We’re in the Mood for Romance
We at Jericho Writers know how important it is to spend some quality time with your significant other this Valentine’s day…and by significant other, we do of course mean your ever-dependable manuscript. After facing one another across a dimly lit table (it’s surprising how much light laptops can create), you might find that the passion you’ve been holding onto will reignite and boldly take the form of poetic prose.
On the other hand, you may also find yourself staring into the abyss wondering “Can we go the whole hog, or has the time come to start a new chapter?” If that’s the case, then worry not my friends! We have the tools to help you figure out your next best steps. You can check out our list of professional editors right here and book a manuscript assessment to obtain all those answers you’ve been desperately looking for.
However, we’ve been talking a lot about genres this month. So, in the spirit of love, we thought we’d shine a spotlight on the new romance editors we’ve been lucky enough to work with recently. In an uncertain world, everyone could do with some TLC this month – even your work in progress.
With all her insider know how, Becky has successfully launched many a debut author whilst working for Penguin Random House’s Transworld and Hachette’s Headline. Maybe you could be next! We’re so excited to have her on our roster, because with a highlight reel including Jo Thomas, Cathy Bramley, Rachel Abbott and Harriet Evans, what’s not to love? She also previously read for the Bent Literary Agency, grading and passing the more promising submissions through to agents. So, she knows what it takes to become the pièce de résistance.
Having worked for over five years in the heart of the publishing industry, Charlotte has experience working in HarperCollins’ fiction team, another big 5 publisher. Whilst there, she worked with the J. R. R. Tolkien and Agatha Christie estates, on women’s fiction and romance titles such as Debbie Johnson’s Summer at the Comfort Food Café. As a freelance editor, she has worked one-on-one with every type of writer, from first-time to published authors, she continues to edit and proofread for publishers and creative agencies on an eclectic range of titles. With Charlotte’s scrupulous feedback, it won’t be long before you have agents shouting “It’s a Match!”
A writer of book club fiction with offbeat humour herself, her work has been published in fourteen languages and optioned for television – which is no laughing matter! If anyone can help agents swoon over your manuscript it’s her. She is the author of The Adults (2018) and Like A House On Fire (2020), both published to significant critical acclaim. Her upcoming novel, All The Fun Of The Fair, will be published by Orion in the UK/Commonwealth in 2021. She has extensive coaching and mentoring experience, and loves to help people find their own solutions to challenges.
Hold on to your petticoats, because Nicola Mostyn has twenty years experience in working with creative talent. As an arts journalist, columnist, editor, writing coach and the author of two fantasy romance novels, published with Piatkus. Good things can take time, but Nicola may have the advice you need to snatch yourself a proposal; the all hallowed proposal of representation. Her debut The Gods of Love was shortlisted for The Writers’ Guild Best First Novel award 2019, became an I-news top ten debut, a NetGalley top read and an Amazon bestseller. The sequel, The Love Delusion, followed in 2019. Nicola is represented by the very wonderful Susan Armstrong at C+W Agency.
Lastly, at the risk of sounding like a bad dating show host, let me introduce you to Jenny Knight. Jenny is an incredibly talented editor with many an accolade to her name (that’s why we love her). At all times keeping her finger on the pulse, she’s enjoyed 25 years’ successful freelancing for publishers such as Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Routledge. Better still her writing on writing and the publishing world at large has appeared in Book Machine, National Writers’ Centre and Restless. However, she also practices what she preaches; she was selected for PenguinRH WriteNow 2018, a 2019 Arts Council/TLC Award, is a NCW Case Study and has won or been shortlisted in competitions including Bridport, Fish, Arvon, ACE/Escalator, Yeovil, Riptide and SWWJ.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a real ode to love without giving a big ol’ shout out to our longstanding romance editors Anastasia Parkes, Rosie Fiore, Rebecca Horsfall and Liz Monument – without whom we would be wandering aimlessly on the misty moors (yes, that is a Wuthering Heights reference). Don’t just take our word for it though, book a date with your manuscript this weekend and ponder if any of our talented editors are write for you.
Responses