Book Editors

8 Editors for Children’s Books: Serious Professionals for Fun Books

Publishing a children’s book can be a fun experience for authors, but like any other book project, professional editing is required. In fact, since children’s books are shorter and less wordy by nature, the story development and narrative needs to be crafted carefully 一 something a professional editor can help you with.

To help you find your trusted ally for your children’s book, here’s a list of 8 amazing editors for children’s books. They are professionals with years in the editing trenches, working both at Big 5 publishing houses and with indie authors.

Let me introduce you to them.

1. Fran Lebowitz

Editor Fran Lebowitz has had a hell of a ride in publishing, working for over a decade at the Writers House agency in New York, and representing some world-wide successes like The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. What makes her so successful (and highly in demand for hiring) is her ability to provide direct, strong feedback with a warm, reassuring voice. While she’s comfortable editing many genres, two of her specialties are Middle Grade and Young Adult.

Services: Developmental Editing, Copy Editing, Editorial Assessment, Proofreading

Specialty genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult

Fun fact: Years ago Fran relocated with her family to Singapore and started working with Eastern writers too.

2. Jim Thomas

Jim Thomas breathed editing for over twenty years at Random House in New York City. Following a six-year stint as Editorial Director, he decided to go solo again and help authors craft beautiful stories for children. Jim’s editing skills are versatile, but his area of expertise is fiction for middle-schoolers, teenagers, and young adults. Some of the books he worked on include The Books of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, which ended up selling millions of copies. Jim’s clients appreciate his uncanny ability to decipher an author’s intent, and consider him ‘the gold standard of editors’.

Services: Developmental Editing, Copy Editing, Editorial Assessment

Specialty genres: Middle Grade, Middle Grade Fantasy, Young Adult

Fun fact: He discovered his love for editing in college, when a friend asked him to read his essay.

3. Kate Angelella

Kate Angelella learned the ropes of the editing business as an in-house editor for Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, revisioning chapter books, middle grade, and YA novels. During her time in New York City, she commissioned and edited over 30 original books, including the early novels of New York Times bestselling author Nova Ren Suma. Kate now owns her own editing company, Angelella Editorial, alongside her husband and other professional editors. Her knowledge of literature and storytelling is such that one of her clients said “being inside her head must be like walking through the Harvard Library.” If that’s not a testament to her competency, I don’t know what is.

Services: Developmental Editing, Editorial Assessment

Specialty genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult Fantasy

Fun fact: Her editorial company hosts a podcast called The Don’t tell; Show. Brilliant name if you ask me.

4. Shasta Clinch

If you’re looking for someone with a deep understanding of children’s books, look no further than children’s book proofreader Shasta Clinch. In her ten years as a Senior Managing Editor at Random House Children’s Books, she worked on over 100 titles a year, commissioning, editing, and marketing them. She worked on titles like Disney’s Art of Moana and The Art of Zootopia, and The Art of Kubo and the Two Strings by Emily Haynes. Finally, one of her editing strengths is her mastery of the Chicago Manual of Style.

Services: Copy Editing, Proofreading

Specialty genres: Children’s Non-Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Fun fact:  She published Kamala Is Speaking, a book for young readers to learn about the first black, female VP of the United States.

5. Maya Myers

Maya Myers was introduced to children’s literature as a teacher and parent, having taught elementary school and raised three children. For over a decade, she has been editing books for several major publishers, such as HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Candlewick. Her services include developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading of both fiction and nonfiction, but she specializes in children’s and YA literature. Some of the titles she’s been involved in include Wishing Day by bestselling author Lauren Myracle and Julius Zebra by Gary Northfield. If that wasn’t enough, she published two children’s books: NOT LITTLE and Little Kids First Big Book of Baby Animals, published by National Geographic Kids.

Services: Developmental Editing, Copy Editing, Proofreading

Specialty genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult

Fun fact: Her husband is an author and illustrator of children’s books, but they haven’t yet worked on a title together (although they hope so!).

6. George Newman

George is a seasoned editor and proofreader with experience both in traditional publishing and freelancing. Over the years, he collaborated on trade books across genres, from fantasy to graphic novels, such as Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (of Netflix fame) and Viva, Rose! by Susan Krawitz. George also has plenty of experience as a newspaper copy editor and book translator of nonfiction books for children 一 and though he no longer pursues these kinds of projects, he says the skills he developed then continue to  come in handy in his editing work.

Services: Copy Editing, Proofreading, Indexing

Specialty genres: Children’s Non-Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Fun fact: George has since long been involved with environmental efforts around river conservation. Respect.

7. Lindsay Schlegel

Lindsay has been in the world of literature for 15 years, starting as a cashier at Bookseller, then working as an intern and editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. Her role included acquiring and editing picture books, middle grade novels, and young adult submissions. Lindsay doesn’t shy away from authorship either: she has published a book on parenting, sharing how raising her five children reinforced her Christian faith. Today her work as a freelance editor is mostly focused on helping authors craft wonderful children’s books.

Services: Developmental Editing, Editorial Assessment

Specialty genres: Middle Grade, Picture Books, Young Adult

Fun fact: During her studies at Boston college, she practiced swing dancing and ultimate frisbee.

8. Amy Snyder

Amy Snyder has been an editor for over 25 years, working with major children’s publishers on different projects, including the bestselling series Timmy Failure for Candlewick Press. Her expertise extends to Middle Age and Young Adult fiction, which she proudly (and meticulously) edits and proofread marking electronic and hard-copy pages. She’s also a member of Editorial Freelancers Association and the American Copy Editors Society.

Services: Copy Editing, Proofreading

Specialty genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult

Fun fact: She drives around with sticky notes in her car dash. You never know when the right idea strikes, right?

I hope this list of editors for children’s books will help you find the right professional to collaborate with 一 you surely have a great pool of talent to choose from. It’s time to polish up your children’s book and make those kids dream far and wide.