The best book editors for hire in the United Kingdom

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Editor/Writer with more than 20 years of experience in educational publishing, magazines, technical and web.

Genres: Children’s Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, Education & Reference, Math & Science, Writing & Publishing, Children's, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, History, and Humanities & Social Sciences.

Work experience:

  • Macmillan UK
  • Multimedia Communications, Singapore
  • Marshall Cavendish, Singapore
  • Educational Publishing House, Singapore
  • Horizon Knowledge Solutions Pte Ltd, Singapore
  • Shing Lee Publishers Pte Ltd, Singapore
  • Chacon Publishing Inc, Calgary, Canada
  • Self-employed

Tom 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

Highly experienced academic and educational book editor, previously worked as Senior Book Production Editor for a leading publishing house.

Genres: Business & Management, Non-Fiction, Psychology, Humanities & Social Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, & Dentistry, Math & Science, Political Science & Current Affairs, Sociology, Education & Reference, and History.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • SAGE

Lucy 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

Editor with 9+ years experience developing projects for leading publishers, dedicated to guiding first-time authors.

Genres: Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits, Non-Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Nature, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Sex & Relationships, Historical Fiction, Fiction, and Biographies & Memoirs.

Work experience:

  • Bloomsbury Publishing
  • The Siren Press
  • Watkins Publishing
  • Pan Macmillan
  • Hachette

Emily 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

A Bookseller Rising Star and commercial fiction editor with 12 years editing experience at Penguin Random House, Hachette and HarperCollins

Genres: Mystery & Crime, Fiction, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Fantasy, and Historical Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Quercus (Hachette UK)
  • Ebury & Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
  • Orion Publishing (Hachette UK)
  • Avon (HarperCollins)
  • Boldwood Books

Bryony 5 star rating

England, United Kingdom

Traditionally published biographer now editing memoirs, health, thrillers, SFF, historical + contemporary fiction. 20+ years in publishing.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, Mystery & Crime, Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Thriller & Suspense, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Contemporary Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Atomic Partnership Limited

Elizabeth 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

I am a freelance editor with over eighteen years experience. My skills include developmental editing, copy editing and proof reading.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Picture Books, Children's, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Fantasy, and Thriller & Suspense.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Parragon
  • Robert Hale, Ltd.
  • Hodder and Stoughton

Maartje 5 star rating

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Experienced and friendly non-fiction editor with a passion for bringing your research and ideas to a wide audience. **AVAILABLE AFTER JUNE

Genres: History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Non-Fiction, Writing & Publishing, Art, Biographies & Memoirs, and Nature.

Work experience:

  • Freelance
  • Cambridge University Press

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Mike 5 star rating

Colchester, United Kingdom

A publisher and editor with over 20 years of experience, helping authors craft the best manuscripts and proposals possible.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Political Science & Current Affairs, Religion & Spirituality, Historical Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, and Philosophy.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Profile Books
  • Simon & Schuster UK
  • Bloomsbury Publishing

Nicky 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

Developmental editor specialising in women's commercial fiction, crime and thrillers. 20 years' experience. Book agent at WGM Atlantic.

Genres: Women's Fiction, Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Psychological Thriller, Thriller & Suspense, Legal Thriller, Dark Romance, and Romance.

Work experience:

  • Constable & Robinson
  • Headline Publishing Group
  • Transworld
  • The Orion Publishing Group
  • Self-employed

Colm 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

Freelance developmental editor, with a focus on thriller and contemporary fiction, memoir non-fiction, and LGBTQ+ writing.

Genres: LGBTQ Fiction, Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, LGBTQ Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Contemporary Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Self-Employed
  • RateSetter

Julia 5 star rating

Cambridge, United Kingdom

I am an editor and writer with a mission to make everything I work on the best it can be. I specialise in non-fiction and children's books.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Non-Fiction, Nature, Middle Grade, Children's, Fantasy, and Education & Reference.

Work experience:

  • Reader's Digest
  • Macmillan Children's Books
  • HarperCollins Children's Books
  • Penguin Books, Ltd.
  • Harcourt Education
  • Orpheus Books
  • Self-employed

Sarah 5 star rating

Lincoln, United Kingdom

Specialist in Romance, Crime Thrillers, YA, Paranormal, LGBTQ+ and Historical. Former Senior Editor at Bonnier with 12+ years' experience.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, LGBTQ Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Women's Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Historical Romance, Psychological Thriller, and Thriller & Suspense.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Totally Entwined Group (Bonnier Publishing)

Jenny 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

Experienced editor of writing for children and adults (fiction, non-fiction, picture books, novelties) through all stages of editing.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Picture Books, Children's, Middle Grade, Children’s Non-Fiction, and Non-Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Hot Key Books
  • Walker Books

Deborah 5 star rating

Bexley, Kent, United Kingdom

Crime/thriller, romance & literary fiction editing for indie authors and publishers

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Romance, and Mystery & Crime.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed

Niall 5 star rating

London, United Kingdom

I focus on non-fiction development editing and editorial assessment. History, economics. business, 'big ideas'. Best-selling author and PhD.

Genres: Business & Management, Non-Fiction, Economics, Humanities & Social Sciences, History, Philosophy, Political Science & Current Affairs, Sociology, Finance & Accounting, and Math & Science.

Work experience:

  • London School of Economics & University of Warwick
  • Freelance
  • ThinkWrite
  • Economist Intelligence Unit

Hannah 5 star rating

Oxford, United Kingdom

An editor with expertise in children's books, literacy and artwork design, I’ve worked with authors such as Julia Donaldson and Terry Deary.

Genres: Middle Grade, Children's, Fiction, Picture Books, Comics & Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Literary Fiction, Children’s Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, Education & Reference, Comics Non-Fiction, and ELT.

Work experience:

  • Pearson Plc
  • Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
  • Oxford University Press
  • Hamilton Trust
  • HarperCollins Publishers
  • Camel Publishing Ltd.
  • BBC
  • Oxford Inspires
  • Blue Tutors
  • University of Oxford
  • Forge Media, University of Sheffield

Chris 5 star rating

Exeter, United Kingdom

I am an experienced copy- and developmental editor specialising in Business, IT and Physical Sciences for authors, academics and publishers.

Genres: Business & Management, Non-Fiction, Computers & Internet, Engineering, Math & Science, Music, Humanities & Social Sciences, Physics & Chemistry, Technology, Photography, and Economics.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Sophron Partners
  • McKinsey & Co.
  • Cambridge Consultants

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Hire the best book editors in the UK

Finished writing your book, and wondering what you should do next? After you’ve done as thorough a self-edit as you can, you’ll be looking to hire a book editor in the UK or beyond.

It can be a little tricky to know what kind of editing you need, but a good choice for anyone who’s unsure is to partner up with someone who specializes in editorial assessments. This takes the form of an overview of your manuscript that will tell you where you should focus your editing efforts. These types of editors aren’t usually too expensive, yet they can be invaluable to your project. After all, if you have no idea what’s wrong with your book, how can you make a plan to remedy it? If you’re ready to dive deep into everything that may not be working with your manuscript, a developmental edit is the most thorough editorial process, which will delve into both big picture elements and issues within individual chapters. For a more surface-level polish, a copy edit or proofread will help guide an already edited book to the final stage of publication, removing any remaining errors or inconsistencies.

To hire a book editor in the UK, simply sign up to Reedsy and start browsing through our editing professionals today.

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Step 3

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