Andrea Robinson
New York Times Bestselling and Award-Winning Book Editor
Fiction and Nonfiction: Literary, Historical, Mystery, Adult, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Erotica, Humor, New Age, Spirituality
Andrea Robinson spent over a decade as an acquiring editor at Penguin Random House, working on key titles for Knopf, Doubleday, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor Books. Prior to that, she was on the editorial team at The Book of the Month Club, where she evaluated hundreds of titles for club inclusion.
Notable fiction projects that Andrea has edited have included Jennifer McMahon’s NY Times bestselling novels The Winter People, The Night Sister, and Burntown; the NY Times bestselling Veronica Mars mystery series; the Harvard Lampoon’s NY Times bestselling parody Nightlight; the translations of Paulo Coelho’s internationally bestselling novels The Spy, Adultery, Manuscript Found in Accra, and Aleph; Whiting Award-winner Melanie Sumner’s How to Write a Novel; and Latifah Salom’s debut suspense novel, The Cake House.
Nonfiction projects include blogger and comedian Samantha Irby’s We Are Never Meeting in Real Life; Vela magazine founder Sarah Menkedick’s debut essay collection Homing Instincts; multiple anthologies in the bestselling Foxfire series on Appalachian history and culture; the political travel guide The Nation Guide to the Nation; and new editions of Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey’s Driven to Distraction and Answers to Distraction.
In addition to her editing work, Andrea has worked with over one hundred bestselling and award-winning authors to tailor their copy and paperback packaging for the softcover audience, often developing new materials such as reading group guides, introductions, and glossaries.
Authors she’s worked with in this capacity have included Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus), Anne Rice (Prince Lestat), Chris Bohjalian (The Sandcastle Girls), Lisa Unger (Heartbroken), Karen Russell (Vampires in the Lemon Grove), Joby Warrick (The Triple Agent), Kate Alcott (The Dressmaker), Ariel Lawhon (Flight of Dreams), Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians), Stephen Harrigan (The Gates of the Alamo), Alex Kava (Hotwire), J. Courtney Sullivan (Maine), Jennifer Close (Girls in White Dresses), Peter Heller (The Dog Stars), and Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven).
Via a penname, Andrea is also the author of a successful young adult novel with HarperTEEN that was chosen as a selection of the Scholastic Book Club, and has written text for popular television tie-in projects published by Insight Editions.
Writing
Vampire Crush (as A.M. Robinson): HarperTEEN, 2010
An official selection of the Scholastic Book Club and The Book-of-the-Month Club
The Vampire Diaries: Unlocking the Secrets of Mystic Falls, with Michael Mallory: Insight Editions, 2017
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Book of Shadows: Insight Editions, 2017
Education
Indiana University (September 2001—May 2005)
Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude. Major in English/Major in East Asian Languages and Cultures/Minor in French
New York University (June-August, 2005)
Certificate in Publishing Studies, New York Summer Publishing Institute
Book Editor Reviews
“Andrea is an absolute delight to work with! Her insight and keen eye are invaluable at every step of the editing process, from discussing overall themes and ideas to the nitty-gritty of line editing. Her questions and feedback have not only made my books shine, but also helped me to become a better writer.” –Jennifer McMahon, New York Times bestselling author of The Winter People
“Andrea’s enthusiasm for my manuscript made even the most grueling editorial work a deep pleasure. She shared my vision. Her editing was both intuitive and pragmatic. A writer herself, she was always sensitive to my vulnerability and patient with my process. I loved the way she referred to my characters as living people we both knew. When working with plot, she had a knack for timing and tension that helped me tighten the structure of my novel. Seeing an email from Andrea in my inbox always sparks joy.” –Melanie Sumner, Whiting Award-winning author of How to Write a Novel
“Andrea had a deep understanding of the book’s intentions, and she masterfully streamlined, tightened, and cleaned up the structure without ever simplifying the ideas or the language. She is the type of editor who gives voice to the vague, unformed concern in the author’s head about what’s not working and why, and she does so with gentleness, openness, and a true spirit of collaboration. I never felt as if she was trying to impose a vision or a style on my work, but rather that she was engaged in an ongoing conversation with me about how to make it as strong as it could be. I took out one scene in particular and she asked me why I wanted to remove it, and as soon as she did I realized that I actually wanted it in; she knew the work so well at that point that she could sense every small shift and its implications on the whole. She also had a keen sense of my particular strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and how to bring out the former and tame the latter. My book is infinitely better for her attention to it.” –Sarah Menkedick, author of Homing Instincts
“Quite simply, Andrea is a fantastic editor, and in my opinion everything a writer could want. She gave in-depth, insightful notes that were always on point. It was exciting to see how my novel improved, and to receive the benefit of Andrea’s experience with structure and character as well as with more nitty-gritty line edits. She is a careful, precise reader, and I personally found great comfort in her ability to explain how this or that change would improve my novel. When I met other writers, we would often compare our experiences, and on almost every occasion I walked away knowing how lucky I was to have Andrea as my editor. So many authors receive an editorial letter and are sent off on their own, but with Andrea she was with me every step of the way.” –Latifah Salom, The Cake House
“It was such a pleasure working with Andrea at Random House on the last few editions of The Foxfire Books and our last three anniversary editions! She was always so very thoughtful in her comments, and the revisions or additions she suggested were always right on target. She knew what would be appealing to our audience. We couldn’t have asked for a better editor, and she will be greatly missed when time for the next Foxfire book!” –Ann Moore, President and Executive Director Emeritus of The Foxfire Fund, Inc.
“Andrea is a joy to work with. She has an amazing capacity for imaginative empathy (both for the unruly character and the anxious author), but she also has a keen editorial eye for writerly problems, from the largest structural issues to the smallest of telling details. Andrea’s enthusiasm is both contagious and empowering, while her extraordinary tact and kindness make even her criticism a positive learning experience. Working on a novel with Andrea is truly an adventure in creative collaboration.” –Susan Dyer
“One of the fortuitous things I love about being a writer is the opportunity it provides to work with smart, committed, responsive, thoroughly delightful publishing professionals like Andrea. I was lucky enough to have her as the editor of three of the paperback editions of my novels, and she approached each task with an enthusiasm and collegial sense of purpose that made me feel as excited as I had felt when the books were published for the first time.” –Stephen Harrigan, bestselling author of The Gates of the Alamo
“Andrea Robinson is a very attentive and personable editor. She was the first one I had contacted for a manuscript evaluation. Because of the currency conversion, I looked at some places in Canada to save a bit.
“After inquiring with a couple of local editors, I was unhappy with their responses and understanding of my style. Some brushed me off and said I needed to have re-written my manuscript multiple times before approaching them for further edits. I was stuck, not knowing how to navigate and make adjustments to get to a point for any editor to deliver my request.
“My instincts told me to go back to Andrea. She was open to my need for line-by-line editing and structural/chapter-chapter comments (and she also sent a freebie second manuscript evaluation as a repeat customer).
“With her positive attitude, she did not hesitate as it was easily doable. She also kept my voice/ spirit of the story intact and suggestions to make it even more intriguing. I was very impressed, and it was what I needed to make it easy for me to make the changes.
“My personal take is, it is important to find an editor that specifically suits your genre and style as it is quite the investment. Editing should not be a chore or hard for them. Otherwise consider it a red flag! The editor should be respectfully accessible via email and some allow phone or other. If they like your manuscript they should be excited to get their mind and hands immersed into it as Andrea did with mine.”
