Milly Reilly

Milly Reilly – Editor

Literary agent at Colwill & Peddle, editing and representing a dynamic list of authors of fiction and non-fiction.

Overview

I’m a literary agent at Colwill & Peddle, where I represent fiction and a broad range of non-fiction spanning memoir, narrative non-fiction, essays, creative non-fiction and cookery. Authors I represent include Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Jacqueline Roy, Alexina Anatole, Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad.


Before joining Colwill & Peddle, I worked for over six years at Jo Unwin Literary Agency, where I worked alongside Jo with authors such as Kit de Waal, Candice Carty-Williams, Brian Bilston and Georgia Pritchett.


I am a hands-on editor, and I love working closely with writers to consider the different, generative ways of telling a story or developing an idea or argument within their writing. I enjoy working on the big and small of a text, from energising and honing shape and structure to fine-tuning on a sentence level. In fiction, I’m particularly interested in character-driven stories, and in non-fiction I’m drawn to innovative, critical thinking and expert voices.


I offer developmental editing, editorial assessment, query letter review, copy editing and proofreading. Across my editorial work, I strive to deliver a combination of careful thought, imagination and approachability. Please do get in touch – I'd love to talk more.

Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits Nature Political Science & Current Affairs Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Literary Fiction
Languages
English (UK)
Certifications
  • Masters Degree in Contemporary Literature, Culture and Theory
  • Bachelors Degree in English and Related Literature

Work experience

Colwill & Peddle

Sep, 2023 — Present

At Colwill & Peddle, I represent a dynamic list of authors of literary fiction and non-fiction, including Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Ben Smoke, Jacqueline Roy, Alexina Anatole, Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad.

Jo Unwin Literary Agency

Mar, 2017 — Aug, 2023 (over 6 years)

I started at the agency as Jo's assistant, where I worked on editorial development and contract negotiation with authors such as Kit de Waal, Candice Carty-Williams, Brian Bilston, Robert Popper and Georgia Pritchett. Around three years into the job, I started to build my own list of authors of literary fiction and non-fiction, including the agency's first cookbook writers.

First Story

Jan, 2016 — Mar, 2017 (about 1 year)

I worked on a range of fundraising, communication and marketing activities, including trust and foundation applications, managing social media accounts, and organising events.

Milly has 4 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Louisa S.

Louisa S.

Aug, 2024

Working with Milly has been a wonderful experience for me and I would recommend her services to any writer, no matter where they are in their writing journey. Milly is thorough, sensitive and clear as an editor, often providing a range of suggestions and ways forward - an approach that has given me a renewed sense of possibility and freedom. At every stage, she has made me feel comfortable, c...
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Milly R.
Thank you so much Louisa. It was a huge pleasure to work with you on your brilliant novel.
ted F.

ted F.

May, 2024

Milly is the best. There's no other way to say it. Mechanics - line editing, phrasing, continuity - there's none better. On the more difficult topic of character and development she is cautious, aware that the editor may not always understand the writer's intent. That approach is worth it's weight in gold. An opinionated editor is Writer's Hell, especially for fiction which by definition i...
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Milly R.
Thank you so much Ted. It was a true pleasure to work with you on your brilliant novel.
N C.

N C.

Apr, 2024

Working with Milly Reilly was an absolute delight. Her expertise goes beyond the usual technical edits you would expect from a copyeditor. This is how her 'copy-edit plus' service stood out: 1. Milly first asked me about my pain points so she could adapt her editing style accordingly. I told her I struggle with being too "on the nose" with my writing, and she tailored her approach to focus on ...
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Milly R.
Thank you so much Bryan, this is incredibly kind. I really enjoyed our work together!
Samantha L.

Samantha L.

Mar, 2024

I am so incredibly grateful to have found Milly. Not only is she wonderful to work with, timely, and responsive, I can tell she took the time to think about my work from multiple angles (readability, market, comparable texts, etc) and above all, allowed my vision for what I wanted my writing to achieve to come first. This is a rare quality and Milly definitely has it. This meant that her sugges...
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Milly R.
Thank you so much Samantha. It was a true pleasure to work with you on your brilliant work.

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