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Home > United States > Book Editors > Biographies & Memoir
Jessica

Jessica 5 star rating

Jacksonville, United States

Award-winning freelance editor Jessica provides practical, marketable revision advice to clients on all six habitable continents.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, Historical Fiction, Fiction, LGBTQ Fiction, Women's Fiction, LGBTQ Non-Fiction, and Self-Help & Self-Improvement.

Work experience:

  • Writers House
  • St. Martin's Press
  • Fox Literary LLC
  • Self-employed
View Jessica's full profile
Eva

Eva 5 star rating

San Marcos, United States

Twenty-five years of experience as a copy / line editor, primarily in science, for university, museum, and association presses.

Genres: History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Non-Fiction, Nature, Earth, Space, & Environmental Sciences, Math & Science, Life Sciences, Geography, Writing & Publishing, and Biographies & Memoirs.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
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Rachel

Rachel 5 star rating

New York, United States

Literary agent turned editor of fiction & select memoir where narratives and protagonists have distinct, identifiable voices.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Humor & Comedy, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Middle Grade, and Children's.

Work experience:

  • Dystel & Goderich Literary Management
  • Self-employed
View Rachel's full profile
Matthew

Matthew 5 star rating

New York, United States

Editor and writing coach specializing in literary fiction, thrillers, memoir and other narrative nonfiction, business books, and self-help.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Business & Management, Short Story, Mystery & Crime, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Science Fiction, and Thriller & Suspense.

Work experience:

  • Graduate Writing Program, Columbia University
  • Self-employed
View Matthew's full profile
Emily

Emily 5 star rating

New York, United States

Bestselling nonfiction book editor. Formerly at Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and Callisto Media.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Business & Management, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, True Crime, Political Science & Current Affairs, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Earth, Space, & Environmental Sciences, Math & Science, and Sports & Outdoors.

Work experience:

  • Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, Macmillan
  • Portfolio/Sentinel/Current, Penguin Random House
View Emily's full profile
Lynsey

Lynsey 5 star rating

Missoula, United States

(She/they.) Over a decade of in-house and freelance editorial work for Big 5 publishers & private clients across genres.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Women's Fiction, Science Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Cozy Mysteries, Mystery & Crime, Young Adult Fantasy, Young Adult, Biographies & Memoirs, and Non-Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Fordham University Press
  • City College of New York
  • Skadden-Arps Legal Studies Program at City College of New York
  • WHACK! Magazine
  • Penguin Group (USA)
  • Self-employed
  • Penguin Random House
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Barbara

Barbara 5 star rating

Washington, DC, United States

After working as a nonfiction book editor for years at NatGeo, I know the ins and outs of publishing from ideation to final proofing.

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

Work experience:

  • National Geographic Society
  • Self-employed
View Barbara's full profile

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Anne

Anne 5 star rating

New York, United States

Experienced freelance book editor with a particular interest in literary fiction and memoir.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Women's Fiction, Fiction, Psychology, Humanities & Social Sciences, Short Story, Coming of Age, and Literary Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press
  • Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agency
  • Library Journal
  • Freelance
View Anne's full profile
Stephen

Stephen 5 star rating

Maplewood, United States

Top editor for 30+ years, novelist, sf/f story writer, poet. Specializes in NF and SF/F. I'll help you write a book you're proud of. No AI.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Business & Management, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Sports & Outdoors, and Science Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Avon Books
  • Wiley
  • Amacom
  • Thomas Dunne Books
View Stephen's full profile
Erik

Erik 5 star rating

Minneapolis, MN, United States

Editor with years of in-house experience. Founder of a literary agency. Writer. Host of Print Run Podcast.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Career Guides, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Nature, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Children's, Sports & Outdoors, Life Sciences, and Math & Science.

Work experience:

  • Red Sofa Literary Agency
  • Self-employed
  • The Overlook Press
  • Oxford University Press
  • Headwater Literary Management
View Erik's full profile
Fran

Fran 5 star rating

New York, United States

Results driven editor, formerWriters House Bridgerton agent, edited major award winners, working from slush pile to success in publishing.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Women's Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Fantasy, Thriller & Suspense, Historical Romance, and Romance.

Work experience:

  • Writers House
  • youbloom music festival
View Fran's full profile
Elisabeth

Elisabeth 5 star rating

Iowa City, IA, United States

Award-winning and New York Times bestselling editor of nonfiction and memoir.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, Nature, Travel, Entertainment, Sex & Relationships, Sports & Outdoors, and Religion & Spirituality.

Work experience:

  • University of Iowa Press
  • University of Nebraska Press
  • Self-employed
View Elisabeth's full profile
Katie

Katie 5 star rating

New York, NY, United States

Nonfiction editor with an intuitive knack for storytelling & published author who has seen the industry from every possible angle

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Business & Management, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Self-Help & Self-Improvement.

Work experience:

  • Amazon Publishing
  • HarperCollins Publishers
  • Book of the Month
  • William & Park
  • Audible
  • Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House
View Katie's full profile
Andrew

Andrew 5 star rating

San Diego, CA, United States

Former New York trade editor of thrillers, mysteries, science fiction and fantasy, horror, and narrative and military nonfiction/history.

Genres: Action & Adventure, Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, History, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Entertainment.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Company Name Redacted. Please contact through Reedsy for editorial service.
  • Berkley Publishing Group, Donald I Fine, Inc, Dell, Avon and Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
  • Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency, Inc.
  • The Berkley Publishing Group
View Andrew's full profile
Adaobi

Adaobi 5 star rating

Bronx, NY, United States

I offer services in proofreading and copyediting for all genres, developmental editing of nonfiction, and project management.

Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Computers & Internet, Technology, Health & Wellbeing, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, and Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits.

Work experience:

  • John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  • Manuscript Coordinator
  • Self-employed
  • Hachette Book Group
  • McGraw-Hill Education
  • Apress
  • Project Lead The Way
View Adaobi's full profile
Michael

Michael 5 star rating

St. Louis, MO, United States

Editor of award-winning literature and NYT bestsellers, with 13 years' experience at Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and Hachette.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Biographies & Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, Action & Adventure, Horror, Thriller & Suspense, Psychology, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Young Adult.

Work experience:

  • The Laryngoscope Journal
  • Self-employed
  • Graphic World, Inc
  • Penguin Random House
View Michael's full profile
Jerry

Jerry 5 star rating

Live Oak, FL, United States

An editor with more than 20 years of experience in books, covering a variety of genres in fiction and nonfiction.

Genres: Political Science & Current Affairs, Humanities & Social Sciences, Non-Fiction, Action & Adventure, Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Science Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, and Biographies & Memoirs.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
View Jerry's full profile

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Hire the best biography and memoir book editors

Getting your facts straight while writing a novel is tough enough — but doing the same for a biography or a memoir is even tougher. How are you, for instance, supposed to fact-check every single detail about someone else’s life if you’re writing a biography? And if you’re writing a memoir, how are you supposed to know if your own life forms a coherent, satisfying story?

Enter every memoirist or biographer’s best friend, a biography or memoir editor. These editors have the knowledge and experience needed to take a rough draft and help you turn it into a manuscript that sings with life and heart. They can draw from their deep knowledge of the memoir and biography genres, seeing how your work can fit into the market, what readers will expect to find in the story you’re writing, and whether there are any issues with the way you’ve gone about it. Their guidance and expertise can help take your manuscript to the next level, as they can provide edits on big-picture elements as well as proofread all of your words, one at a time.

Hire the best biography and memoir editors in the industry are right here on Reedsy. We vet our editors very carefully, ensuring they’ve got the expertise and experience with esteemed publishers needed to guide their clients to success. Sign up for a free account to browse our editors’ profiles, read through their resumes, and reach out to request a quote today.

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