Hugh Ashton - Editor
Writer and editor - over 20 years experience with the goal of helping writers find the best way to express ideas to a target audience.
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Overview
My aim is always to help the original writer discover the best way to present her or his ideas to the target readership. I worked in Japan for over 25 years as a rewriter and editor, covering fiction and non-fiction genres for international magazines, NPOs, multinational corporations, and US and UK publishers.
Having worked as an editor on a wide variety of projects, and also as an author who has worked with many editors in the past, I know how important it is for a writer and an editor to build a strong relationship, and I recognise that such a relationship can result in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Having worked as an editor on a wide variety of projects, and also as an author who has worked with many editors in the past, I know how important it is for a writer and an editor to build a strong relationship, and I recognise that such a relationship can result in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Languages
English (CAN)
English (UK)
English (US)
Fiction
Action & Adventure
Literary Fiction
Mystery & Crime
Thriller & Suspense
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Computers & Internet
Economics
Technology
Work experience
Rewriter/editor
Self-employed
April, 1996
–
Present
(almost 27 years)
Over 25 years of experience working with a variety of authors in various fiction genres (crime, thriller, adventure, romance) and non-fiction (technology, finance, fintech, computing and IT security, etc.) to produce finished products that express the thoughts of the author in a way to appeal to the target audience for the work.
Experience in working with literal or rough translations requiring polishing to a "native" standard.
I am happy working in UK or US English, and can work to AP or Chicago style standards.
Work in the past has included editing of crime and detective fiction, including a book written jointly by a writers' group where each member was responsible for a different chapter..
I have also performed developmental editing for several non-fiction books, including an account of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and work including proofreading and copyediting for books on economics and finance.
On the self-help/inspirational titles, I worked with the authors to structure and develop the concepts being presented and to bring them together as a whole.
For the memoir, I worked closely with the author on copyediting and proofreading, who described me (anonymously) on Facebook as being "amazeballs".
Not on my list below (since the project never came to fruition) was a proposed book on computer security where I researched and planned the book outline for a senior scientific adviser to the Japanese government.
I have also on many occasions performed paid and pro bono work for organisations and other authors, where I have made significant contributions to the finished publications, which include training courses for specialist forensic software, etc.
As an author in my own right, I have written and published many fiction and several non-fiction books of my own, some of which are listed here.
Various, including VP
Various
May, 1994
–
May, 1996
(about 2 years)
Various jobs in the IT sector, including migration of Japan's first commercial ISP to UNIX, and VP of a startup attempting (and failing) to gain venture funding for what eventually became known as blade server technology.
Technical writer
Crestec Inc.
May, 1988
–
May, 1994
(about 6 years)
Crestec provides documentation writing, typesetting, and print brokerage services to a wide variety of brand-name Japanese clients in the electronics, IT, and automotive fields. I was responsible for writing and checking English-language manuals for these clients, working with Japanese marketing and R&D teams.
Portfolio (17 selected works)
A Death in Summer: 1965 (Collins & Clark Book 2)
Jim McGrath
It’s the summer of 1965 and the days are hot and oppressive, when Detective Constable Michael Collins and his partner Detective Constable Clive Clark are convinced by the best “ladder monkey” Clark has ever met that there is an arsonist at work in Birmingham. Soon Collins and Clark are fighting for their lives against a psychopathic killer who enjoys destroying buildings for financial gain – a... read more
Yoshida's Dilemma
Rob Gilhooly
"This is a self-help book about helping others" The Angel Corps shows how simple acts of service to others can map out our path to true happiness. Boerger's personal experiences, which range from picking up worms from broiling concrete paths, to the rescue of a woman from a horrific wildfire - and the lessons he draws from them - help provide answers to the most important quests that we all fa... read more
A Death in Spring: 1968 (Collins & Clark)
Jim McGrath
Lounging on the Loveseat (The Running Experiment Book 3)
Kristann Monaghan
From the hit blog The Fat Girl Running...Sometimes you need to be Lounging on the Loveseat to fully appreciate things like Disney Diabeetus, the terrifying Easter Bunny, kidney stones but especially meeting your idol...Colleen Hoover.I still binge watch tv. I still shove Skittles in my gob. I still tell it like it is. In the latest installment of The Running Experiment series, you will once ag... read more
Lipstick on a Pig: Why Bail-Outs Fail and People Power Will Succeed
Simon Deane-Johns
'Lipstick on a Pig: Why Bail-outs Fail and People Power Will Succeed' is the first of a new series of books by Zopa co-founder Simon Deane-Johns (aka 'The Pragmatist') that take a subversive and irreverent look at how the relationship between society and its institutions is changing, fundamentally and forever - how we, as individuals, are personalising the one-size-fits-all existence tradition... read more
Margaret Thatcher: the economics of creative destruction
Warwick Lightfoot
Margaret Thatcher brought what can only be called a destructive excitement to politics. Arguments and institutions that plainly needed to be challenged and dismembered are likely in normal circumstances to be left alone, on the 'let sleeping dogs lie' principle. Under Mrs Thatcher they did get challenged and taken apart. Margaret Thatcher had a tendency to make things happen. This monograph is... read more
A Death in Winter: 1963 (Collins & Clark Book 1)
Jim McGrath
When the police, MI5 and the Security Service close down the investigation into the murder of 14 year old Simone Winston, only three people have the courage to keep digging. Meet Probationary Police Constable Michael Collins, fresh out of Ireland and the Police College, his partner Constable Clive Clark, the smallest police officer in Birmingham and Agnes Winter, a Quaker landlady with a war r... read more
Sorry, We Have No Money - Britain's Economic Problem
Warwick Lightfoot
Sorry, We Have No Money - Britain's Economic Problem Lightfoot uses his experience in UK government and economics to show that a large public sector can yield significant social and economic benefits, ultimately a wealthier economy with higher living standards and an economy better placed to meet the challenges of an older community in a more competitive world.
This 40th anniversary edition includes the full original text along with a new introduction and extensive commentaries on each chapter by the author. The commentaries explore aspects of environmental issues that have changed over time since the original 1971 edition.
Too Many Miracles
Robin Bee Owens
Robin Bee Owens, author of the "Dabby" series and other inspirational works for children, here gives her personal testimony and the testimony of others, regarding events that she and her family and friends have experienced and witnessed and which can only be seen as miracles. Her conclusion is "There are too many miracles for anyone to convince me that there is no God." These stories of healin... read more
The Lichfield Jigsaw Murders
Lichfield Writers
Angels Unawares
Hugh Ashton
The Adventures of Sherlock Ferret
Hugh Ashton
Tales of Old Japanese
Hugh Ashton
Tales of Old Japanese is a collection of five short stories of the older generation living in contemporary Japan. The author spent over 25 years living in the country, working as a writer and journalist. Some of his impressions of Japan and of the people who live there have been recorded in: Keiko's House: An old house, its history, and the history of those who have lived there in the past. Ha... read more
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