Jordan Hamessley - Editor
Berkeley, United States
Experienced children's editor with a decade of experience working with award-winning and best-selling authors at multiple publishing houses.
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Overview
I’ve always been a creative person who loves helping creators tell their story to the best of their ability with over a decade of publishing experience. Over the course of my career I’ve worked at publishing houses large (Penguin Young Readers) and small (Egmont USA). I’ve worked as an editor of middle grade and young adults novels, along with a large amount of licensed publishing programs, and the occasional adult novel and memoir. I’ve run a small press (Adaptive Books), overseeing the entire publishing process from acquiring and editing the books, and working with the team there to develop the books into commercial Hollywood properties. Let me help you tell your story!
Testimonials:
Working with Jordan to edit Scar Girl was an absolute delight. That's not to say it was an easy edit. Jordan didn't pull any punches in helping me find the right path to make the book the best it could be. Without Jordan's help, Scar Girl would have never received a starred review from Kirkus and other accolades. Jordan rocks. — Len Vlahos, Morris Award nominated author of The Scar Boys and Scar Girl
I was so fortunate to have Jordan as my first editor. And she was more than just an editor for I HEART BAND; together, we created a four-book series populated with characters we both adored. From our very first phone call, Jordan was full of ideas about plot and themes, and she was open to my ideas as well. She helped me through every step of the process, from outlining to drafting to revising. Jordan doesn't shy away from offering the deep criticism necessary to take a book to the next level, but she balances that tough feedback with tons of encouragement. Her support gave me a new confidence in myself as an author, and it's no exaggeration to say my career wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for her. — Michelle Schusterman, author of the I Heart Band series
I worked with Jordan on my debut novel, Bleeding Earth. She found all the gaps and weaknesses in my manuscript, and helped me turn it into a beautiful finished product that earned a starred review from Kirkus. I'm so happy with the way the book turned out, and it would not have happened without Jordan. Her editorial suggestions were clear and thoughtful and thorough, and she was always willing to talk about anything in more detail if I needed. I would jump at the chance to work with her again in the future, and I would recommend her to anyone. — Kaitlin Ward, author of Bleeding Earth
I've had the pleasure of working with Jordan both as an author and as a colleague. She is one of the most dedicated and enthusiastic editors I know. Jordan has a keen eye for what makes a great story, and she knows how to guide authors to bring out the best in their writing. Her editorial letters are thorough, insightful, and--best of all--often quite funny. Writers who get Jordan's eyes on their work should consider themselves lucky! — Rebecca Behrens, author of The Summer of Lost and Found
Jordan acquired and edited my middle-grade series, the Gustav Gloom novels. It was at novel length my most sustained and beneficial experience with any editor. Her clear vision for the books, her fine attention to detail, her flexibility and her red pen were all instrumental in making the books all that they could be. She was a pleasure to work with and I would do it again in a heartbeat. — Adam-Troy Castro, author of the Gustav Gloom series
Languages
English (US)
Fiction
Adventure
Children's - Middle Grade
Horror
LGBTQ
Science Fiction
Young Adult & Teen
Awards
- PW Star Watch Honoree 2015
Work experience
Freelance Editor
Self-employed
May, 2017
–
Present
(over 1 year)
Working for various publishing houses, agencies, and authors on manuscript editing and copywriting with a focus on children's books (picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and YA).
Senior Editor, Children's Division
Insight Editions
June, 2016
–
May, 2017
(11 months)
Lead the Insight Kids publishing program developing original formats for licensed and non-licensed properties; extended the licensor relationships Insight had on the adult publishing side and brought them into the children’s space; developed multiple original non-fiction lines and acquired middle grade and YA fiction with a visual hook.
Editorial Director
Adaptive Books
January, 2015
–
June, 2016
(over 1 year)
Oversaw the Adaptive Books publishing line for all ages. Edited all titles on the list; worked with agents and authors to pair with the right Adaptive properties; managed relationship with Ingram Publisher Services; managed freelancers (copyeditors, proofreaders, designers); oversaw marketing and publicity for Adaptive Books.
Editor
Egmont USA
December, 2013
–
January, 2015
(about 1 year)
Edited middle grade and YA fiction.
Associate Editor
Grosset & Dunlap/Price Stern Sloan (Penguin Young Readers)
November, 2008
–
December, 2013
(about 5 years)
Edited picture books, chapter books, and middle grade original series fiction, along with running and editing multiple licensed tie-in programs.
Portfolio (18 selected works)
Scar Girl
Len Vlahos
When The Scar Boys ended, the band has fallen apart. Harry and Johnny are barely speaking, and Cheyenne is feeling desperate about Johnny, who has retreated into silence. It's only through their music that the group is able to rebuild their relationships, and they slowly begin to reach musical success and fame. In Scar Girl, Cheyenne, Harry, and Richie tell their own stories as they discover t... read more
Bleeding Earth
Kaitlin Ward
Between Mother Nature and human nature, disasters are inevitable. Lea was in a cemetery when the earth started bleeding. Within twenty-four hours, the blood made international news. All over the world, blood oozed out of the ground, even through the concrete, even in the water. Then the earth started growing hair and bones. Lea wishes she could ignore the blood. She wishes she could spend time... read more
Seaborne #1: The Lost Prince
Matt Myklusch
Middle-grade adventure readers will love this fresh take on classic pirate tropes. Fans of Percy Jackson and The Chronicles of Egg will enjoy Dean Seaborne's adventures on the sea. Dean Seaborne is thrown off his ship by the Pirate King and given one last chance to redeem himself before he meets Davy Jones's locker. He has to spy on the Pirate King's biggest rival, Gentleman Jim Harper, and fi... read more
Into the Dark Book #2: The Eternity Key
Bree Despain
Fan-favorite author Bree Despain continues her modern-day romance trilogy inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades with this second book in her Into the Dark series. Haden Lord, the disgraced Prince of the Underrealm, has chosen love over honor and will do everything in his power to protect Daphne Raines, the human girl he was supposed to bring to the Underrealm. Haden’s choice is pu... read more
The Dickens Mirror: Book Two of The Dark Passages
Ilsa J. Bick
Critically acclaimed author of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick takes her new Dark Passages series to an alternative Victorian London where Emma Lindsay continues to wade through blurred realities now that she has lost everything: her way, her reality, her friends. In this London, Emma will find alternative versions of her friends from the White Space and even Arthur Conan Doyle.Emma Lindsay fi... read more
DC Trip
Sara Benincasa
Alicia Deats is a new teacher chaperoning her very first high school trip to Washington DC, and nothing could be more terrifying than a class full of horny, backstabbing, boundary-pushing teenagers under her watch. To make matters worse, she embarrassed herself with her co-chaperone Bryan Kenner with one too many margaritas and an ill-placed vomiting incident at last year’s teacher mixer and i... read more
Dawn of Spies (A Crusoe Adventure)
Andrew Lane
Rescued from a deserted Caribbean island, 17-year-old Robinson Crusoe and his female friend, Friday, find themselves in late 1600s London, a bustling city that proves as treacherous for them to navigate as the remote island they just left behind. Thanks to their honed survival skills, Crusoe and Friday are recruited by a young writer named Daniel Defoe to work as agents for Segment W, a covert... read more
Gustav Gloom and the People Taker #1
Adam-Troy Castro
Now in paperback! Hugo Award nominee Adam-Troy Castro's Gustav Gloom series. Do you know where your shadow is? Fernie What finds herself lost in the Gloom mansion after her cat appears to have been chased there by its own shadow. Fernie discovers a library full of every book that was never written, a gallery of statues that are just plain awkward, and finds herself at dinner watching her own s... read more
I Heart Band #1
Michelle Schusterman
Band Geeks unite in this fresh new middle-grade series by debut author (and former band director) Michelle Schusterman! Holly Mead’s first day of seventh grade isn’t going as planned. Her brother ruins her carefully chosen outfit, she’s almost late, and her new band director has some surprisingly strict rules. Worst of all, it seems like her best friend, Julia, has replaced her with Natasha, t... read more
The Haunted Library #1
Dori Hillestad Butler
A brand-new young chapter book series from Edgar Award winner Dori Hillestad Butler! When ghost boy Kaz’s haunt is torn down and he is separated from his ghost family, he meets a real girl named Claire, who lives above the town library with her parents and her grandmother. Claire has a special ability to see ghosts when other humans cannot and she and Kaz quickly form a friendship. The two joi... read more
The Memory Thief
Bryce Moore
Twin brother and sister Benji and Kelly wander off at the local county fair after witnessing their parents argue. When Benji runs into a group of bullies, he escapes into a tent called The Memory Emporium, where he meets a strange old man inside named Louis. The old man shows him a magically vivid memory of a fighter pilot, in the hopes of getting Benji to pay to see other memories Louis has c... read more
Against All Silence (An SOS Thriller)
E.C. Myers
After being a key figure in the exposing of government corruption, Max Stein has spent a quiet semester abroad in Paris, studying, staying off the Internet, and looking for his long-lost mother. But just as he is about to fly back to the United States for the holidays, trouble manages to find him once again.Max receives a call from Penny, his on-again-off-again girlfriend who is part of the ex... read more
Outward Blonde
Trish Cook
Sixteen-year-old Lizzie Finkelstein is a hard-partying socialite who lives a charmed life with her mother in Manhattan. After a public drunken escapade results in both an arrest and an embarrassing viral video online, Lizzie’s parents stage a late night intervention. Lizzie finds herself whisked away to Utah to learn a lesson or two about taking responsibility at Camp Smiley, a wilderness surv... read more
Act 1 (Jack & Louisa)
Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Kate Wetherhead
A show-stopping series about life in the spotlight from Broadway actors and internet sensations Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead Twelve-year-old Jack Goodrich was a Broadway star, with two shows under his belt and a third in rehearsals. But when his voice suddenly changes, Jack and his parents leave the spotlight and move far from New York City to Shaker Heights, Ohio. While Jack hopes... read more
R Is for Robot: A Noisy Alphabet
Adam F. Watkins
These noisy robots make the alphabet a hilarious adventure! In this noisy alphabet book, Adam F. Watkins’s silly robots are building the alphabet. Featuring hilarious robots making goofy noises, this alphabet book is perfect for young readers.
Blast from the North (Lug)
David Zeltser
After saving his clan from saber-toothed tigers, Lug the caveboy has become a hero. The only problem: between the nightmares and his sudden skittishness around animals, he doesn't feel like much of a hero. But now he and his friends, Stony and Echo, have even bigger problems. A giant glacier is rolling toward their village faster than any ordinary mass of ice should move and it's on course to ... read more
Rocking Out! (Frankly, Frannie)
AJ Stern
When Frannie's local community center, The Ark, announces it is going out of business, Frannie and the community join together to create a fundraising concert. Frannie and her friends write letters to rock star Aimee Chapman asking her to perform at the concert and she says yes! Frannie and her friends learn all about the perks of being a rock star and, of course, Frannie decides rock star is ... read more
Literally Disturbed #1: Tales to Keep You Up at Night
Ben H. Winters
Come on up to the attic Come up if you dare Climb up the rickety ladder— Come up and see what’s there… Ben H. Winters brings the fear factor to this collection of thirty spooktastic rhyming stories about witches, zombies, vampires and more! Featuring eerie illustrations by Adam F. Watkins, this book is perfect for nights around the campfire and slumber party ghost stories. Be sure to keep a fl... read more
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