Zoe Hale

Zoe Hale – Editor

Editor with over 10 years' experience working with first-time and established authors in historical fiction, women's fiction, and memoir

Overview

I worked as the managing editor for independent publishing house Ventura Press, overseeing the editing and production processes for all our fiction and non-fiction trade books. I also have experience helping authors self-publish their work. I have nearly a decade of experience in educational publishing. I have worked as a freelancer since 2011, and my clients include individual authors, not-for-profits, and organisations.


I love collaborating with authors to make good stories. I'll help your strengths shine and I'll wrangle your weaknesses. Show me your quirky memoir, or that piece of fiction that's a little different to the mainstream, and I'll work with you to make it the best book it can be.




Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction Historical Fiction Women's Fiction
Languages
English (AUS)
Certifications
  • BA in Communications majoring in Writing and Cultural Studies (UTS, 2009)
  • Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing (UTS, 2010)
  • President of Editors NSW (2015-2017)
  • Vice President of Editors NSW (2017-2019)
  • Mentoring Coordinator of Editors NSW (2014-2015)

Work experience

Publishing Services

Sep, 2020 — Dec, 2020 (4 months)

Help authors self-publish their books

- Project managing and editing all publications
- Planning, writing, developing and publishing SEO-friendly digital content
- Developing workflow and system processes
- Reviewing, developing and managing website structure and content (Wordpress)

Ventura Press

Nov, 2016 — Jul, 2021 (over 4 years)

- Project managing the editorial and production processes of all fiction and non-fiction publications to deliver hardcopy and digital publications to schedule
- Creating cover briefs and working with a team including freelance editors, proofreaders, indexers, typesetters and designers to ensure outstanding quality on all publications
- Structural editing, copyediting and proofreading publications, with substantive experience in editing onscreen in MS Word
- Financial management including contract, budget and schedule management

Self-employed

Mar, 2011 — Present

Provides editorial freelance work for individuals, not-for-profits, and businesses.

The Timothy Partnership

Mar, 2010 — Nov, 2016 (over 6 years)

An online Christian theology diploma and certificate provider
- Edited and published a series of print, digital and audio publications for tertiary study
- Established a house style guide and editorial model for publications
- Always delivered by deadline a series of digital, print and audio educational material on Christian theology
- Liaised with authors, designers, and publishers to commission work and throughout the editing process

Portfolio

‘A heartwarming story of friendship, courage and the things that unite us all.’ Fiona Higgins At the age of ninety-two, Marie runs a much-loved café from the house her single mother Rose built in the 1920s. A warm and welcoming refuge for many, Marie is determ... read more
Sydney, Australia 1800s. Thomas O’Neil, an Irish convict and tailor, arrives in Sydney having left his two daughters on the shores of Dublin. Appointed as Governor King’s tailor, O’Neil establishes a successful business in Upper Pitts Row and soon finds a wife... read more
After She Left

Penelope Hanley

When young Irish artist Deirdre O’Mara emigrates from the remote Blasket Islands to Sydney’s The Rocks in the 1920s, she makes an indelible mark on conservative society with her surrealist art and bohemian ways. Just after the Second World War, Deirdre leaves ... read more
The Cubs Roar

Blanche d'Alpuget

Eleanor of Aquitaine has disappeared. After launching a great rebellion to destroy her husband Henry II’s reign, it seems she has abandoned her sons in the struggle against their formidable father. As treachery radiates from Scotland to the Pyrenees, tension b... read more
Back to Broady

Caroline van de Pol

Life in McIvor Street, Broadmeadows was unpredictable. Cally Egan grew up expecting and experiencing the best and worst of her 1960s Australian working-class community. So chaotic were the days and nights in her big Irish Catholic family that she often planned... read more
In desperation, I look up into mum’s face. A small face – a loving face — And the lights go out. Her face is the last image I will ever see in my lifetime. Blind since the age of seven, Nick Gleeson has spent his life learning to ‘see’ without seeing. Growing ... read more
Neon Pilgrim

Lisa Dempster

During a culture-shocked exchange year in Japan, fifteen-year-old Lisa Dempster’s imagination is ignited by the story of the henro michi, an arduous 1200 kilometre Buddhist pilgrimage through the mountains of Japan. Perfectly suiting the romantic view of herse... read more
Rapture's Roadway

Virginia Jealous

After the death of her father, Lonely Planet writer Virginia Jealous travels across the world to document the life of his obsession – the scandalous 20th century poet Laurence Hope – in a unique blend of memoir and travelogue. John Jealous was sixty, and poet ... read more
Betty O’Neill grew up knowing very little about her father, Antoni. She knew that he had fled Poland after World War Two, that he had disappeared overnight when she was just an infant, and that his brief reappearance when she was a young adult had been a harro... read more
Two Generations

Anne Connor

Based on a true story, Two Generations explores the lived familial impact of secrets, suffering, forgiveness, hope and redemption. Lae, New Guinea 1943. Jock Connor is part of a regiment sent to set up a base camp at the Butibum River. During an Inspection of ... read more
Untethered

Hayley Katzen

When South African Jewish academic Hayley Katzen moves to a remote Australian cattle property to live with her farmer girlfriend, she hopes, at last, to find home. But this is no happy-ever-after tree change. Lecture halls, law reform and the arts are replaced... read more
Poly

Paul Dalgarno

Chris Flood – a married father of two with plummeting self-esteem and questionable guitar skills – suddenly finds himself in the depths of polyamory after years of a near-sexless marriage. His wife, Sarah – a lover of the arts, avid quoter of Rumi, and always ... read more
So much of modern motherhood is targeted at looking good, even when you feel crap, and making your baby look good, even when he or she won’t settle or feed or stop crying – all in the shortest time possible. Hello Baby! uncovers all the myths of perfection new... read more
The Changing Room

Christine Sykes

‘Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.' - Virginia Woolf Anna is in her sixties with her dream job and the man to match. Claire is a ... read more
The Age of Discretion

Virginia Duigan

When the sex in Vivien Quarry’s thirty-two-year marriage dwindles to nothing, her husband Geoff finally gives her a reason: ‘Men are hardwired to not find older women attractive’. This unforgivable statement, uttered by a man long past his Adonis years, prompt... read more
Career to Calling

Annie Stewart

Do you find yourself at a crossroads in your life? Do you want to make a switch in your career? Are you wondering what next? You are not alone. In this user-friendly book, career coach Annie Stewart guides you through the changes you can implement to move towa... read more
The Warming

Craig Ensor

‘The sun was so brutal, so twisted in its brutality, it seemed to grip us by the neck and push us down into the drowning waters. And, in the end, that was our choice: by water – or by sun.’ The year is 2221 and the world is dying. Temperatures soar as high as ... read more
The Night Letters

Denise Leith

For five years, Australian doctor Sofia Raso has lived in Kabul’s vibrant Shaahir Square, working with Dr Jabril Aziz to support the local women. She knows that living peacefully in Kabul requires following two simple rules: keep a low profile; and keep out of... read more
We all have that one friend. The one who expects the world, but never remembers your birthday. The one who constantly ditches your dinner plans when you’re already halfway to the restaurant. The one who leaves you feeling exhausted, used and completely emotion... read more
No Small Shame

Christine Bell

Australia, 1914. The world is erupting in war. Jobs are scarce and immigrants unwelcome. For young Catholic Mary O’Donnell, this is not the new life she imagined. When one foolish night of passion leads to an unexpected pregnancy and a loveless marriage, Mary’... read more
Jeff is dying. Haunted by memories and grappling with the shame of his desires, he runs away to remote Scotland with a piece of experimental tech that allows him to enter the mind of someone in the past. Instructed to only use it three times, Jeff – self-indul... read more
Slice Girls

Joan Arakkal

When Dr Joan Arakkal chooses to specialise in orthopaedics while training in India, a field traditionally occupied by men, she slots into the world of bones with relative ease. But when her career takes her to the UK, and then Australia, she encounters the ‘bo... read more
Special

Melanie Dimmitt

Most of us expect to meander through the motions of love, marriage and (textbook) baby in the carriage, but once in a while life has something a little more special in store. Special is an uplifting, candid companion for those in the early stages of navigating... read more
Paris Savages

Katherine Johnson

‘This story has its genesis in fact, when three Fraser Island people were taken to Germany in 1882–83. The sole survivor was Bonangera (Boni/Bonny) whose life-size plaster cast remains at the Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France. The silencing that Badtjala peo... read more

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