Jon Appleton

Jon Appleton – Editor

I'm a freelance editor & writer. I help people prepare their writing for the reading public, both traditional & indie.

Overview

I'm an editor with 25 years in-house experience of children's and adults publishing, at Hodder, Orion, Scholastic, and other firms. My interest is in helping new writers prepare proposals and manuscripts for both traditional and independent routes to market.

Services
Non-Fiction
Children’s Non-Fiction
Fiction
Literary Fiction Middle Grade Mystery & Crime Young Adult
Languages
English (AUS) English (UK)

Work experience

Hodder Children's Books

Feb, 2012 — Jun, 2016 (over 4 years)
As Editorial Director of the Fiction, I was involved in all stages of acquisitions and publishing for Hodder Children's Books fiction list. I also managed the Enid Blyton publishing programme. During this time, I was Vice Chair of the Children's Publishers Group of the Publishers Association. I was an Undiscovered Voices Judge in 2016.

Hachette Australia

Dec, 2010 — Jan, 2012 (about 1 year)
I published an award-winning and commercially successful local picture book list including work from Shaun Tan, Alison Lester, Gary Crew and Peter Gouldthorpe. I also published Ally Carter's YA fiction and James Phelan's Alone trilogy.

Orion Children's Books

Oct, 2004 — Sep, 2009 (almost 5 years)
I joined Orion Children's Books as Senior Editor and was promoted in 2007. Among the authors I worked with were Linda Newbery, Lucy Coats, Richard Brassey, Caroline Lawrence, Michelle Lovric and Cliff McNish.

Self-employed

Jul, 2002 — Sep, 2004 (about 2 years)
As a freelance editor, I worked on children's and YA fiction for Piccadilly Press, Simon and Schuster, Orion Children's Books and Hodder Children's Books, amongst others.

Portfolio

Out of the Clouds

Diana Hendry

The perfect book for fathers and sons to share - and for anyone who has ever been part of a crazy but loveable family. Oliver Coggin lives with his chaotic family in Dizzy Perch, a crazy house on top of a mountain somewhere remote in Scotland. With Pa away - o... read more
Enid Blyton's Christmas Stories (Bumper Short Story Collections)

Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton's Christmas Stories
Red Eyes At Night (Read Alone)

Michael Morpurgo

Millie's cousin Geraldine is a show-off and a pain. So Millie plots revenge. She tells Geraldine about the ghost with red eyes who lives in the garden shed and comes out at night - but manages to scare herself silly in the process! Everyone is furious, but Mil... read more
The Black Dragon: Book 1 (Mysterium)

Julian Sedgwick

Noddy Goes to Toyland: Book 1 (Noddy Classic Storybooks)

Enid Blyton

2: The Humbug Adventure: Book 2 (Secret Seven Short Stories)

Enid Blyton

When the gang go star-gazing, they soon get bored and spy on the town - and see someone setting a haystack on fire. Will the Seven act fast enough to save the barn?
The Loose Ends List

Carrie Firestone

Lupo and the Thief at the Tower of London: Book 3

Aby King

The royal family are disturbed by the shocking news that there has been a break-in at the Tower of London - everything has been stolen, including the crown jewels. The adults say it's a human matter, but Lupo has an especially bad feeling about this particular... read more
The Roman Mysteries: The Sirens of Surrentum: Book 11

Caroline Lawrence

Passions run deep beneath the tranquil surface in a summer holiday adventure in the eleventh Roman Mystery.
The Speed of Darkness: Book 4 (Shakespeare Quartet)

Catherine Fisher

A great storm brews out at sea and batters the Devon coast, flooding vast swathes of land. At Wintercombe Abbey the preceding weeks have been spent in a ferment of experimentation, as Jake Wilde's father, David and Maskelyne work furiously on Operation Leah. T... read more
Famous Five Annual 2016

Enid Blyton

Famous Five Annual
Catcall

Linda Newbery

Dust marks on cover.
The Ultimate Book Guide: Over 700 Great Books for 8-12s (Ultimate Book Guides)

The Ultimate Book Guide With this book, 8-12 year-olds should never again cry, 'What will I read next?' This is an up-to-date guide to the best children's books around - from classics to newly released titles. Full description
Princess Smartypants and the Missing Princes

Babette Cole

Jon has 1 review

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

samaneh K.

samaneh K.

Oct, 2016

A great pleasure to work with Jon. He is very patient and tremendously efficient. Really pleased with the work. Very responsive to communication, will certainly work with him again. Always so helpful and willing to go way beyond what I have asked for. Excellent work and thank you so much.

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