The best developmental editors for hire near San Diego

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Annie 5 star rating

San Diego, CA, USA

I’m a literary agent w/ over 17 years of experience in the publishing industry. I work on a range of adult and YA fiction and nonfiction.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Business & Management, Non-Fiction, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, and Mystery & Crime.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Margret McBride Literary Agency
  • Zoetrope: All-Story

Lourdes 5 star rating

San Diego, CA, USA

Creative, collaborative editor, with more than 35 years of editing experience in publishing and journalism.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, African American Fiction, Anthologies, Cultural & Ethnic, Mystery & Crime, Science Fiction, and Thriller & Suspense.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • University of California, San Diego
  • Newsday
  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  • The Miami Herald
  • Chicago Tribune

Carey 5 star rating

San Rafael, CA, United States

I am an editor who loves helping authors revise and refine their work so it is clear, precise, and ready for publication.

Genres: Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits, Non-Fiction, DIY & Crafts, Health & Wellbeing, Travel, Sports & Outdoors, Parenting & Families, and Design.

Work experience:

  • Chronicle Books
  • Self-employed

Marisa 5 star rating

San Francisco, CA, USA

Marisa is a book editor specializing in women's wellness, self-improvement, and the motherhood journey.

Genres: Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Non-Fiction, Parenting & Families, Health & Wellbeing, and Sex & Relationships.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed

Carolyn 5 star rating

San Francisco, CA, USA

I'm a health & wellness editor with 15 + years of experience developing profitable content & manuscripts that educate & engage readers.

Genres: Health & Wellbeing and Non-Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Callisto Media
  • Linkwell Health

Andrew 5 star rating

San Diego, CA, United States

Experienced NYC editor. Expert in 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

Taryn 5 star rating

San Jose, CA, USA

~Query enthusiast~ Plot puzzle solver & character demystifyer. I'm here to enhance YOUR voice & vision. 10+ years in trad pub.

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

Work experience:

  • The Quarto Group
  • Disney Publishing
  • Disney Creative Entertainment
  • Self-employed
  • Andrea Brown Literary, Movable Type Management, The Bent Agency
  • KiwiCo

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Conor 5 star rating

San Francisco, CA, USA

A transplant from Hollywood, I love working w/ writers of all formats to take stories to the next level, particularly in speculative fiction

Genres: LGBTQ Fiction, Fiction, Plays & Screenplays, Young Adult Fantasy, Young Adult, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, and Humor & Comedy.

Work experience:

  • Fox Broadcasting Company
  • Original Film
  • Eleven11 Productions
  • Self-employed

Danielle 5 star rating

San Francisco, CA, USA

I help thought leaders turn their big ideas into books.

Genres: Business & Management, Non-Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Parenting & Families, Humanities & Social Sciences, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, Finance & Accounting, and Math & Science.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • IBISWorld
  • Pepperdine University

Sabine 5 star rating

San Diego, CA, USA

After more than 20 years as a newspaper writer/editor, I can make your book on food, drink, travel, and interior design come to life.

Genres: Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits, Non-Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, and Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Cox Enterprises
  • McClatchy
  • Self-employed

Chandler 5 star rating

San Francisco, CA, USA

Literary Agent at an award winning agency, specializing in idea and voice-driven narratives. Pitch, query, proposal and manuscripts edits.

Genres: Sports & Outdoors, Non-Fiction, Technology, Political Science & Current Affairs, Humanities & Social Sciences, Biographies & Memoirs, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, and Self-Help & Self-Improvement.

Work experience:

  • Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency
  • Ellevest
  • Media Assembly
  • Various

Chris 5 star rating

San Diego, CA, USA

Hi, I'm a longtime comic-book/graphic novel editor and editorial director, with 15+ years experience in helping others build their worlds.

Genres: Comics & Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics Non-Fiction, and Non-Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed

Andrea 5 star rating

Birmingham, United States

Editor and food writer with over 10 years of experience creating cookbooks on a wide range of cooking subjects.

Genres: Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits, Non-Fiction, Health & Wellbeing, and Writing & Publishing.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Time Inc Books

Bridget 5 star rating

San Francisco, CA, USA

Passionate, collaborative editor with 20+ years experience at Chronicle Books: nonfiction, art, design, creativity, illustrated, photography

Genres: Art, Humanities & Social Sciences, Non-Fiction, Photography, Inspirational, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Architecture, Entertainment, Nature, and Design.

Work experience:

  • Chronicle Books

Ray 5 star rating

Northampton, United States

Developmental editing and copy editing for the nonfiction world: health, nutrition, fitness, tech, and entrepreneurship.

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

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Winning Edits
  • Rocket Code
  • Amazon Services (Amazon.com)
  • Smart Passive Income
  • Buy Box Experts
  • The Storied Future

Gene 5 star rating

Houston, United States

Creative, experienced editor of novels, children's books, and poetry. Let's prepare your manuscript for publication together.

Genres: Action & Adventure, Fiction, LGBTQ Fiction, Middle Grade, Children's, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Poetry, and Literary Fiction.

Work experience:

  • Self-employed
  • Uptown Stories
  • Simon & Schuster
  • Scholastic
  • HarperEntertainment
  • Daniel Weiss Associates/17th Street Productions
  • Denver Quarterly
  • San Jacinto College South

Beth 5 star rating

Maineville, United States

Seasoned editor and proofreader with more than 20 years of experience in multiple genres. I have worked with several best-selling authors!

Genres: Health & Wellbeing, Non-Fiction, Action & Adventure, Fiction, Horror, Thriller & Suspense, LGBTQ Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Self-Help & Self-Improvement, Science Fiction, and Dystopian.

Work experience:

  • Self-Employed

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Hire the best developmental editors in San Diego, California

You may be asking, what’s a developmental editor and why should I hire one? While most editors are known for correcting grammar and punctuation, these editors will work with you to fix up everything from the structure of your story to plot holes and characterization — all while keeping you positive and motivated. They may suggest re-writes or recommend which “darlings” to kill off, as William Faulkner once so famously put it.

Finding the right developmental editor is hard because it depends on trust. It’s not a teacher-student relationship, but more like a co-working situation in which you improvise and feed off each other’s chemistry and excitement for the work. At Reedsy, you can submit offers to up to 5 developmental editors at once and interview them all to be sure you’ve found the right fit. To get started, sign up for a free account today.

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Step 2

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Step 3

Request quotes

Request quotes from up to five freelancers at any time. They’ll look at your sample pages to give you a tailored quote as well as a sense of how they work.

Step 4

Collaborate

Once you agree on terms and a timeline, you’ll start collaborating using the many communication and editing tools available on Reedsy.