Detective and Crime Novel Editors

The author and editor of more than 300 books, David Aretha knows what it takes to get a book published.

David Aretha has edited and authored books for 30+ publishers, including St. Martin’s Press, HarperCollins, Lyons Press, Random House, Running Press, Warner Books, Total/Sports Illustrated, and Scholastic.

His books have generated more than $20 million in revenue and have appeared on the Today show, The Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR. His rating on Goodreads.com is 4.2, based on more than 3,000 ratings.

Ghostwriter, Book Indexer, Copy Editor, Proofreader

Ann Aubrey has 30+ years of experience as a writer and editor, including fiction, nonfiction, medical, academic, technical, and college-level textbooks.

She began a career as a technical writer: geophysics, geology, and information technology. Then transitioned into journalism, working as Associate Editor/Editor of the Catholic newspaper of San Diego and teaching fiction writing at the university level.

Literary Fiction, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Romance LGBTQ+, Crime, Detective, Academic Nonfiction, Film Scripts, Media Books

Lauren Humphries-Brooks has copy edited hundreds of novels, short stories, and nonfiction titles, including books by bestselling authors Jane Yolen, May McGoldrick, Paul Cornell, and Alyssa Palombo. She regularly works with large and small publishers, including St. Martin’s Press, Tor/Forge, Prometheus Books, Bella Books, Entangled Publishing, and Cobblestone Press.

She loves working with both first-time authors and established writers, from people looking for that final check to those who want involved editing and collaboration. She’s a writer herself, with a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, where she learned the art of constructive criticism, pacing, plot structure, and dialogue.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Romance

Theodora Bryant has been editing professionally since 1994, ten of those with her fiction-only, award-winning publishing company.

She has been a member of the Book Editing Associates network since 2001. During that time her authors have garnered “Book of the Year” in science fiction, and “Finalist” and “Winner” awards in romance and mystery works. Her authors often receive outstanding reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly.

She’s reviewed, evaluated, and edited thousands of manuscripts through the years and helps her authors navigate towards the “Top 100 Paid on Kindle” lists.

Developmental Editing, Manuscript Evaluations, Line Editing

200+ books edited for major publishers and independent authors

Carrie Cantor, a published author and industry veteran, worked as an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher where she acquired and edited titles on a variety of subjects. As a free-lance editor, she has extensive experience performing diagnostic editing (critique), development editing, and line editing. Her clients are writers in the areas of memoir, history, current events, health, Judaica, women’s issues, how-to, and pop-culture, as well as romance, women’s fiction, and literary fiction.

She also helps authors write query letters and proposals that appeal to the market. Because she is an adjunct to a successful New York literary agency, she has the commercial savvy to advise clients with an eye to current trends and industry standards.

Carrie will meet you wherever you are in your writing process. If you need an objective assessment of what’s working in your book and what needs improvement in terms of structure (narrative arc, characters, pacing, etc.), she can provide a thorough professional critique. Her “bedside” manner is sensitive and respectful but holds nothing back.

If you need a line-by-line edit to polish the writing, Carrie is an expert at smoothing over any awkward moments in the narrative, helping you to be the best writer you can be without imposing her own style or taste on your prose.

Apocalyptic Fiction, Autobiography, Memoir, Police Procedural, Narrative Nonfiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thrillers, True Crime

Developmental editor, copy editor, and writer with a background in criminal law and martial arts

If your novel has fight scenes or involves police procedures or the law, Karin Cather is your specialist. She has accompanied police on search warrants, observed autopsies, and been to countless crime scenes. She has training in arson prosecution, search and seizure law, and the insanity defense. She can help add realism to your writing.

In creative nonfiction, as someone who spent over a dozen years as a prosecutor, Karin know how many stories law enforcement officers, other first responders, and prosecutors have to tell. Karin edits autobiography and memoir of these professionals—current or retired—who write under their own names or use pseudonyms.

Karin brings her rich and varied background to bear on crime thrillers, police procedurals, and true crime, as well as dystopian and apocalyptic fiction, science fiction, speculative fiction, and fantasy.

Writer and Editor of Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade Fiction, Memoirs, and Historical Fiction

Congratulations on taking a step closer to achieving your writing goals. Even in today’s publishing climate, I believe it is still possible for new writers to enter the business and succeed. With little background, I was able to get twelve novels published including children’s middle grade fiction, young adult novels, and adult literature. I’ve worked with both small independent publishers, such as Roberts Rinehart and Brown Barn Books, and large publishing houses, such as Penguin Putnam and American Girl, and I’ve collaborated on a screenplay that took one of my novels to film for Hallmark Hall of Fame on CBS.

In addition, I’ve been editing professionally since 2007 and have helped numerous authors achieve their publishing goals. Writing is a creative endeavor done best when inspiration strikes, and I believe every writer has his or her unique story/stories and voice with which to tell it. That said, certain guidelines, skills, and techniques will make stories shine, and writers will always benefit from the help and support of experienced writers/editors.

I specialize in developmental editing of mainstream fiction, women’s fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, narrative non-fiction, and memoir and would love to hear about your project and goals.

Major Commercial Fiction, Nonfiction, and Screenwriting

Publishing a book at a traditional (Big 5) publisher is pass/fail . . . where pass is a 97%.

I excel at taking material from a “B-“ and putting it over the top, to an “A+.” Your material may, or may not, sell, but I’ll turn it into the best manuscript it can be.

Apart from editing adult trade, young adult, and middle grade fiction and nonfiction, I’m also a screenwriter (WGA) and film producer for the studios.

My recently edited books include Girl From Nowhere by Tiffany Rosenhan (Bloomsbury, 2020) and Sixty Stories About Thirty Seconds by Bruce Van Dusen (Post Hill/Simon & Schuster, 2020). Both are debut authors.

My past bestselling authors include Anthony Bourdain (my name is at the top of the acknowledgments of Kitchen Confidential), Chris Wallace (Character), Richard Marcinko (Rogue Warrior), Steven Pressfield (The War of Art), Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket Diaries), and Brett Favre (Favre).

My titles have been featured on: Sixty Minutes, The Today Show, Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and the front page of The New York Times. Two books I bought, edited, and published sold to studios (Warner and Universal) for over $1 million.

I founded and was editor-in-chief of Rugged Land Books, distributed by Penguin Random House, where I acquired, edited, published, and helped to write dozens of titles.

As an author, I recently completed The Last Duke for Duke University Press (2021). I have written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal among other publications.

On the film side, I developed and produced The Conspirator (Robin Wright, directed by Robert Redford), Gone in Sixty Seconds (Nicolas Cage, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) and The Negotiator (Samuel Jackson, directed by Gary Gray) among other films. I recently sold a pilot for a series to AMC Studios.

Award-Winning Book Editor, Author, and Ghostwriter

Former literary agent and advertising copywriter, published author, editor and ghostwriter of several bestsellers, Stacey Donovan helps guide her clients’ books to successful publication, whether traditional, niche, or independent.

Stacey Donovan has edited or ghostwritten dozens of published books for her clients, many of which have received critical acclaim and awards. Among them: New York Times Bestsellers (Mystery); International Thrillers Awards (Thriller); Florida Book Awards (Thriller); Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Silver Medal Award (Memoir); Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year (Memoir); Stories of Mighty Women Top Biographies (Memoir); Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Ben Franklin Award, Bill Fisher Best First Book (Fiction); Chanticleer International Book Awards (Thriller)

As a professional editor and ghostwriter, Donovan is experienced in many genres: Contemporary Fiction and Nonfiction; Mystery; Crime; Suspense; Psychological Thriller; Literary Fiction; Women’s Fiction; Young Adult; Erotic Romance; Erotica; GLBTQ; Memoir.

Donovan is also a published author of both fiction and non-fiction. Dive, her first, critically acclaimed novel was published in 1995 (Penguin) and reissued in 2015 (Open Road Media). The Art of Loneliness, a sexy novella, is available on Kindle. Co-authored by Donovan, the four-book series based on Zalman King’s Red Shoe Diaries is also available.

Novels, Self-Help, Memoir, Christian, Spiritual, Business

David Ferris has worked on 100+ manuscripts that have landed publishing deals.

His long track record as a ghostwriter, writer, editor, and filmmaker has given him exposure to a wide range of authors, writing styles, and genres, including novels, nonfiction works, self-help books, memoir, Christian and other spiritual writing, and business books.

With professional experience in both fiction and documentary film, as a producer, writer, and director, David is well versed in the art of cinematic storytelling and can edit or critique your screenplay.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Magical Realism, Young Adult and Middle Reader, Books in Verse, Literary and Women’s Fiction, LGBTQIA topics, Short Stories, Nonfiction, Essays, Memoirs, Judaica, Comparative Religion and Modern Spiritualities, Folklore and Mythology, Science and Technology, Business

Publishing veteran and book doctor Susan Maia Grossman has been in the industry for more than 25 years. She worked in-house for major New York publishers Ace Books and Macmillan, read and edited manuscripts for Tor, Baen, and Random House Spectra (among others), and provides highly personalized guidance as an independent editor. Her recent writers have been recognized with honors that include the Lambda Literary Award nomination, the Moonbeam Children's Book Award, and Eric Hoffer Book Awards/Montaigne Medals Book Awards in nonfiction.

She works across the gamut of editorial services, providing critiques, mentorship, developmental editing, line editing, and copy editing, as well as helping with synopses, query letters, and cover copy. A graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop in science fiction and fantasy as well as a published author, she thinks of editing as a partnership and has a particular love for developing writers’ first manuscripts.

Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Biographies, Memoirs, Martial Arts, Technical

Jeff Karon, PhD, has written and edited over 100 books, articles, stories, poems, and doctoral dissertations across a broad range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and business.

He is a board member, website designer, and webmaster for a literary press and a published writer and poet.

His editing specialties include general fiction, biography, memoir, literary criticism, philosophy, poetry criticism, creative writing, technical and business writing, journal articles, and scholarly books.

Fiction (Multiple Genres)—Editor of 240+ Published Titles

You’re sitting at your computer, smiling, feeling an incredible sense of satisfaction in your heart. After more hours than you can count, you’ve finally finished your book – a work from deep within your soul that you want to share with the world.

But then the questions start hitting your mind: Is it the very best that it can be? Will anyone even want to read it? What’s my next step? As an editor and a writer himself, John David understands the gamut of feelings that comes with getting your manuscript from your hard drive and into print. That’s why he’d love to partner with you in getting your book manuscript to the next level.

With an MA focused on fiction and over two decades of editorial/writing experience, John David has had the opportunity to serve as an editor on more than 240 published fiction/nonfiction titles and to work with authors from across the US and around the world.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthropology

Manuscript evaluations, developmental editing

Floyd Largent edits nonfiction, novels, and short stories. His first love as a fiction editor is science fiction and fantasy for young adults and adults, especially for works in which science, characterization, mystery, and unusual cultures play an important part.

In nonfiction he specializes in anthropology, history, science, spirituality (including religious and New Age), and memoirs.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Screenplays, Historical Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, How-To, Self-Help, Christian Fiction and Nonfiction

Kevin Miller has worked as an author, editor, publisher, educator, journalist, screenwriter, blogger, copywriter, book designer and proofreader for over 26 years. During that time, he has written, co-written, contributed to and edited over 250 published books, both fiction and non-fiction. He has also written, co-written, and/or directed and produced a dozen motion pictures, including feature film projects and documentaries. In addition, Kevin is the author of the best-selling Milligan Creek Series for middle-grade readers.

Throughout his career, Kevin has shepherded dozens of writers toward publication, including those who have gone the traditional route as well as those who have chosen to self-publish. Some of Kevin's clients include William B. Davis, the "Cigarette Smoking Man" from The X-Files; Spencer Tillman, former NFL player and lead studio analyst for College Football Today on CBS; and Doug Brode, Hollywood storyboard artist for such films as The Maze Runner, Thor, and Star Trek. Kevin has extensive experience at every stage of the publishing process, from development all the way to book and cover design and marketing.

Kevin’s areas of specialty include sci-fi and fantasy, historical fiction, literary fiction, screenplays, creative nonfiction, business writing, how-to/self-help, autobiography, and Christian fiction and non-fiction. His clients appreciate his extensive knowledge of story structure, his attention to detail, his knowledge and experience of the marketplace, and his friendly, honest approach.

New York Times Bestselling and Award-Winning Book Editor

Literary Fiction, 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. She edited Jennifer McMahon's NY Times bestselling novels, The Winter People, The Night Sister, and Burntown; the NY Times bestselling Veronica Mars mystery series; and the Harvard Lampoon's NY Times bestselling parody Nightlight.

Award-Winning Ghostwriter, Editor and Writing Coach for Eleven #1 Best-Sellers

Award-winning New York Times best-selling ghostwriter, book doctor, editor, screenwriter, and writing coach. Mentored by an Academy Award-winning writer. Ghostwriter and consultant for eleven #1 best-selling books, including five New York Times #1 Children's books. I'm here to make your deepest dreams come true.

I mentored under Oscar-winning screenwriter Stewart Stern ("Rebel Without A Cause"​). I served as consultant for the #1 best-sellers TEARS FOR MY CITY by Dean Dimitrieski and THE REVVED LIFE by Pastor Jeff Knight, and for Robert Beatty's #1 best-selling Children's novels SERAFINA AND THE BLACK CLOAK, SERAFINA AND THE TWISTED STAFF, and WILLA OF THE WOOD. In addition, my ghostwritten screenplay based upon a #1 best-seller was winner of Best Adaptation at two international script competitions.

Dreams are powerful. Dreams can transform you. Dreams come from a Higher Power, and can take you to your highest place. If you have a dream, or a vision, your heart yearns to see it come true. My calling is to help you write the words that can make your deepest dreams come true. I love taking all that passion and fire burning inside you and transforming your life stories, your dreams, your visions, and the deepest yearnings of your heart from the first spark of imagination into fire-breathing reality.

I'd love to help deliver your creative visions to the world, using the fire and passion of imagination, and the life-transforming power of your dreams.

Thank you for sharing your dreams with me.

Editor for three New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling authors

Caroline Tolley has been editing popular fiction for over 20 years and has 400+ novels under her belt.

Her particular expertise is fiction for women: she edits all sub-genres of Romance, as well as Suspense, Thrillers, and Mysteries. Carla Neggers, Karen Robards and Andrea Kane---three New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling authors---had their books edited by Caroline.

Copyediting and Proofreading Services | New Author Assistance

Marie Valentine helps first-time writers prepare their manuscripts for submission to publishers or in preparation for self-publishing.

Marie has worked for small, midsized, and academic presses, and helps authors who are new to the publishing process navigate the path to selling a book. She offers query letter and submission package review, and permissions assistance, and can answer questions you have along the way. She often blogs with her self-published authors to help promote their work.

Marie passed Book Editing Associates' rigorous proofreading test, so you can trust that her edits will also clear up any typographical errors in your book. She is fluent in the Chicago Manual of Style and AP Style.

Editor of 3 New York Times Bestsellers and 3 Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

Don White is an award-winning editor with more than twenty years’  of publishing experience. Among the notable writers he’s edited are Gore Vidal, Edward Albee, E. Lynn Harris, Edmund White, and Samuel R. Delany.

He’s equally at home in fiction (literary novels, commercial fiction, mysteries) and nonfiction (memoir, biography, general nonfiction). As an editor and writer he’s freelanced for Doubleday, Penguin, Bantam, Basic Books, and Beacon, among others.

Don has been singled out for distinction by the American Library Association, Publishers Weekly, and Out Magazine. As an independent scholar he's authored three books on African American history as well as several books for gay and lesbian readers. He's also an emeritus board member of the Lambda Literary Foundation. Don lives in New York City.