning mysteries, historical fiction, and true crime, cookbooks, and pop culture non-fiction.

Avalon Books

Dec, 2006 — Aug, 2009 (over 2 years)

Editor in charge of editorial department producing 60 fiction titles/year in the genres of romance, mystery, and Western.

Self-employed

May, 2006 — Present

Cambridge University Press

Apr, 2005 — Dec, 2006 (over 1 year)

Assistant to two humanities and social sciences editors, handling everything from academic monographs to textbooks.

Portfolio

Developmental Editing
Minus Me: A Novel

Medwed, Mameve

Developmental Editing
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Developmental Editing
2018 Next Generation Indie Book Award Winner!Eerie, intense, and masterfully-crafted, Hank Early’s gripping series debut Heaven’s Crooked Finger transports readers to a secretive community in ... read more
Developmental Editing
Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin'. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?In winter, the Haunted Li... read more
Developmental Editing
When a young nurse dies on her watch, Florence Nightingale must uncover the deep-hidden secrets someone will kill to keep buried.It is 1853. Lady of the Lamp Florence Nightingale has just acce... read more
Developmental Editing
Herbalist and widow Bess Ellyott tries to escape the loss of her husband in Elizabethan London only to find that death is following her, and she may very well be next in Searcher of the Dead, ... read more
Developmental Editing
It’s always been Mimi Rousseau’s dream to open her own bistro, but it seems beyond her grasp since she’s been chased back home to Nouvelle Vie in Napa Valley by her late husband’s tremendous d... read more
Developmental Editing
Fleeing a disastrous love affair, university librarian Amy Webber moves in with her aunt in a quiet, historic mountain town in Virginia. She quickly busies herself with managing a charming pub... read more
Developmental Editing
It’s springtime in Savannah, Georgia, in the newest Consignment Shop Mystery from the national bestselling author of Pearls and Poison. The azaleas and magnolias are in bloom—and Walker Boone ... read more
Developmental Editing
FIRST IN THE NEW CULINARY MYSTERY SERIES!--WINNER OF THE AGATHA AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVELThe town of Jewel Bay, Montana—known as a Food Lovers' Village—is obsessed with homegrown and homemade... read more
Developmental Editing
SYNESTHESIA:A neurological condition characterized by automatic, involuntary sensory perceptions triggered by seemingly unrelated stimuli. There is something unusual about Dr. Jenna Ramey’s br... read more
Developmental Editing
MORE THAN 100 RECIPES FROMAVERY AAMES/DARYL WOOD GERBERELLERY ADAMSCONNIE ARCHERLESLIE BUDEWITZLAURA CHILDSCLEO COYLEVICTORIA HAMILTONB. B. HAYWOODJULIE HYZYJENN McKINLAYPAIGE SHELTONGreat meals don’t have to be a mystery—but they can come from a mystery. Sele... read more

Faith has 12 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Eamon B.

Eamon B.

Aug, 2021

Faith Black Ross provided good service, particularly in her initial assessment. I would have preferred some additional explanation regarding the reasoning behind some of her proposed changes and more communication from her, but overall her skills were excellent, her knowledge on the relevant topics was as well, and she provided valuable insight into improving my manuscript.
Tom M.

Tom M.

Sep, 2020

It's been a pleasure working with Faith.
Debra M.

Debra M.

Aug, 2019

First, I absolutely loved Faith’s enthusiasm. I felt like she loved my characters as much as I did and she threw herself heart and soul into making their story the very best it could be. It was terrifically motivating. My novel is written from the point of view of two heroines. Faith did a wonderful job of helping me clarify the POV transitions which immediately made the manuscript cleaner and ...
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Keith E.

Keith E.

Jul, 2019

Hiring editor Faith Black Ross for my book was an excellent investment. Always profession, she provided nothing less than several close iterative reads, adding spot-on feedback about my characters, story, usage, and consistency. She was very available to chat about her notes. Her thorough formatting adjustments left me with a clean manuscript ready for the next steps. She was timely in all comm...
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Shannon W.

Shannon W.

Jun, 2017

I enjoyed the editing process with Faith so much I'm planning another go-round. In all seriousness, she did a great job of finding issues that I hadn't thought of and encouraging me to find my own answers. Everything went very smoothly and quickly and I felt very much that I was in the hands of a skilled professional. Would highly recommend.

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