Alethea Spiridon – Editor

I'm a writer, an editor, and a marketer. I know books and publishing from all angles, and I am very happy to be here to help you achieve your writing dreams and goals.

I've spent more than 27 years in book publishing, magazines, and editorial work. I bring every one of those years to every manuscript I touch. I began my career at Harlequin Books, acquiring and editing women's fiction for nearly seven years. I went on to serve as Senior Editor and Editorial Director at Entangled Publishing, where I worked on titles that reached the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. I've edited for Benefits Canada magazine, Scotiabank, and trade publications across health and wellness, financial, and veterinary and optical categories.

I started a literary agency back in the early 2000s where I helped many writers. I've had my own communications company since 2007, where I worked with hundreds of writers and offered publishing consultancy services. I still do. I know this industry, the world of writing, editing and publishing, from every angle, because I have lived it and worked in it.

I specialize in structural (developmental) editing, the level of work that transforms a good idea into a book that earns its place on a shelf. I've conducted hundreds of manuscript evaluations. I find what a book is actually trying to be and help it (and you!) get there.

Fiction, nonfiction, memoir, essays, business books, literary and commercial — I've edited across all of it, and I bring genuine expertise, not generalist enthusiasm. I truly love what I do: helping other writers achieve their dreams and being a small part of making it happen for them.

I'm also a published writer. A screenwriter and short filmmaker. A published poet and essayist. A literary fiction writer mentored by Antanas Sileika at Humber and studied at the University of Iowa International Writing Program (a summer non-fiction writing seminar). Way back, Breakwater Books was interested in a book I wrote when I was 22. I understand what it costs to make something true on the page, which is why I take the work of helping others do it seriously. I'm out there with you trying to make it happen for me as well. I get it 100%.

Some of my education: EMBA candidate, '29. English degree. Book & Magazine post-grad certificate. Two years of a four-year degree in Film and Screenwriting.

My editorial work isn't inexpensive. It shouldn't be. Results rarely are, and I've been at this a long time. But that's a win for you :)

To help you out a bit before querying, here are some standard prices. These are the three areas where pricing might seem high, but it's tapping into an accumulation of education, experience, and decades of work in publishing and consulting. I could charge more! But I want to remain somewhat accessible:

Query letter review - $250 CAD/$180 USD

Query package (query letter review, first chapter review, synopsis review) - $500 CAD/$362 USD