19 Top Book Editors in New York - Writing Tips Oasis

New York is a publishing paradise.

It is home to some of the finest book publishers, literary agents and book publicists.

There are also a number of book editors across the state.

If you’re looking for editing support for your book, one of the following 19 top book editors in New York might be able to help.

Note: As always, when selecting a book editor, be sure to do your due diligence before signing any contract and paying any fees.

1. Paul Dinas (Queens, NY)

With over thirty-five years of experience in the publishing field, and nearly twenty years of experience as a freelance editor, Paul Dinas has an extensive background working with both fiction and nonfiction projects. He especially loves to work with first-time authors and help them truly make their manuscripts shine before submitting to either a literary agent or straight to a publishing company.

Paul offers general manuscript reviews, in-depth editorial critiques, developmental editing, line-editing, submission proposal preparation packages, submission and publication process consultations, and proofreading. Among genres, he works with cozy mysteries, suspense, thrillers, women’s fiction, general fiction, erotica, romance, historical novels, westerns, fantasy, horror fiction, science fiction and military fiction. He also works on common non-fiction genres like popular science, self-help, business, true crime, memoirs, and new age.

In terms of rates, Paul recommends that you get in contact with him to discuss a per-project quote since all projects require different services, are different lengths, and can vary in genre. For Paul’s contact information, click here to be taken to his website.

2. Loni Crittenden (Buffalo, NY)

With a BA in Creative Writing, Loni Crittenden is the founder and editor of Crit & Pen Editorial. She loves to work on speculative fiction projects, including fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal. As an official member of the Editorial Freelancer’s Association, Loni is an exceptionally talented new freelancer who is ready to help you with your editing needs.

She currently offers editorial assessment, manuscript evaluation, and substantive edit services. If you’re interested in working with Loni, you can use her website’s contact form to get in touch. Simply provide your contact information, indicate the type of services that you’re interested in, an estimated word count, your manuscript’s title, and a brief synopsis of your work. To reach out to her via, email or social media, check this page.

3. Edward Levy (Brooklyn, NY)

Edward Levy has nearly forty years of experience in the field of publishing, and ten of those years have been as a freelance editor. He is an official member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and has won the 2009 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award for his editing capabilities, as well as the 2013 Independent Publisher’s Book Award for his work. He prefers to work on nonfiction manuscripts, including education, social science, philosophy, self-help, health, religion, biographies, memoirs, public affairs, and spirituality.

He specializes primarily in developmental and substantive editing, as well as working with authors whose first language isn’t English to help brush up their manuscripts before submission. Besides, he also offers manuscript evaluation services, consulting and research services, ghost-writing, and coaching services.

For editing, rates start from $0.03 (three cents). For manuscript evaluation, starting rates are $100 and for consulting and research, the rate starts at $55 per hour. Writing services have an hourly rate of $65 and for coaching, you need to pay a minimum of $125 per hour. For more details about the rates, check this page. If you’re interested in working with Edward, fill out this contact form and he will reach out to you at the earliest.

4. Marlene Adelstein (Hudson Valley, NY)

With a career spanning across more than two decades, Marlene Adelstein is a highly talented writer and editor. Based in Hudson Valley, New York, she started her career as a film development executive before finally transitioning into the role of an editor. Marlene specializes in developmental editing, line editing, and proposal writing/editing. Her preferred genres include general and commercial fiction, romance, mystery and thrillers, historical fiction, young adult fiction, and graphic novels. She also takes up non-fiction book editing and screenplay editing projects. Since Marlene hasn’t specified any prices on her website, you might want to contact her by filling out this form.

5. Henry Ferris (Greater New York City Area, NY)

A graduate of the University of Georgia, Henry Ferris comes with an editorial experience of 35 years. He landed his first editorial assignment in Simon and Schuster while serving as an assistant to Alice Mayhew. He eventually moved to Houghton Mifflin where he worked with Shen Tong, before finally moving to William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. Soon after, he launched his independent book editing agency called Henry Ferris Content Strategy. At his agency, Henry assists in both writing and editing projects. Not only does he edit your work for syntax and grammar, but he also helps improve the quality of the prose. If you are looking to collaborate with Henry, you might want to reach out to him through this page.

6. Edward W Batchelder (Buffalo, NY)

Edward Batchelder has over thirty years of experience in the publishing field and has extensive editing experience when it comes to trade fiction and nonfiction. Currently, he spends a bulk of his time on academic manuscripts and corporate communications, but is still open to helping out any authors who may need editing assistance. He especially likes to work on self-help books, reference encyclopaedias, books about social commentary, public relation content, multi-author documents, trade fiction and nonfiction, and academic monograms and essays. Edward also offers ghost-writing services. For more details about the types of editing services, check this page.

If you’re interested in learning more about the type of editing services that Edward offers, it’s best to contact him directly via email or phone. He can provide a project quote for you if you provide an estimated word length, genre, and a few sample chapters. For more contact details, check out this page.

7. Helen Burroughs (New York City, NY)

Helen Burroughs is the founder of HKelleyB’s Editorial Services, founded in 2013. Born and raised in New York City, Helen specializes in editing fiction of all genres. She is an official member of Editorial Freelancers Association, the Harlem Neighborhood Writers Group, and the New York Writing Club.

Helen offers copyediting, developmental editing, and line editing services. She is also a proofreader, provides book reviews, and can even be hired as a beta reader for manuscript evaluations. For more information about her editing services, you can find her here on Facebook or contact her via email.

8. Sandi Gelles Cole (Woodstock, NY)

Founder of the Sandi Gelles Cole Literary Enterprises, Sandi is an extremely talented veteran editor. She started her career as an editorial assistant at the David McKay Company, before eventually joining Dutton/NAL, Rawson Associates, Dell Publishing, and Dell Trade Paperback over subsequent years. Sandi offers a wide range of editorial services including complete editorial evaluation (priced at $800), chapter-by-chapter editorial revisions (priced between $2000 and $2500), and developmental editing (priced according to the project). Besides, she also serves as a writing coach/consultant and offers editorial tutorials, ghost-writing services, and more. Visit this page to find out more about Sandi’s services. To collaborate with her on your project, contact her via email.

9. Carla Jabonski (New York, NY)

A leading author, editor, and ghost-writer, Carla Jabonski is your go-to person for any kind of editing project. Over the years, she has edited thousands of novels for young adults and kids, and to date, she continues to strive by the pursuit of refining and improving content. Since Carla has worked with iconic publishing agencies like Penguin Random House, 17^th Street Productions, and Mega Books Inc. to name a few, you can always rely on her for any type of editing work. Currently she operates as an independent editor specializing in sci-fi and fantasy novels for kids and young adults. Since Carla hasn’t specified the rates of her editorial projects, you might have to contact her via email for more details.

10. David Groff (New York, NY)

David Groff is yet another extremely experienced editor who specializes in narrative non-fiction, literary fiction, biographies, memoirs, and popular fiction. David has worked with leading authors like Jim Dwyer, Paul Monette, and Collin Harrison and his edited works have been published by leading publishers like Ferrar Straus, Basic Books, and Penguin to name a few. If you would like to collaborate with David, fill out the contact form on this page.

11. Joan D. Saunders (New York City, NY)

Joan Saunders has worked with clients like Chevron Corp, Cisco Systems, Current TV Network, PBS, and more. With over twenty years of experience in the industry and thirteen years of experience as a freelance editor, Joan loves to work on nonfiction manuscripts and scholarly books.

As the founder of Saunders Editorial Services, she offers copyediting, proofreading, substantive and developmental editing, and even in-house training seminars to those interested in learning more about the industry. She would be more than happy to provide a quote for your project and provide more information on the services that she provides. You can contact her through her website’s online contact form, found here.

12. Michele Matrisciani (New York City, NY)

Michele Matrisciani is an award-winning developmental editor with extensive experience in editorial assessment, manuscript and proposal evaluation, ghost writing, and proposal writing. Over the last 15 years, she had worked as an acquisition’s editor, developmental editor, and editorial director for several prominent publishing companies like HCI Books, McGraw Hill Trade, Hyperion, and Macmillan. In 2011, she started an independent content consulting company called Bookchic LLC where she extends her services as an editor, literary agent, marketing assistant, book coach, and ghost writer. To find out more about Michele’s editing services and quotes, fill out this contact form.

13. Susan Rescigno (Mohegan Lake, NY)

Susan Rescigno has been a freelance editor for nearly twenty-five years. She’s worked with authors like Angus Kinnear, author of “Against the Tide: The Unforgettable Story of Watchman Nee,” and Jean Maaloff, author of “The Healing Power of Joy.” She provides both copyediting and proofreading services and is more than happy to provide a free initial consultation and provide a project quote. You can contact Susan through her website’s online contact form, or via email.

14. Karl Weber (Irvington, NY)

Founder of Karl Weber Literary, Karl is an expert writer and editor with experience of more than three decades. Specializing in non-fiction titles, he has successfully edited several best-sellers spanning across multiple genres like self-help, memoirs, business, and politics. Karl is open to offering editorial assistance on any type of writing project. So, whether your work is a fiction or a non-fiction, he will happily extend his services if he believes it to be a good fit. Karl Weber can be contacted via post or email.

15. Anne Horowitz (Brooklyn, NY)

Beginning her freelance editing career in 2010, Anne Horowritz has worked with clients like Tin House Books, Seal Press, Ig Publishing, and the Library Journal. She loves to work with first-time authors and is very experienced with it comes to traditional publishing. She works on a variety of projects, including literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and even memoirs.

Anne provides developmental editing, manuscript evaluations, line editing, copy editing, and even query letter and proposal editing. Since all projects vary in size and subject matter, it’s a good idea to get in contact with Anne first to receive a free quote for your project. The best way to contact her is either by email or through her website’s contact form, found here.

16. Robert Montgomery (New York City, NY)

Robert Montgomery is a freelance editor who really knows his stuff. As a Pulitzer-nominated author himself, Robert knows exactly what the publishing industry expects out of a top-tier manuscript. With over fifteen years of experience as a freelance editor, Robert Montgomery offers business writing, education writing, business editing, and creative editing services. He’s worked with authors like Anita Wong, author of “Pain Was My Middle Name,” and was even a story consultant for the television show Law and Order. You can contact Robert by phone, fax, regular mail, or email for a free consultation about your project.

17. Aliza Fogelson (New York City, NY)

Aliza is a passionate editor whose immense love for storytelling is reflected in every project she undertakes. Based in the New York City area, she started her career as a Senior Editor at Clarkson Potter, the lifestyle imprint of Penguin Random House. Over the years, she has collaborated with several notable authors like Alexa Hampton, Celerie Kemble, Gayla Trail, and others. Aliza assists in manuscript edits and editorial consultations. You can also contact her for penning book proposals, book outlines, or brainstorming topic ideas. She is also open to co-writing projects. Aliza can be contacted via email. You can also fill out the contact form on this page to connect with her.

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18. Lisa Kaufman (New York, NY)

A senior developmental editor and marketing professional, Lisa Kaufman has more than 30 years of experience in the publishing industry. Specializing in developmental editing, editorial assessment, and query letter review, she has edited biographies, memoirs, health and well-being books, and historical titles. Lisa also edits books across other sub-genres of narrative non-fiction like humanities, social sciences, political science, current affairs, and psychology. She has assisted authors in both the early and later stages of book development, improving the coherence, narrative style, and flow of their titles. If you are looking to contact Lisa for editorial assistance, check out this page.

19. Amy Hughes (New York, NY)

Amy Hughes is a veteran editor with more than three decades’ experience in the publishing industry. She started her career at Chanticleer Press and worked for leading companies like eNature.com, Fine Creative Media, and Kids Discover/Houghton Mifflin over subsequent years. Amy offers developmental and copyediting services across several sub-genres of non-fiction and fiction, namely, art, history, nature, and literary fiction. She pays immense attention to detail while undertaking any editing project and owing to her meticulous supervision, the edited prose is more consistent, easy to read, and enjoyable. Amy has worked with notable US-based authors, publishers, and businesses, and you can visit this page to contact her.

Are there any other book editors in New York that should be on this list? Please tell us about them in the comments box below!

K. Z. Kwan is a freelance writer based out of Halifax, Canada.