Kat Gordon – Editor

As an experienced proofreader I have worked on top children's and YA fiction, including Perdita and Honor Cargill's Waiting for Callback series, and Harriet Whitehorn's Violet books, and with high-profile authors such as Paige Toon and the award-winning C.J. Flood. As a result I have a keen eye for detail, a thorough appreciation of when to make changes and when to leave the author's voice intact, and a good idea of the market.I'm also a published writer, so I know all about the ups and downs of a writer's life! After receiving an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, I completed my debut, a literary coming-of-age novel, which was published in 2015 and shortlisted for the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize. My second novel, set in Africa in the 1920s and '30s, sold at auction to HarperCollins in 2017, and was subsequently selected as a Richard and Judy Book Club pick in the UK. So besides sharing procrastination (or should I say inspiration) tips, I can also offer the benefit of my hard-won experience in creating vivid characters and gripping plots, researching to get historical details just right, and navigating the publishing process from beginning to end.Since completing my Masters, I have remained close with my course-mates, informally editing and workshopping their novels from first to last drafts. Among those I've given editorial feedback on are Liza Klaussmann's Tigers in Red Weather, Emma Chapman's How to Be a Good Wife, and Liz Gifford's Secrets of the Sea House.