Editor
Author and editorJanet Laurence
Janet Laurence is the author of crime novels, food and cookery books, and contemporary women’s fiction (as Julia Lisle).
She was included in a Times list of 100 masters of crime writing and has been a Writer in Residence at the University of Tasmania. She runs creative writing courses, particularly on writing crime novels, and is a past Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and current chair of the judging panel for the CWA International Dagger.
Janet loves encouraging novelists and aims to stretch each writer’s abilities and encourage their ambitions.
If you’d like to work with Janet, get in touch with our Writer Support team; tell us about your book and what you’d like support with, and we’ll help you identify your next steps.
Splendid ideas
– E. Fleischaue
Thank you so much
- C. Stibbe
Enormously grateful
- Ginny D.
Exceeded all expectations
– John L.
Particularly beneficial
– Paul B.
Honest and constructive
– Joseph D.
Janet's specialties
Why we love Janet
We love Janet’s thorough and detailed reports, focusing on a chapter-by-chapter breakdown.
What Janet says about editing
When I first started writing fiction, it felt a bit like trying to find one’s way through a forest, not knowing which path to take, how to provide the right atmosphere, how much background, what to do with dialogue and much, much more. It was when I managed to create believable characters in an interesting setting for the first of my contemporary ‘culinary crime’ novels (A Deepe Coffyn) that I found my way to writing a publishable book.
Now I am writing the third in my third crime series, set at the start of the twentieth century and featuring an American girl who has teamed up with an ex-Metropolitan detective to provide an investigation agency.
I try to encourage each writer I work with to recognise the possibilities in their work. Publishing fiction today is a very competitive business and it needs a professional as well as a creative approach. Self-publishing offers opportunities. I have helped at least two writers successfully publish several of their novels.
What Janet works on
By purchasing any of these products, you'll have the opportunity to express your interest in working with Janet.
Manuscript Assessment
Agent Submission Pack assessment
Post-editorial guidance
Opening Section Review
Janet's published books
