Grace Menary-Winefield

Grace Menary-Winefield – Editor

Fantasy || Mystery || Dystopian — 10+ years at Big Five and indies with NYT, USA Today, and Sunday Times bestsellers.

Overview

I relish stories that are surprising and pull me into a new world, idea, or concept! I particularly love working on adventures (gothic, science-fiction, horror, fantasy), mysteries (I am a puzzle fanatic, and I will always try to solve it before the big reveal!), and the romantasy genre across YA, new adult, and adult. It's a pleasure to pick apart and help you enrich your world-building, whether that be your magical systems, royal hierarchies, or dystopian/post-apocalyptic society break-downs.

My portfolio includes international bestsellers THE RADIUM GIRLS by Kate Moore, Stuart Turton’s THE 7 1/2 DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE, and SANCTUARY by VV James (adapted into an amc+ original series). Additionally, I acquired the indie horror powerhouse Darcey Coates and Kelly Mustian's THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE before turning freelance, and it would be wonderful to work on similar projects. I hope you'll look at a sampling of my projects below to see the wide range of genres I've covered across the industry.

Please note that for some Piatkus projects (Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, Lia Riley, etc.), they might reflect as their US counterpart.

Depending on what your aim is (traditionally-published, self-published, agent submission, the sheer joy of writing), my advice and mark-ups will vary. But ideally for everyone, our working relationship and the project's editorial journey should be fun! It's an edit, but it's also a discussion with lots of questions, challenges, and discoveries. I never aim to change your voice, and at the end of the day, this is your book -- not my own.

I'm currently not considering projects which utilize generative AI -- thank you!

Services
Fiction
Mystery & Crime Paranormal Romance Post-Apocalyptic Romantic Fantasy Time Travel
Languages
English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

JMH Scouting

Oct, 2019 — Jan, 2021 (about 1 year)
At this literary scouting agency, I was assigned most of the commercial submissions to read and assess for the market. More often that not, thrillers and mysteries found their way to my desk, and I might have read every single combination of whodunnit conceived (until I read yours, of course!)

Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen

Jan, 2015 — Sep, 2019 (over 4 years)
In my five years at Sourcebooks, I touched various genres including narrative nonfiction, mystery, horror, personal development, and fantasy. I am particularly proud of Kate Moore's THE RADIUM GIRLS and the impact it had on bringing a hidden tragedy and the women's incredible courage into the light. The twisty world of Stuart Turton was another project that kept everyone guessing -- editing his speculative mysteries was like a puzzle in more ways than one!

Piatkus (Little, Brown Book Group)

Jan, 2012 — Jan, 2015 (almost 3 years)
I worked on the UK publications of romance and fantasy superheroes Julia Quinn, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Karina Halle, Christine Feehan, and others with proofreads to anglicize for UK markets and providing numerous editorial assessments during the submission process.

Portfolio

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Turton, Stuart

Sourcebooks Landmark

Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing
Styxx (The Dark-Hunter World)

Kenyon, Sherrilyn

Piatkus

Proofreading
The Girl from Rawblood: A Novel

Ward, Catriona

Poisoned Pen Press

Editorial Assessment
The Girls in the Stilt House: A Novel

Mustian, Kelly

Sourcebooks Landmark

Editorial Assessment
The End of the World Running Club

Walker, Adrian J.

Sourcebooks Landmark

Editorial Assessment
The Devil and the Dark Water

Turton, Stuart

Sourcebooks Landmark

Editorial Assessment
Editorial Assessment
Dark Wolf ('Dark' Carpathian)

Feehan, Christine

Piatkus

Proofreading
Developmental Editing Copy Editing
Editorial Assessment
Son of No One (The Dark-Hunter World)

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Piatkus Books

Proofreading
After She Wrote Him

Gentill, Sulari

Poisoned Pen Press

Proofreading
Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World

McAlary, Brooke

Sourcebooks

Proofreading
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Ninety Days In The 90s

Frye, Andy

Atmosphere Press

Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Query Letter Review
Her Perfect Life: A Novel of Sisters and Secrets

Taylor, Rebecca

Sourcebooks Landmark

Developmental Editing
Copy Editing Editorial Assessment
Darkhouse

Halle, Karina

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Proofreading
Upside Down: Off the Map 1

Riley, Lia

Piatkus

Proofreading
The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green

Boyce, Erica

Sourcebooks Landmark

Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing

Grace has 11 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Aimee M.

Aimee M.

May, 2026

Pinned
Working with Grace has been one of the best decisions I've made for my manuscript and for myself as a writer. She is both sharp and genuinely enthusiastic for the work. She caught things I hadn't seen, but just as importantly, she confirmed things I felt but was unsure about. That second part mat...
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Kingsley L.

Kingsley L.

Mar, 2026

Pinned
Grace is amazing. Full stop. Her feedback and suggestions have pushed my manuscript into the "I think I might get agented" category (not kidding). She identified places where the emotional beats were missing or where my characters were overreacting. She asked thoughtful questions about my wor...
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Sigurd H.

Sigurd H.

Mar, 2026

Pinned
Grace is amazing. I feel like anything else I follow up with will lessen this fact. She is quick. She is dependable. She's encouraging but also critical (in a fair way) and is easy to get a hold of. I will definitely be knocking on her door when my next project is ready.
Sigurd H.

Sigurd H.

Sep, 2026

Grace... Grace... Grace... what to say about Grace. You're going to find reliable and dependable people on here with years of experience, but what I found was not just someone who was willing to work on my book but someone who has become almost my partner in crime, my sidekick, my cheer squad. ...
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Aimee M.

Aimee M.

Sep, 2026

I did not one, but two rounds of developmental edits with Grace, and the second was just as valuable as the first, if not more. Her level of detail is incredible, catching things I never would have noticed on my own, and her feedback pushes you to think harder about every choice, tightening the m...
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Most recent contributions

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There are many things to look out for when choosing a literary agent, but if I were to highlight only one it would be: choose a literary agent who knows, understands, and actually enjoys your genre of book. Most agents represent a few different genres; however, some have an almost laughably mass...
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What are the most common mistakes authors make in their query letters, and how can they improve them?

One of the biggest mistakes I see in query letters is using super comparison titles. Sure, your romantasy book series could be similar to Sarah J. Maas or Rebecca Yaros! Your thriller is the next Frieda McFadden or Gillian Flynn; however, so is everyone else's. You need to show that you can think...
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