Michael Rowley - Editor
I'm a former Editorial Director of Del Rey at Penguin Random House UK, published Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN and love all things genre fiction.
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Overview
I currently work as Senior Commissioning Editor for Fiction and Non-Fiction at Rebellion Publishing, home of the Solaris and Abaddon Books imprints, working with wonderful authors such as Derek Kunsken, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dave Hutchinson, Mike Brooks, Justina Robson and Adrian J. Walker. In my spare time, I work as a professional freelance fiction editor based in the North West of England.
While Editorial Director of Del Rey at Penguin Random House UK I published many exciting writers including Andy Weir, author of the Sunday Times bestselling The Martian, the award-winning Kameron Hurley, Mark Hodder and Liesel Schwarz, epic fantasy writer Django Wexler and more.
Before that I was a professional Head Office Fiction Buyer and Bookseller at Waterstones for 15 years, specialising in genre fiction from SF & Fantasy to Crime, Romance, Westerns, Graphic Novels and Manga.
In today’s competitive market, making sure your manuscript is as ‘submission-ready’ as possible will give you the greatest chance of placing your work with an agent or publisher.
I have a unique blend of experience in both publishing and the retail book trade and my aim is to work closely with you to make your book as submission or self-publishing ready as possible. I offer various services, from a full developmental structural edit to a ‘first-look’ reader report, as well as practical advice on how to proceed at the beginning of your project.
While Editorial Director of Del Rey at Penguin Random House UK I published many exciting writers including Andy Weir, author of the Sunday Times bestselling The Martian, the award-winning Kameron Hurley, Mark Hodder and Liesel Schwarz, epic fantasy writer Django Wexler and more.
Before that I was a professional Head Office Fiction Buyer and Bookseller at Waterstones for 15 years, specialising in genre fiction from SF & Fantasy to Crime, Romance, Westerns, Graphic Novels and Manga.
In today’s competitive market, making sure your manuscript is as ‘submission-ready’ as possible will give you the greatest chance of placing your work with an agent or publisher.
I have a unique blend of experience in both publishing and the retail book trade and my aim is to work closely with you to make your book as submission or self-publishing ready as possible. I offer various services, from a full developmental structural edit to a ‘first-look’ reader report, as well as practical advice on how to proceed at the beginning of your project.
Languages
English (AUS)
English (CAN)
English (NZ)
English (UK)
English (US)
Fiction
Dystopian
Horror
Mystery & Crime
Technothriller
Urban Fantasy
Certifications
- MA in Science Fiction Studies, The University of Liverpool
- BA (Combined Honours) in English Literature and History
- Copy-Editing and Proofreading, The Publishing Training Centre
- Creative Copywriting, Punch It Up
Work experience
Senior Commissioning Editor for Fiction and Non-Fiction
Rebellion Publishing
February, 2018
–
Present
(about 5 years)
I have recently joined Rebellion Publishing to commission across their Solaris and Abaddon Books imprints, specialising in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
Freelance Fiction Editor and Publishing Consultant
Self-employed
January, 2016
–
Present
(about 7 years)
I'm now working as a full-time freelance fiction editor and publishing consultant, based in the North West of England.
Editorial Director of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House UK
April, 2011
–
December, 2015
(over 4 years)
As the Editorial Director of Science Fiction and Fantasy at Ebury Publishing, I launched and ran Del Rey, the dedicated Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror imprint of Penguin Random House UK. During my time there I was the editor for many exciting authors and books, including the Sunday Times bestseller and Richard and Judy selection THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir, The Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wexler, the award-winning Del Dame Apocrypha series by Kameron Hurley and the second Burton and Swinburne Adventures trilogy by Mark Hodder.
Fiction Buyer
Waterstones Head Office
June, 2004
–
August, 2011
(about 7 years)
During my time as a Head Office Fiction Buyer I had various roles. I worked as a Core Range Buyer, where I managed the whole backlist fiction range for the company, to Category Buyer then Campaign Buyer looking after all genre fiction, including Crime, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga, Classics, Romance Fiction, Westerns and Erotic Fiction.
Waterstones Bookseller and Department Manager
Waterstones
August, 1996
–
May, 2004
(almost 8 years)
At the Waterstones Manchester Deansgate Branch I looked after various sections, specialising in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Graphic Novels. At various times, I also looked after the Crime Fiction, Reference, Foreign Languages, Humour, Audio and Board Games sections. I particularly enjoyed running many author events and edited the in-house genre fiction magazine Enigma.
Portfolio (38 selected works)
The Martian
Andy Weir
The Sunday Times Bestseller behind the major new film from Ridley Scott starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.I’m stranded on Mars.I have no way to communicate with Earth.I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days.If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happe... read more
The Bear and The Nightingale: (Winternight Series)
Katherine Arden
** Voted Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2017 **'Frost-demons have no interest in mortal girls wed to mortal men. In the stories, they only come for the wild maiden.'In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the childre... read more
The Human Son
Adrian J Walker
Solaris Spring 2020 Lead Title from critically acclaimed author, Adrian J. Walker A startling, emotional, beautiful (and at times funny) book – one that feels like the best sort of science fiction, a book that should be enjoyed widely, a book that speaks of what it is to be human, a parent, and a child.500 YEARS IN THE FUTURE, EARTH IS A PARADISE... WITHOUT US. The Earth was dying, and only th... read more
The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns Book 1)
Django Wexler
In the desert colony of Khandar, a dark and mysterious magic, hidden for centuries, is about to emerge from darkness.Marcus d’Ivoire, senior captain of the Vordanai Colonials, is resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost, when a rebellion leaves him in charge of a demoralised force in a broken down fortress.Winter Ihernglass, fleeing her past and masquerading as a man, just ... read more
The Return of the Incredible Exploding Man
Dave Hutchinson
A thrilling science fiction masterwork of experimental disaster from the bestselling author of the Fractured Europe series The Guardian labelled "Magnificent". When journalist Alex Dolan is hired by multibillionaire Stanislaw Clayton to write a book about the Sioux Crossing Supercollider, the world s first privately funded high-energy physics facility, this is a dream job.Clayton wants to use ... read more
Salvation's Fire: After The War
Justina Robson
Fortress of the Dead (Zombie Army Book 1)
Chris Roberson
"HITLER IS GONE. PLAN Z IS DEFEATED. BUT THE DEAD STILL WALK.Jun is a deadhunter—and a damn good one. For her, patrolling Northern Italy with Sergeant Josiah and his elite squad, eradicating zombies and searching for survivors is nothing new.When the squad encounters a group of refugees being relentlessly pursued by the Dead, they uncover a new threat: a secret Alpine Redoubt stuffed with SS a... read more
The first in a ground breaking, action-packed and exciting new science fiction series from the best-selling author of The Quantum Magician.Life can exist anywhere. And anywhere there is life, there is home. In the swirling clouds of Venus, the families of la colonie live on floating plant-like trawlers, salvaging what they can in the fierce acid rain and crackling storms. Outside is dangerous,... read more
The Devil's Detective
Simon Kurt Unsworth
WELCOME TO HELL. Solving crimes was the purpose of the Information Men, yet they almost never achieved it, and even when they did, the facts they scraped free were lost, buried again in the labyrinthine mess of the Bureaucracy.When an unidentified, brutalised body is discovered, the case is assigned to Thomas Fool. But how do you investigate a murder where death is commonplace and everyone is ... read more
The House of Styx (Venus Ascendant Book 1)
Künsken, Derek
Sexton Blake and the Great War
Hodder, Mark
Flames Of Mira: Book One of The Rift Walker Series
Harmon, Clay
The Carnival of Ash
Beckerlegge, Tom
The Black Coast (The God-King Chronicles Book 1)
Brooks, Mike
Mickey7: A Novel (Mickey7, 1)
Ashton, Edward
Cold Water
Hutchinson, Dave
Dark Run (Keiko)
Mike Brooks
The Keiko is a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune and adventurers, travelling Earth’s colony planets searching for the next job. And nobody talks about their past.But when a face from Captain Ichabod Drift’s former life send them on a run to Old Earth, all the rules change.Trust will be broken, and blood will be spilled.
The Beast has been summoned.History will be unmade. Freshly knighted by King George V for discovering the source of the Nile, Sir Richard Francis Burton has been made an agent of the Crown.His mission: solve a series of high profile disappearances and – even more astonishing – locate the spirit of a dead mystic, Abdu el Yezdi.Burton and Swinburne are back and fighting for their very existence...
The Secrets of Life and Death
Rebecca Alexander
Destined to die.Saved by Fate.1585. When Edward Kelley and his master, Dr John Dee, discover a dark secret at the heart of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory’s illness, they fear the cure will prove more terrifying than death...2013. When Jackdaw Hammond learns of a young woman found dead on a train, her body covered in arcane symbols, she must finish what Kelley and Dee started, or die trying...
Osiris: The Osiris Project (Osiris Project 1)
E. J. Swift
Nobody leaves Osiris.Adelaide RechnovWealthy socialite and granddaughter of the Architect, she spends her time in pointless luxury, rebelling against her family in a series of jaded social extravagances and scandals until her twin brother disappears in mysterious circumstances.Vikram BaiHe lives in the Western Quarter, home to the poor descendants of storm refugees and effectively quarantined ... read more
Ex-Heroes: Superheroes vs Zombies (Ex Heroes Book 1)
Peter Clines
Book One in the EX Series The Mighty Dragon. Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. They were superheroes fighting to make Los Angeles a better place.Then the plague of living death spread. Billions died, civilization fell, and the City of Angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland.But the ex-humans aren’t the only threats the heroes face. Another group is amassing power . . . led by ... read more
Dark Vision
Debbie Johnson
Lily McCain is cursed.With just one touch she can see a person’s future, whether it’s a good fortune or a terrible fate. Afraid of the potent visions she foresees, she distances herself from the world, succumbing to a life of solitude.But at the touch of a mysterious stranger – who has powers of his own – Lily sees a new, chilling future for herself: one where she is fated to make a terrible c... read more
In a Golden Age where spark reactors power the airways, and creatures of Light and Shadow walk openly among us, a deadly game of Alchemists and Warlocks has begun. When an unusual cargo drags airship-pilot Elle Chance into the affairs of the mysterious Mr Marsh, she must confront her destiny and do everything in her power to stop the Alchemists from unleashing a magical apocalypse.Combining th... read more
Children of Fire: (The Chaos Born 1)
Drew Karpyshyn
For centuries after a devastating battle between the immortals, humanity has been protected from the Chaos realm by an invisible barrier known as the Legacy.But sealed behind the weakening barrier, the traitor Daemron makes one last, desperate bid for freedom: he casts his most deadly spell and curses four unsuspecting children.Born under the Blood Moon, they are destined to wield Daemron’s ta... read more
The Empire of Time: Roads to Moscow: Book One
David Wingrove
There is only the war.Otto Behr is a German agent, fighting his Russian counterparts across three millennia, manipulating history for moments in time that can change everything.Only the remnants of two great nations stand and for Otto, the war is life itself, the last hope for his people.But in a world where realities shift and memory is never constant, nothing is certain, least of all the cha... read more
The Supernatural Enhancements
Edgar Cantero
EVERYBODY LOVES A CONSPIRACY. DON’T THEY?When Ambrose Wells dies jumping out of his bedroom window in Axton House, forgetting to open it first, a distant relative with an unusual companion takes possession of the gothic estate at Point Bless, Virginia. But as they settle into their new surroundings, excited by rumours of ghosts, suicides and secret societies, they find themselves not just part... read more
Arctic Rising
Tobias S. Buckell
The Arctic Cap has all but melted, oil has run low and Anika Duncan, former mercenary turned United Nations Polar Guard pilot, patrols the region to protect against pollution and smuggling.In a daring plan to terraform the planet, the Gaia Corporation develops a revolutionary new technology, but when they lose control, our best potential solution to global warming may become the deadliest weap... read more
The Suicide Exhibition: The Never War
Justin Richards
WEWELSBURG CASTLE, 1940.The German war machine has woken an ancient threat – the alien Vril and their Ubermensch have returned. Ultimate Victory in the war for Europe is now within the Nazis’ grasp.ENGLAND, 1941Foreign Office trouble shooter Guy Pentecross has stumbled into a conspiracy beyond his imagining – a secret war being waged in the shadows against a terrible enemy.The battle for Europ... read more
Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris Book 1)
Jim C. Hines
Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of a secret society founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. As such, he is gifted with the magical ability to reach into books and draw forth objects.But when Gutenberg vanishes without a trace, Isaac finds himself pitted against everything from vampires to a sinister, nameless foe who is bent on revealing magic to the world at large... and at... read more
The Clown Service
Guy Adams
Toby Greene has been reassigned. The Department: Section 37 Station Office, Wood Green.The Boss: August Shining, an ex-Cambridge, Cold War-era spy.The Mission: Charged with protecting Great Britain and its interests from paranormal terrorism.The Threat: An old enemy has returned, and with him Operation Black Earth, a Soviet plan to create the ultimate insurgents by re-animating the dead.
God's War: Bel Dame Apocrypha
Kameron Hurley
Shortlisted for The Arthur C. Clarke AwardNyx is a bel dame, a bounty hunter paid to collect the heads of deserters – by almost any means necessary.‘Almost’ proved to be the problem.Cast out and imprisoned for breaking one rule too many, Nyx and her crew of mercenaries are all about the money. But when a dubious government deal with an alien emissary goes awry, her name is at the top of the li... read more
After Earth
Peter David
Experience a novelization unlike any other. From Peter David, the veteran sci-fi author, this is the complete, never-before-seen chronicle of an extraordinary family who’ve been across the galaxy and back. RAIGE RUNS IN THE FAMILYGeneral Cypher Raige comes from a family of heroes. Since humanity’s exodus from the Earth a thousand years ago and the subsequent onslaught from a mysterious alien f... read more
Transilience
Kevin Bragg
Daniel Helmqvist is a private investigator in New London, the only city on Mars. He’s good at what he does, but people aren’t exactly lining up to hire his services. When two big cases land in his lap at once, he makes the mistake of believing his fortunes are about to change.As the two cases unfold, he quickly discovers that success comes at a hefty cost and unseen forces conspire against him... read more
Ashael Rising (The Vessel of KalaDene Book 1)
Shona Kinsella
Ashael is a hunter-gatherer woman, apprenticed to Bhearra, the healer and spiritual leader of their tribe. The Zanthar are invaders from another world who extend their own lives by stealing the life-force of everything around them. They were last seen on KalaDene 200 years ago. They have returned, looking for The Vessel, a being prophesied to hold the life-force of the land. Iwan is a slave to... read more
Never Summer: A Samurai Western
Tim Blaine
"An original, philosophically minded Western adventure."-Kirkus Reviews"...the refreshing, sparkling prose simply shines;"-Midwest Book Review"The writing is purposeful!"-Readers' Favorite"...vivd and almost poetic style of the writing."-Awesome IndiesNever Summer blends a Japanese theme with the story of a wanderer through the wild West.
Ghosts In The Machine
John Auckland
Angela is obsessed with death. This powerful fixation has driven her to pursue a ruthless career as the CEO of one of the world’s largest biotech and pharmaceutical empires and she diverts much of her organisation’s research budget towards finding a cure for ageing.To secure her legacy Angela creates a prize fund for scientists working on improving human longevity. In doing so she sets the hum... read more
Disco Sour
Giuseppe Porcaro
A politician addicted to dating apps embarks on an existential odyssey to save democracy from being swiped away.In the aftermath of a continental civil-war, nation-states have collapsed, the European Union™ holds on, preventing anarchy. Bastian Balthazar Bux is a leading member of The Federation®, the European network of civil society and local governments. Bastian has just been unexpectedly d... read more
The Goblin Emperor
Katherine Addison
Maia, the youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no a... read more
Michael has 69 reviews
Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality
I had a great experience with Michael. He gave me direction and assisted in tightening up the scope of my story.
EJ Drexmann, April 2021
joy
Gary Finnan, January 2021
Working with Michael was a pleasure. Not only was he thorough and thoughtful when digging through the dense material of my novel, he made a real effort to help me fulfill my vision of my book (rather than forcing it through some predetermined template). His report was detailed and proved to be a great reference, and his Skype sessions allowed for immediate feedback. My beta readers were impres...
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Nathaniel Henderson, July 2020
I am so deeply thankful for Michael's thorough and insightful work. I had been vacillating on a large question about structure in the book. In my mind, there was no clear path, just choices. Michael not only immediately saw through the thicket, but he also was able to concisely explain why one option was not only better, but necessary. I trusted him and now can say, the novel is transformed and...
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Charles Wachter, April 2020
Both the quality and quantity of the feedback provided was stellar. Michael excels at striking the balance between being fair and being considerate. My work is far better for his input and I hope to collaborate with him again in the future.
Alex Kirko, December 2019
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Editor-writer with 17 years of experience in educational publishing (Bedford/St. Martin's; McGraw-Hill), culture writing, and fiction.
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Bitten at age seven by a radioactive thesaurus, I turned to a life of eradicating rogue typos and ameliorating villainous first drafts.
Portland, ME, USA
