Daisy Watt – Editor

Hello, I’m Daisy.

After working at major publishing houses including HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Hachette for over a decade, I’m now a freelance editor based in Sheffield, England.

With extensive experience across the crime/thriller, romance, historical, book-club and literary fiction genres, I've edited international bestsellers, plus winners and nominees for a host of prizes, including the McDermid Debut Award, CWA Emerging Author Dagger, Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, Waterstones Debut Prize, Unicorns Culture Award, Costa Short Story Award and Scotland's National Book Awards.

In my view, editing is an exercise in empathy: good editors are good listeners, who seek to understand a writer’s vision and style, as well as their blind spots and roadblocks. That’s why my aim is always to get on a level with writers, and help them unlock a choice of possible routes forward, before empowering them to achieve their goals.

Championing authors from diverse backgrounds is important to me. I was the first editor to acquire novels by alumni of the HarperCollins Author Academy for POC authors and the Asian Women Writers mentorship scheme. Having worked with writers of diverse sexual orientations, gender and racial identities, neurotypes and abilities, I'm here to help all writers fulfil their creative potential.

Thank you for reading my overview. I can’t wait to hear your story!

“An editor extraordinaire whose name should be lit up in Times Square in celebration of her skills and professionalism, but also because of her constant kindness” - Elle Machray, award-winning author of REMEMBER, REMEMBER

"Daisy isn't just an editor; she's a mentor, a friend, someone I can trust. With Daisy's extensive industry knowledge and experience, I felt supported at every stage of the process. I couldn't have wished for a better person to bring my novel to fruition" - Eleanor Barker-White, author of MY NAME WAS EDEN

"She fully understood my characters, the story I wanted to tell, and knew just how to bring it all to life. The way she works suited me perfectly, suggesting subtle changes which always seemed to have maximum impact. It felt like a true collaboration which resulted in the book being something I could be really proud of" - Daniel Aubrey, bestselling author of DARK ISLAND