Overview
I have 14 years of publishing experience, including in-house as Commissioning Editor for Psychology at the prestigious Cambridge University Press (8 years) and Development Editor for the textbook giant, Pearson (2 years). I now work with publishers including Oxford University Press, Collins, SAGE and Pearson and work directly with authors.
I’ve worked on a range of books from illustrated, feature-rich school textbooks through to highly in-depth academic books. My core subjects are psychology, linguistics, sociology, education, law, business studies and economics. I would also be delighted to hear from authors writing in my areas of personal interest: walking, nature, gardening, baking, crafts, sewing and language learning (in my case, German). As a mother of two young daughters, I’m particularly interested in any of these topics in relation to children or families and also children’s non-fiction more broadly.
With a development edit, I will provide honest, but sensitive, feedback, helping you to develop an appropriate writing style and level for your target audience, a coherent structure and, where suitable, engaging and effective features. I will help you ensure consistency, clarity and interest. With a line edit/substantive edit, I will do the same but also reword and restructure parts of your text (while retaining your style) to help you achieve these aims.
Testimonials:
"I owe a huge debt to Hetty for her close reading of my text combined with her finely honed ability to stand back from it and see just what additions and adjustments it needed."
Susan Sugarman, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
"Hetty is a joy to work with. … She is reliable, can be depended on to meet deadlines, is clear in her communication, highly organised, and has an excellent attention to detail. … She is responsible, thorough, and extremely conscientious about ensuring high quality content. I would highly recommend Hetty for any similar projects."
Lucy Cooper, Commissioning Editor, Collins Learning
Services
Non-Fiction
Languages
Certifications
- Rewriting and Substantive Editing (Non-Fiction) (The Publishing Training Centre)
- Commissioning and List Management (The Publishing Training Centre)
- Managing Publishing Strategy (The Publishing Training Centre)
- First-class degree in Psychology, University of Cambridge
Work experience
Self-employed
I work with authors and top textbook and academic publishing companies including Collins, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Pearson and SAGE. Recent projects include development editing and substantive/line editing school and university textbooks in fields such as psychology, business studies, law, economics, linguistics and sociology.
Cambridge University Press
• Commissioned textbooks, scholarly trade books, reference works, monographs, edited books and electronic resources.
• Negotiated contracts and developed strong relationships with a wide range of scholars from new authors to top names in psychology.
• Managed extensive backlist, including transforming new editions of textbooks and handbooks to increase sales, reviving successful monograph series and working with colleagues to maximise sales potential for backlist titles.
• Delivered engaging and effective presentations of new projects to sales, marketing and senior management.
• Wrote persuasive copy for a variety of audiences.
Pearson
Developed high-profile university textbooks and associated online resources in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, politics, law, education, nursing, business studies and economics. Project management, market research, reading manuscripts, author coaching.
Portfolio
