Laura Cifelli - Editor

I spent many years working in New York as an acquiring editor specializing in commercial women's fiction. My main focus was always Romance in all its varied forms.

I came to publishing as an ardent fan of romance novels and was absolutely the luckiest person alive when I was hired as an editor. I earned a Masters degree in publishing studies from NYU and got my first job with Richard Curtis Associates, a literary agency that specialized in commercial fiction and where I worked with authors of fantasy and romance. Then I moved to Dell Books where I edited romances by such wonderful authors as Joan Johnston, Marsha Canham, and Stephanie Mittman and I established a debut romance program (Dell Diamond Debuts) that launched the careers of Pamela Britton and Elizabeth Boyle. I went to HarperCollins' paperback division where I published books from Kinley MacGregor (AKA Sherrilyn Kenyon), Pamela Morsi and Kathleen Gilles Seidel (to name just a few!). And then I joined NAL/Penguin where I spent 10 years editing every kind of romance novel. I ran the Signet Regency program for several years (with authors such as Sophia Nash and Barbara Metzger) and I published 2 to 3 other romances a month including books from Katie MacAlister, JoAnn Ross, Karen Rose, Carla Cassidy, Virginia Henley and Bertrice Small. I have worked on every kind of romance and women's fiction imaginable: straight contemporary romance, romantic suspense, romantic comedies, historical romance (and straight historical fiction without romance), historical romantic suspense, and all kinds of paranormal and fantasy romances--vampires, dragons, urban fantasy, steam-punk, fairies, witches, and more...

As a freelance editor (LCS Editorial Services) I have enjoyed the real luxury of being able to do just the most fun part of an editor's job: working with authors on their novels. Editing final manuscripts, collaborating with an author to help map out a new series, or helping an author who is struggling with a story that seems to have taken a wrong turn. Freelance editing is the most rewarding work I've done as an editor.

Here's what some authors have said about working with me:

"An astonishingly gifted editor, I loved every minute I worked with her." -- Sherrilyn Kenyon, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Laura Cifelli is a wonderful editor who tackles projects with insight, knowledge of the genre, wit, and an unerring eye. She has been instrumental in making me a better writer, and I consider her work on my books not a luxury, but a necessity. She is, hands down, the best editor I've ever had, and I am always thrilled to work with her." -- Katie MacAlister, New York Times bestselling author

"I’ve had quite a few editors in my writing career, both with publishing houses and freelance, and Laura is unquestionably the best of them. I can’t recommend her highly enough. She has a keen editorial eye, her reports are thorough, and her suggestions are spot on. I don’t ever want to publish a book without her! She’s outstanding." -- Emily Larkin, USA Today bestselling author