MA in French and German, University of St Andrews.
Postgraduate Diploma in Printing and Publishing, London College of Printing.
Professional Development Courses at Book House Training, London (PTC): Editing and Copy-editing; Commissioning and Project Management; Rights and Co-editions.
French and German (fluent, spoken and written).
Ten years as in-house editor/commissioning editor in trade book publishing: Blackstaff Press (Belfast), Gill & Macmillan (Dublin). Previous to this, five years as a publishing rights manager, A&C Black (London) and Longman France (Paris), and two years in bookselling. Since 2007, a freelance editor, publishing consultant, literary agent and director at The Feldstein Agency.
Books: trade/commercial fiction and non-fiction. Corporate literature: company histories. Also e-books and website copy.
Editing, including structural editing; ghostwriting; preparation of book proposals (synopsis, chapter outline, sample chapters) for submission to publishers; re-writing; editorial reports; proofreading; publishing and e-publishing project management; delivery of tailored courses in publishing and getting published; literary agenting.
Non-fiction: memoir, mind, body, spirit and alternative health, politics, history, true crime, general interest. Fiction: literary fiction, women’s commercial fiction.
Memoirs and trade non-fiction (especially MBS and lifestyle); literary fiction.
Publishers: Hachette Ireland, Hay House UK, Gill & Macmillan, Mercier Press, Colourpoint Books.
Corporate/Public: The Royal College of Physicians, Dublin; The ONE Foundation; IACP (The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy); Lagan Construction Group (H&J Martin); Ards and North Down Borough Council.
Private: a wide range of self-published authors.
Recent freelance editing projects include: non-fiction: The Professional Worrier: Become the Boss of your own Anxiety by Stewart Geddes (Hachette Ireland, March 2019); Win by Jason Brennan and Brent Pope (Hachette Ireland, April 2018); This Works: How to Use Mindfulness to Calm the Hell Down and Just Be Happy by Paddy Brosnan (Hay House, October 2018); An Unfinished Peace by Brian Rowan (Colourpoint Books); Just Mary by Mary O’Rourke (Gill & Macmillan); Let This be Our Secret by Deric Henderson (Penguin UK, Gill & Macmillan); Bloody Mary by Mary Coughlan (Hachette Ireland); Talk to the Headscarf by Emma Hannigan (Hachette Ireland) fiction: Hughie Mittman’s Fear of Lawnmowers by Conor Bowman (Hachette Ireland, Spring 2019); The Start of Summer by Alison Walsh (May 2019); Deep Breath In (working title) by Emily Hourican (Hachette Ireland, Spring 2019); Finding Mr Flood by Ciara Geraghty (Hachette Ireland).
A skilled and versatile publishing professional with 28 years’ industry experience, I undertake all types of editorial projects and can see a book through from unedited manuscript to finished copies, including carrying out substantive editing, re-writing, copy-editing and proofreading. I also have wide-ranging experience in ghostwriting, content writing, and the preparation of formal publishing proposals.