Rhea K

Rhea K – Editor

Editorial Director working on women's fiction and romance at a big five publisher. I can’t wait to work with you.

Overview

Hi! I’m Rhea.

I’m an experienced editor, currently Editorial Director at Hachette UK. I’ve worked on bestselling commercial fiction throughout my career, with authors who range from established Sunday Times bestsellers to breakout debuts, with a focus on women’s fiction and romance. The genres I work on include: romance, New Adult, book club, historical fiction, saga, cosy crime and psychological thrillers, along with general women’s fiction. If you’re writing in one of these genres and would like some help, I’d love to hear from you. Nothing makes me happier than helping talented writers shape and polish their stories.

For now, I can offer the following: editorial assessment, developmental editing and line-editing. I’m a creative and collaborative editor. I find edits a joy and I don’t want you to find them a chore. I’ll be sure to tell you everything you’re doing right as well as everything that needs work, so this should be an energising experience.

I want to make sure that you feel supported and happy throughout this process. Any questions, just get in touch ☺️

Services
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Contemporary Romance Romantic Comedy Women's Fiction
Languages
English (UK)

Work experience

Hachette UK

Dec, 2020 — Present
I commission and publish commercial fiction, with a list of about 15-20 titles a year. I started by relaunching the digital-first list but have since moved over to the main fiction list. I love finding and working with talented self-published writers like Meagan Brandy, Elise Kova, L.J. Shen and Parker S. Huntington, launching debut voices like Rajasree Variyar and growing author brands like Libby Page and Kitty Neale. The variety of authors and genres I work across span romance, bookclub, crossover fiction, BookTok, and saga. I love the whole process, from editing to briefing covers to thinking about Comms and Sales strategies.

Head of Zeus

May, 2019 — Nov, 2020 (over 1 year)
Published commercial fiction for the digital-first list at HoZ. My list comprised of c.30 titles per year and included women’s fiction, crime and thriller, sagas and romance. - Responsible for delivering entire publishing arc from acquisition to publication, including commissioning, structural and line editing, briefing covers and working with designers, writing copy, streamlining metadata, and managing freelancers - Worked with the Aria team to ensure that each title had a strong, tailored publication strategy in place in terms of marketing, pricing and promotions, reviewed and revised as needed - Identified backlist titles with more potential, developing fresh publishing strategies including retitling, briefing new covers, changing copy and updating metadata, to deliver a long tail and increase profit - Oversaw the Aria Submissions Portal, including reading and assessing over 150 submissions over the course of a year

Headline

Aug, 2018 — Apr, 2019 (9 months)
- Managed titles throughout the production process, working alongside freelancers and authors to ensure the quality of final files - Created prelims, cover briefs and AIs for titles across the women's fiction, romance, thriller and saga genres - Shadowed senior editors, including reading proposals and submissions and providing detailed feedback; drafting revision letters - Responsible for running social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

HQ, HarperCOllins

Jul, 2014 — Jul, 2016 (about 2 years)
Editor for three authors on the digital imprint list; shadowed senior editors  Responsibility for unagented submissions and competition entries; logging, reading and distributing submissions, answering email queries and sending out rejections  Managed manuscripts throughout the production process  Wrote cover copy, selling copy and catalogue copy  Managed publishing schedules and kept in-house databases up to date  Created AIs, prelims and cover briefs

Rhea has 9 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

clare A.

clare A.

Sep, 2025

Rhea was a fantastic editor. She wrote me a really detailed report which included plot, pace and character development. She also spent time on line edits - comments and suggestions throughout my manuscript. We had a great chat which helped me to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my stor...
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Kate H.

Kate H.

Dec, 2024

Rhea’s editorial advice, as well as some general publishing industry insight, was excellent. Having now gone through all her edits, I am out the other side with a much stronger manuscript and an idea of what to do with it next!
Ardre O.

Ardre O.

Jul, 2024

The feedback Rhea provided was thorough and insightful. Her contributions will ensure a polished finished product. I can’t wait to work with her again.
saira A.

saira A.

Apr, 2024

Rhea is very professional and her feedback has been extremely helpful. Her suggestions and edits polished my short stories which I have since been able to send for submission. I really appreciated her being available for a zoom call to discuss the feedback despite being unwell. I'd like to thank ...
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Stephanie T.

Stephanie T.

Jan, 2024

I really enjoyed working with Rhea! She was very helpful with the developmental edit and discussed ways to improve the plot, the stories beat, and character involvement. She is very insightful and professional.

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