Historical Fiction Book Editors
For historical fiction writers, the challenge is to bring the past to life, and writing with accuracy. Historical fiction writers have special challenges because anachronistic errors will doom the book. Some of the research and writing challenges include:
- The historical setting and world building
- Characters appropriate for the time
- Realistic dialogue for the time, region, and social class
- A story/plot that is feasible for the time period
Details matter in all writing, but especially in historical fiction. If your passion is to write historical fiction, you’ll need to spend a lot of time, and possibly a lot of money, making sure your historical facts are accurate. Using speech inflections is a delicate art that can be used seamlessly or be overly jarring to readers.
Here are other areas you should research about your historical time period:
Culture and social norms, home life, laws, occupations, language including slang/idioms, methods of travel, methods of communication, clothing for the social classes, the politics of the day, famines and diseases, scandals, food and cooking methods, domesticated animals and how they’re used, weather, wars, armies, militias, and much more.
Book editors who specialize in historical fiction know what works and what needs to be researched and reviewed. They help give characters personalized voices, vocabulary, and inflections that add to realism. Historical fiction editors question everything and will catch errors that editors outside this genre may miss.
Ann Aubrey
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.
David Aretha
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.
Theodora Bryant
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.
Carrie Cantor
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.
Ann Howard Creel
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.
Barbara Kimble
Barbara Kimble has worked as a writer, ghostwriter, editor, teacher, coach, corporate communication consultant and journalist, and served as Writer in Residence at Tyndale House Publishers. She has written or co-written ten books, published more than 600 articles in the Chicago Tribune, and edited approximately 200 books for various publishers and authors.
Barbara has helped dozens of writers to prepare for the publication of their books, including both those who have published with traditional publishers and those who have chosen to self-publish, including teaching a six-video writing course for a publisher.
A true wordsmith with a love for the beauty of language and the power of ideas, Barbara aims for clear and memorable writing that includes the occasional touch of humor, if appropriate. She makes what’s complicated easily understandable whether when editing a book, writing a web article, or coaching authors.
John David Kudrick
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.
Andrea Robb
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 Robb 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.
SJ Sutton
Book Editor, Script and Screenplay Story Consultant, Publishing Consultant, Television and Film Industry Veteran
S. J. Sutton has worked in the book publishing and the film industries for thirty years.
In the film industry she worked as a story analyst and development consultant on feature film and television projects for DreamWorks, Disney, Showtime, and Lifetime, including L.A. Confidential (Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published), Get On Up, Enigma, HBO’s Vinyl, and Defending Your Life.
Thomas Womack
Christian Book Editor and Bookcrafter
I'm a veteran editor and writer, with four decades of full-time work in book publishing, focusing especially on Christian books of all kinds. I’ve also edited numerous business and leadership books, memoirs, and fiction titles.
I’ve partnerered with dozens of respected communicators in bringing out many notable works. These authors have included Louie Giglio, Carolyn Castleberry, Henry Blackaby, J. I. Packer, C. J. Mahaney, Ruth Myers, Randy Alcorn, Thelma Wells, Richard Blackaby, Tony Evans, John MacArthur, Larry Crabb, Larry Osborne, Andy Stanley, and Dave Harvey, to name just a few.
Many of my editing projects have involved extensive collaborative writing—especially developing content from various author sources such as sermon transcripts, message outlines, letters, and journal entries. I’ve worked to maintain the author’s voice and style, and I’m grateful to have often been commended by authors for doing exactly that.
As an author, I’m currently writing the third novel in a trilogy of historical fiction (currently being agented for consideration by publishers). I’ve also written extensively for children (using a pen name), with more than twenty books published. Three of my books were winners of the Christian Book Award (the “Gold Medallion”) from the ECPA trade publishers association.
Note: Thomas' rate starts at 7 cents per word.
