Natalie Bolderston

Natalie Bolderston – Editor

Award-winning writer and versatile editor working in genre fiction publishing. Especially interested in fantasy, poetry and women's fiction.

Overview

I am an award-winning writer and an experienced copyeditor and proofreader. I am currently Assistant Editor at Sapere Books, where I work on commercial fiction titles across a number of genres, including historical fiction, romance, women's fiction and thrillers. I am skilled at both technical editing (spotting grammatical errors, inconsistencies, tense confusion, awkward phrasing, formatting errors and so on) and more in-depth critiques. This can include assessing writing style, characterisation, dialogue, level of detail, narrative pace, and more.

I am most interested in fantasy, historical fiction, poetry, children's fiction, and women's fiction. However, I would be open to working on projects outside of this remit, as I read widely across most genres.


In the past, I have also copyedited and proofread poetry, business magazine articles, careers guides, and academic blurbs. I am therefore comfortable with editing specialist and technical language. The book that I took responsibility for copyediting while working at Pavilion Poetry (Fourth Person Singular by Nuar Alsadir) went on to be shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, one of the biggest poetry prizes in the UK.


Additionally, I have been part of several fiction and poetry workshops in the past – both as an assistant and as a participant. I am therefore able to give constructive feedback, highlighting the strengths of a piece as well as areas that could be improved.


I am available for proofreading, copyediting and developmental editing services.
Services
Fiction
Cultural & Ethnic Fantasy Historical Fiction Poetry Romance Women's Fiction
Languages
English (UK) English (US)
Awards
  • 2016 Felicia Hemans Prize for Lyrical Poetry
  • 2017 Miriam Allott Poetry Prize
  • 2018 Silver Creative Future Writers' Award
  • 2018 Timothy Corsellis Poetry Prize Runner-up
  • 2018 Bi'an Writers' Award Runner-up
  • 2019 BBC Proms Poetry Competition Runner-up
  • 2019 National Poetry Competition - 3rd Place
  • 2020 Eric Gregory Award
  • 2020 Rebecca Swift Women Poets' Prize
  • 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem Shortlistee
Certifications
  • University of Liverpool: English BA (Hons) - 1st class

Work experience

Sapere Books

Jun, 2019 — Present

Sapere Books is a genre fiction eBook publisher, specialising in historical fiction, crime, romance, and women's fiction. My role involves:
• Proofreading and copyediting manuscripts. In particular, I look out for typos, inconsistencies, grammatical errors, tense confusion, and special characters that have not formatted properly.
• Reading new submissions and conveying my thoughts to the editorial director (my overall impression, the strengths of the submission, and areas for improvement).

Rowman & Littlefield International

May, 2017 — Jun, 2019 (about 2 years)

I assisted with the publication of monographs, edited collections and textbooks on RLI's Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Anthropology and Geography lists. I am therefore comfortable with editing material that may feature technical or specialist language.

Liverpool University Press

Sep, 2016 — Jun, 2017 (9 months)

I assisted with the publication of three volumes of contemporary poetry, as part of the press’ Pavilion Poetry series. I was the copyeditor for Fourth Person Singular by Nuar Alsadir, an innovative work that features specialist language from a variety of fields. The book went on to be shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, one of the biggest poetry prizes in the UK.

The Windows Project

May, 2016 — May, 2017 (about 1 year)

The Windows Project is a Liverpool-based arts charity. Here, my role involved helping to select submissions to the organisation's poetry magazine, Smoke, and helping out at writing advice desks (providing editorial feedback to aspiring writers).

Portfolio

Children at the Gate

Reid Banks, Lynne

Fall in love with this charming Regency adventure! Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Jane Aiken Hodge and Jane Austen.Can a free-spirited tomboy learn to fit in with respectable society…?1799, SuffolkWhen her father dies in battle, seventeen-ye... read more
A book that will stay with you long after the story ends! Perfect for fans of Diane Chamberlain, Nora Roberts, Lorna Cook and Victoria Connelly.Sometimes the hardest person to save is yourself… Marie Johnson fell in love with The Smugglers pub when she first m... read more
Shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2017A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for PoetryClaudia Rankine described the poems in Alsadir's first book as 'lawless,' 'provocative, and 'heartbreaking' as they 'converse from the ins... read more

Natalie has 1 review

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Claire K.

Claire K.

Apr, 2021

Natalie did an amazing job copy-editing my book. I am so grateful she wanted to bless my work with her talent. She really lifted my prose to the next level, and I can safely say that my book is now the best it can ever be thanks to Natalie's input. Not only did she respect my personal style of writing, but she also enhanced it where there was room for improvement – dream come true for an author...
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