Editor and award-winning author, 20+ years in UK and NZ publishing. Ex Dorling Kindersley and Pearson. Meticulous, fun and kind.
I offer a range of services from structural and development editing through to a light copy edit or proofread. I have worked on most genres, and specialise in children's, YA, commercial adult fiction, and non-fiction (adult/children's). I'm passionate about all things bookish, and obsessive when it comes to getting spelling, punctuation, grammar, consistency and clarity right. But I'm kind! If I spot a gaping plot hole or decide your protagonist really wouldn't say that, we'll sort it out together. If I think your book isn't yet ready for editing or publishing, I'll explain why, and we'll take it from there. I love to work with new talent as well as well-established authors, and can also advise on where to next - submit to an agent or publisher? Enter a competition? Self-publish?
Full-time freelance project manager and editor, working mainly on highly illustrated junior, high school and tertiary education titles.
Project editor and senior editor working mainly on children's illustrated non-fiction (7-12s).
Sarah Johnson
A rollicking adventure of bottles, ships, piracy and a pig.Shortlisted for the 2013 Kobo/NZ Authors E-publishing Prize.From the author of the Storylines Joy Cowley Award-winning Wooden Arms.Malachi’s life is dull, dull, dull. Dad’s always busy and school is dreary, especially science.Then Malachi finds a mysterious bottle on the seashore, and things start to get exciting.What he discovers insi... read more
Margaret Jefferies
Back Cover Text) In the 1970s, the Nepalese government established an agreement with New Zealand for help in setting up a national park in the Mt Everest region of the Himalayas. Bruce Jeff eries, an Assistant Supervising Ranger with New Zealand's National Park Service, took off for Nepal with his wife Margaret, and three young children. Th ey had little idea of what to expect in this remote, ... read more
A hilarious and heartwarming road trip through one of the most beautiful countries in the world - New Zealand "Many people talk about doing something crazy and adventurous, yet most never follow up on it. Although we looked like absolute twats, and had embarked on possibly the most ridiculous journey known to mankind, we were at least one step ahead of those people." It sounds like a rock soli... read more
Scott Butler
Toby Dresden is a taxi driver who dreams of fulfilling his mother's legacy. When a rival threatens to steal his work, he finds himself desperate and with no way to fund its development. A chance meeting shows him a way. Toby finds himself propelled into a world of drugs, addicts and crime lords, on his way to winning or losing it all, in a story that takes a good heart and pits life against it.
R. L. Stedman
Fairy tales reborn! Inside this enchanting collection you'll find stories that are not-quite familiar. An assassin with a midnight deadline; a shoe store owned by Princeton Charming; a sleeping, ever-so-enchanted beast; an enchanted mirror (how do you define "fairest" anyway?). These are stories you've read a hundred times — but never quite like this. Written over a year, Upon a Time is more t... read more
Adventure. Adversity. Hope.A starship with eight people is launched into the unknown for the epic adventure of a lifetime.In the second half of the 21st century, Earth is struggling under the load of an ever-increasing population and a degrading environment. The tide of human politics ebbs and flows. Rising above the turmoil, the will is found to build one lone starship and launch it toward Ta... read more
Jason Shaw, the fourteen year old son of a Seattle police detective, struggles to understand the mystery of the high speed car crash that killed his mother and left his father in a coma. With just his best friend Ben to help him Jason tries to make sense of the clues his father left behind but they make no sense and he’s not sure who he can trust within the police department. As he gets closer... read more
Maria Artho
This is the true story of Jin a cheeky, adventurous otter who escaped from Auckland zoo.For several weeks, New Zealand was gripped by otter fever as Jin was spotted in the suburbs, on beaches, and on islands in the Hauraki Gulf. The mischievous little otter made world news and captured the hearts of a nation.Jin's Great Escape is her tale. "... an original (and true) subject make this an enjoy... read more
As a U.S. Army infantryman in World War II, Don Wedewer was twice wounded in four days. On both occasions he was left for dead. Now, at 19. he was a double amputee and blind with seemingly no hope for the future. Yet, inspired by a brief meeting with the renowned activist, Helen Keller, and through extraordinary determination and persistence, this highly decorated combat veteran overcame seemi... read more
Immigrants make up 3.15% of the world’s population, that’s 216 million people. How do you successfully progress from emigration to being a long term immigrant? You may not have moved countries; you may have changed areas, such as rural to city. Have you ever felt disconnected to the place in which you are living, or struggled with the language, humour or behaviours? Have you have missed featur... read more
Symphony Smythe just wants a normal birthday party. One with ice cream, cake and fizzy drinks. But her mum and dad have other, healthier ideas – and a menu that includes raw broccoli.Can Symphony stop her birthday party from turning into a huge embarrassment?Meet Symphony Smythe, a smart new friend for young readers.
R. L. Stedman
‘The school will be good for you, Tayla,' said the inspector. 'You’ll have children your own age to play with.’‘Dead children.’‘Well, yes. True. But you can't have everything' Stuck in a hospital bed, unable to move, Tayla decides to leave his body. But floating around intensive care is kind of boring, although being invisible means he can do some cool practical jokes...Until the inspector arr... read more
Once again, Milly McGinty is in a mess of trouble. Papa Griffin is being held prisoner and Milly and the chittens are his only hope of rescue. But Milly is stuck in school camp, and with the world’s meanest teacher in charge, escape is not going to be easy.When the chittens take matters into their own paws, Milly is forced into action. Now everyone is depending on her: the chittens, the griffi... read more
The Fey, the Lady of the Lake, and a summons to wake King Arthur. Tom's life will never be the same again. An exciting fantasy adventure full of magic and danger. Tom's life is pretty ordinary until his grandfather disappears, but then everything changes. He starts dreaming about a mysterious woman who tells him, "It is time", strangers appear in the woods, and then a package arrives from his ... read more
A missing witch, a long-buried tale of infatuation and revenge, and a powerful spell. After a year of regrets, Tom is back in the Other with King Arthur. He joins his friends in the search for Nimue, a witch from Avalon who has disappeared. But has she been taken by force, or is she deliberately hiding? And is her disappearance linked to something, or someone, in the past? Arthur is convinced ... read more
John Reynolds
* A modern take on a classic story* Robyn is transported back in time to Sherwood Forest* Based on a full-length musical of the same nameRobyn Howard is a teenage schoolgirl. She lives with her father and her workaholic mother who always seems too busy for her. Robyn dreams of making a difference and wonders why there are so few famous women in history.After her mother lets her down yet again,... read more
Brian Bargh
This collection brings together twenty short stories from eighteen of New Zealand’s accomplished writers. They explore the dark and dangerous milieu of our comfortable existence. There is humour, tenderness, surprise, anger, sorrow and abject desperation in these stories from the four winds.The authors are Patricia Grace, Albert Wendt, Alice Tawhai, Briar Grace-Smith, Paula Morris, Tina Makere... read more
Elizabeth Ascot
I open the packet. Out falls a pile of aerograms, letters and postcards from me to my family at home in New Zealand. I pick up the nearest and look at the date. Fifty years ago. Impossible.It’s 1963. Elizabeth and Jane leave New Zealand for London and adventure. But when one of the coldest British winters on record hits, the two friends flee to gentler climes.Searching for Summer is a light-he... read more
Chard Andrews
A.D. 2080 It has been sixty years since the wars. Most of the Earth is an uninhabitable wasteland. The remaining human population is crammed into Australia, New Zealand, and the ruins of the Indonesian archipelago. Life in the Commonwealth is finally settling. Entire cities are housed in towering sea-rises on the coasts, and all food is supplied from vast fleets of floating farms moored at sea... read more
Here are the best short stories and novel extracts from the 2015 Pikihuia Awards for Maori writers as judged by Witi Ihimaera, Sir Wira Gardiner and Poia Rewi. The book contains the stories from the finalists for Best Short Story written in English, Best Short Story written in Maori and Best Novel Extract.
Dennis Ingram
Surprise. Adversity. Hope.Sixteen years have passed since the eight crew of the Starship Hope arrived in the Tau Ceti system and established a colony on the fifth planet from the star, a planet they named Serendipity.Their colony has thrived. Together with their children they have turned their habitat into a paradise and begun to terraform the planet.But none of them realise that another stars... read more
Dennis Ingram
Adversity. Fear. Survival.The inhabitants of Serendipity have survived the dramatic events that followed the arrival of humankind’s second starship, the Inspiration. David Miller’s beloved Grace lies suspended between life and death, and he faces the prospect of leading a divided community. Meanwhile, disaster looms in the form of a planet-busting asteroid that will strike their planet in a ma... read more
Christine Hurst
What’s a girl to do when she really really wants a pet, but her parents say no? Use her imagination, that’s what! And Symphony Smythe has an imagination like no other. Soon she has furry, feathered and scaly friends galore. But Mum and Dad worry when Symphony starts to lap her breakfast milk, walk on all fours and say nothing but ‘Meow’. Symphony Smythe is back in this fun and furry tale for y... read more
David Riley
Samoan Heroes presents inspirational stories of achievers who have Samoan ancestry. It includes legends like Sinālemalama and Tigilau; historical figures such as Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III and Salamāsina; and contemporary heroes like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Judge Ida Mālosi, Troy Polamalu, Savage and Associate Professor Donna Addis. Readers will be inspired as they discover the challenges t... read more
D C Grant
What do you do when you have an out of body experience? If you're like Bevan, you start looking for answers to that age old question - is there life after death? But Bevan's search brings him closer to death than he really wanted, almost losing his life in a serious car accident. What he does lose, however, is his left leg below the knee. It's a cruel blow and circumstances are not made any ea... read more
Seventeen and pregnant, Gina has some tough decisions to make - should she marry the father of her baby? The former bad boy Bevan, on home detention for robbery, swears he has mended his ways and will care for Gina and their child. But Gina’s own childhood experience of being abandoned by her mother gives her little faith in ‘love’.When her grandmother goes into a rest home, Gina begins to sor... read more
Melinda Szymanik
A junior mystery for 8 to 12 year olds. What really happened to Sally's Dad lost at sea 7 years before? What were they really up to on that mysterious polar expedition? And why has her Mum suddenly left her job? Why won't her teacher, the school principal and the school bully leave her alone? Sally needs her wits, her courage, her best friend, her best friend's chauffer and even her brother's ... read more
Helen Vivienne Fletcher
A stranger just put Kelsey’s boyfriend in a coma. The worst part? She asked him to do it.Seventeen-year-old Kelsey is dealing with a lot – an abusive boyfriend, a gravely ill mother, an absent father, and a confusing new love interest. After her boyfriend attacks her in public, a stranger on the end of the phone line offers to help. Kelsey pays little attention to his words, but the caller is ... read more
Nikki Crutchley
"She looked away from his face and took in the clear spring night, full of stars. Her last thoughts were of her mother. Would she finally care, when one day they found her body, and a policeman came knocking at her door?"The body of missing tourist Bethany Haliwell is found in the small Coromandel town of Castle Bay, where nothing bad ever happens. News crews and journalists from all over the ... read more
c Ballentine, January 2023
Gaz Anson, December 2022
Brett Schollum, December 2022
Reply from Sue Copsey
Brooke DeBono, November 2022
Reply from Sue Copsey
Annette Friskopp, August 2022
Reply from Sue Copsey
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Author and editor focusing on memoir, health, self-help, and mind/body/spirit.
Overland Park, KS, USA
Former indie trade publishing editor of cookbooks, memoir, food and travel narratives, literary fiction, and more.
Chicago, Illinois,