Katie McKay – Editor

I'm a former literary agent & comedy agent with 8+ years working in the publishing industry. I work primarily in non-fiction on a range of literary memoir and entertainment titles with authors including Chris & Rosie Ramsey, Jenny Eclair, Phil Wang, Frank Skinner, Alex Horne, Marise Gaughan and Matt Forde.

I work closely with authors to develop their ideas, honing narrative arcs while ensuring their authentic voice shines through. Before engaging in collaborations, I like to have a short call to discuss the project and make sure the partnership is a good fit for both of us.

While this is tailored for each project, I break down my services as:

- Developmental Proposal Edit: intended for earlier stages of book proposal development. I'll give feedback on your initial proposal and help you craft it into something that can be submitted to agents/publishers, with feedback on what to include and how to make the proposal professional and sellable

- Editorial Proposal Edit: intended for more developed proposals that contain sample writing. I'll still do the work of the developmental proposal edit as needed as well as a copy edit of your sample writing

- Developmental Edit: best for those who are working on or have already written their full text. I'll provide feedback on the overall project with thoughts on the structure of the narrative, areas that need development, strengths and weaknesses of the work. Typically this includes follow up meetings to discuss the feedback in greater detail and review redrafts. This does not include in depth line edits, instead taking a wider view on the project as a whole, however this can be adapted as needed

- Copy Edit: best for those who have written their full text. In addition to feedback on the overall project as above, I'll give more specific thoughts throughout the entirety of the text, with suggestions for improvement of clarity/flow within the writing rather than solely taking a wider view (not to be confused with a proofread - while I'll correct any grammatical/spelling errors as I see them, it will mainly be a redline markup focused on inconsistencies, areas that need improvement or clarity or suggested structural changes)

- Book Coaching: all of my collaborations involve a level of coaching, but I also provide coaching for those at the start their writing journey to brainstorm and develop ideas

- Consultation: phone or video consultation to discuss the process of getting a book deal, including what agents do, what your contract terms mean, and what the process of writing the book will be from start to finish

I like to work in close collaboration with authors, with regular meetings throughout the process. I believe strongly in authors' having an authentic voice, so I give suggestions rather than rewrites and don't provide ghostwriting services.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch, looking forward to working with you on your next project!