Kate Angelella

Kate Angelella – Editor

Former S&S editor w/20 years of experience editing NYT bestselling & award-winning authors such as Nova Ren Suma & Kekla Magoon.

Overview

"Any writer would be lucky to have Kate’s insightful, wise editorial guidance. In her time on the editing staff at Aladdin, Kate acquired and shaped books that launched careers of many industry stars, including the future #1 Indie Next pick author Nova Ren Suma and the multiple John Steptoe-award-winning Kekla Magoon. Kate has an eye for talent and a gentle, skilled hand at coaxing out the best from a writer."

--Liesa Abrams, Publisher, Labyrinth Road Books (Penguin Random House)

"Kate has a wonderful eye for what works in the commercial marketplace, with a talent for finding new, fresh voices and pushing them to be the best writers they can be. While at Aladdin, she shaped many noteworthy debuts, and her collaborative editorial process was appreciated and respected by her colleagues and authors. “

--Alyson Heller, Executive Editor, Aladdin Books (S&S)

“The whole thought of hiring a professional editor made me nervous, at first. But it was one of the best career decisions I have ever made. Kate’s enthusiasm for my story made me remember why I loved writing, and her spot-on edits helped me shape and hone my manuscript into something I am immensely proud of. She gave her critiques with a genuine kindness that made me feel completely at ease while also incredibly motivated. Kate’s edits gave me the push I needed, and I am so grateful.”

– Katharyn Blair, screenwriter at Marvel and author of THE BECKONING SHADOW and UNCHOSEN (HarperCollins)

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My critiques are thorough and honest without compromising professionalism or compassion. I want to be your coach, your cheerleader, and your sounding board to help you take your next step toward achieving your literary dreams. I especially love working with voicey books that feature badass female protagonists (the kind that wield actual weapons and the kind whose “weapons” take another form, like a sharp tongue or clever wit), swoony romance (love triangles, enemies-to-lovers, and friends-to-lovers all welcome here!), body positivity, sex positivity, and books that blur the line between reality and magic in all its many forms.

I've worked as an editor for over twenty years. During my time at Simon & Schuster, I acquired and edited books by award-winning and bestselling authors, including the first original novels by #1 New York Times bestselling author Nova Ren Suma; and Margaret A. Edwards Award, John Steptoe Award, Coretta Scott King Honor, and NAACP Image Award recipient Kekla Magoon.

My clients have gone on to secure publishing deals with Big 5 publishers (at auction!), sign with agents of their dreams and managers at big Hollywood talent agencies, and author bestselling and award-winning books.

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Services
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Contemporary Romance Fantasy Middle Grade Romantic Comedy Romantic Fantasy Women's Fiction Young Adult Fantasy
Languages
English (UK) English (US)
Certifications
  • BA, Drama (Ithaca College, 2002)
  • MFA, Writing for Children & Young Adults (Vermont College of Fine Arts, 2017)

Work experience

Self-employed

Jan, 2011 — Present
Kate has been freelance writing and editing since 2011. In 2015, she began her own full-time freelance editorial business. She offers comprehensive editorial work, providing in-depth, honest, and compassionate critiques.

Simon & Schuster Children's Books

May, 2007 — Jan, 2011 (over 3 years)
Acquired, edited, and wrote jacket and promotional copy for 30+ original novels and edited several popular bi-monthly series such as NANCY DREW, THE HARDY BOYS, & CHILDHOOD OF FAMOUS AMERICANS.

Portfolio

Fade Out

Nova Ren Suma

Life echoes art in this sassy, heartwrenching coming-of-age story from the author of Imaginary Girls.It’s summer and Dani Callanzano has been abandoned by everyone she knows. Her dad moved out... read more
Developmental Editing
Camo Girl

Kekla Magoon

A biracial student questions her identity in this contemporary novel from the author of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptor Award–winning The Rock and the River.Ella and Z have been friends fo... read more
Developmental Editing
The Time: 1968 The Place: Chicago For thirteen-year-old Sam it's not easy being the son of known civil rights activist Roland Childs. Especially when his older (and best friend), Stick, begins... read more
Developmental Editing
Follow You Down

Walsh, Katie

KMW Print

Developmental Editing
Struck

Roth, K.E.

Developmental Editing
Art Beholding

Clare Merrett

Fifteen-year-old Art wanted to spend the summer at home, with Dad, being normal. She does not want to be here, on Mum’s work trip, with her colleague and his sulky, identikit daughter.Worse, M... read more
Developmental Editing
The Edee Story

Clare Merrett

Fifteen-year-old Edee’s world is full of new and different. Two weeks ago, her best friend, Lucie, left town. Nothing is the same without her.However, when Edee goes to pick up a pair of glass... read more
Developmental Editing
Burning Rose

Lavan, Lyndsey

Burying Eva Flores

Alsever, Jennifer

Developmental Editing
TRIUMPHANT at last, Ember has fought her way back from the evil witch’s curse and reclaimed her identity, her sense of self. Now she must stop Xintra from hurting the boy she loves, even as sh... read more
Developmental Editing
She didn't fall. She was shoved. Getting shoved from the top of her high school’s social ladder is not something Candace Ellis sees coming. At seventeen, she has it all: friends, popularity an... read more
Developmental Editing
Keeper

Kim Chance

When a 200-year-old witch attacks her, sixteen-year-old bookworm Lainey Styles is determined to find a logical explanation. Even with the impossible staring her in the face, Lainey refuses to ... read more
Developmental Editing
Enchanting The Fey

Rebecca Bosevski

The day Desmoree Shale was kidnapped and awoke naked on a slab in a Sydney morgue should have been the worst day of her life – but she’s not dead, barely harmed, and her would be assassin, Jax, is actually kind of… cute. Tempted by the idea of a mythical fairy... read more
Brought to you by the writers of the best-selling CUPCAKE DIARIES series… The new JUNIOR LIFEGUARDS series is wholesome summer fun for young YA readers! Dive right in with the brave, diverse girls of the Junior Lifeguards as they continue their summery adventu... read more
Junior Lifeguards are #brave and #strong. Join the squad!Catch up with the brave, diverse girls of the Junior Lifeguards as they continue their summery adventures on Cape Cod, where ice cream, miniature golf, and sand-between-your-toes combine with beachfront ... read more
Broken Girls

J. M. Ryan

She didn't fall. She was shoved. Getting shoved from the top of her high school’s social ladder is not something Candace Ellis sees coming. At seventeen, she has it all: friends, popularity an... read more
Developmental Editing
Menacing dark fantasy and heart-pounding suspense combine in the second book of this reader acclaimed supernatural series (The Gabriel Davenport Series) from British author Beverley Lee Gabriel Davenport has been remade from darkness. Now, he must adapt to sur... read more
OSHUN has everything a young pop star could ever want—fame, fortune, and beauty to spare. But there’s something dark inside of her, rising like the tide, fighting to be heard. Something that t... read more
Developmental Editing
Senior year was supposed to be great—that’s what Ember’s friend Maddie promised at the beginning of the year. Instead, Ember Trouvé spends the year drifting in and out of life like a ghost, ha... read more
Developmental Editing
Muriel Avenue Sluts

Maggie Hasbrouck

Seventeen-year-old Julia Turnbow’s mother gets paid to have sex; that’s just how it is. When Jules turns eighteen, she plans to follow in her mother’s footsteps and join the exclusive world of... read more
Developmental Editing
The Recital

Kyle V. Hiller

Everything changed after the first day of seventh grade. For Edith Solstice, it wasn't her height. It wasn't getting her first kiss. It wasn't harder classes, either, except for Pre-Algebra. T... read more
Developmental Editing
In a house built on truth something lays hidden. Beth and Stu Davenport moved to the English hillside town of Meadowford Bridge to give their young son, Gabriel, an idyllic, rural childhood. B... read more
Developmental Editing
In Trouble at the Arcade, nine-year-old Frank and eight-year-old Joe Hardy discover trouble lurking at the local arcade and decide they make pretty good detectives—just like their dad!
Ned's classmate Portia Leoni won last year's Miss Pretty Face River Heights Beauty Pageant. But after Portia was accused of shoplifting dresses from a local boutique, her crown was taken away from her. Portia claims that she's innocent, but why would someone w... read more
Girl Meets Ghost

Lauren Barnholdt

A tween girl becomes a reluctant medium in this start to a hilariously haunting series.Kendall Williams sees dead people. Not only can she see them, she can speak to them…and they can speak to... read more
Developmental Editing
Maggie has discovered a kobold—a creature similar to a house brownie but with an evil bent. Her grandfather trapped a particular kobold thirty years ago to keep it away from Maggie’s father, b... read more
Developmental Editing
Mr. McGuire takes Maggie, Raphael, Fiona, and Hasenpfeffer to Scotland to meet one of his oldest friends, Sir Roderick Lachlan, who will conduct Maggie’s World Federation of Magic testing. Als... read more
Developmental Editing
Nice and Mean (mix)

Jessica Leader

Marina is mean. Sachi is nice. Marina is Barney’s. Sachi is Burlington Coat Factory. It’s bad enough they’re forced to coexist in their middle-school’s high-profile video elective—but now they... read more
Developmental Editing
Fiona Finkelstein tries her hand at making matches in this second book of the lively and lovable Not-So-Ordinary Girl trilogy.Fiona has proved herself as a ballerina, but she’s got other talen... read more
Developmental Editing
Fiona Finkelstein was born to be a ballerina—if she can get over her stage fright, that is. The first in the feisty and endearing Not-So-Ordinary Girl trilogy.More than catching fireflies, mor... read more
Developmental Editing
BFF Breakup (mix)

Taylor Morris

Brooke and Madeline have been best friends since they first met. And now they're going to be best friends in high school, then go to the same college where they'll be roommates, date—and marry... read more
Developmental Editing
Objective: Be Selected to Present at Academy Day Process: Scientific Method Step 1: Formulate a Question What would it take to get Tiffany to notice Igor? Dorie is in science geek heaven at th... read more
Developmental Editing
Maggie Bean in Love

Tricia Rayburn

At the start of 8th grade, Maggie Bean is really, truly, 100% happy. She's successfully maintained her weight, moved into a beautiful house her family actually owns, and -- best of all -- fall... read more
Developmental Editing
HAVE A SECRET YOU JUST NEED TO GET OUT? IS YOUR BEST FRIEND'S NEW BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHIRT A TOTAL FASHION DON'T? WANNA ANNONYMOUSLY TELL YOUR CRUSH YOU LIKE HIM? Save yourself the embarrassment a... read more
Developmental Editing
Devon Delaney cannot believe she's lying again. But the thing is, she couldn't help it. Her new boyfriend, Luke, is talking to his (gorgeous) ex-girlfriend, Bailey Barelli (!!!), every single ... read more
Developmental Editing
Ruby's Slippers

Tricia Rayburn

Ruby Lee has never downloaded an iTune, heard of Facebook, nor seen a video on YouTube. Raised in rural Kansas with her mom as her best friend, she’s cozy and content. But everything changes w... read more
Developmental Editing
The Summer of May

Cecilia Galante

Now in paperback, a moving novel of loss and resilience, told in a voice that is “sometimes humorous, at times heartbreaking, and always authentic” (School Library Journal).Twelve-year-old May... read more
Developmental Editing
The first in a fresh new M!X series about girls involved in the cutthroat world of modeling, acting and commercial castings!Brittany Rush is the face of Gotta Have It candy bars, the hands of ... read more
Developmental Editing
Twelve-year-old Maggie Malloy can make wishes come true. But she’s learned that people like magic better in storybooks than in real life, and longs to find someone who understands her power. W... read more
Developmental Editing
Fake Me a Match (mix)

Lauren Barnholdt

It’s matchmaking mayhem when a school project goes awry in this “entertaining and enjoyable read” (School Library Journal) from the author of Four Truths and a Lie.Avery LaDuke is bummed when ... read more
Developmental Editing

Kate has 65 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Carrie P.

Carrie P.

Mar, 2026

Kate provided thoughtful, actionable feedback on my YA paranormal mystery/found family project. She helped me untangle plot holes that had been holding me back and brought much-needed clarity to the story’s direction. Her comprehensive editorial letter gave me a clear starting point for my revisi...
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Rae C.

Rae C.

Mar, 2026

I'm so excited to work with Kate long-term! She really helped me clarify what I needed to focus on next in my journey, and I feel so supported and validated by her. I adored her feedback on my manuscript and the plan we created to establish an ADHD-friendly writing routine. Highly recommend to an...
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Aziza B.

Aziza B.

Jan, 2026

Working with Kate Angelella has been one of the most valuable and encouraging experiences of my writing journey. From the very first session, Kate created a space that felt safe, thoughtful, and deeply supportive, while still being incredibly insightful and honest. Kate has an amazing ability to...
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Analisa E.

Analisa E.

Dec, 2025

Kate is fantastic. Her notes were spot on and she's a dream to work with. I would absolutely work with her again.
Tiki T.

Tiki T.

Sep, 2025

Working with Kate Angelella on my novel has been a defining creative experience—one I’ll return to again and again for clarity, refinement, and fuel. From the first round of notes, it was clear she understood not only the world of this story, but also the emotional and thematic architecture that ...
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