Anna and I worked closely for several months during the drafting and editing of her story of female resilience and leadership.

I helped Tim turn an explosive feature article in the Sydney Morning Herald into a fleshed-out chapter outline for this book, which sold at auction before it was completed.

The first book I agented, a phenomenal work of alternate history that went on to win two Aurealis Awards. It was published in Australia and the USA.

A story about how learning to play the piano shaped the lives of the author and her grandmother, worlds and generations apart. Girls at the Piano is a musical mystery, a personal exploration of the purpose of years of intensive music study, and a tour through the changing relationship between women and the piano over the course of the instrument’s history. About the book Girls at the Piano is a literary tour through my love-hate relationship to the instrument, as a serious piano student during my childhood and adolescence, and investigates the mystery of my musical grandmother Alice, who gave up a blossoming professional life in music in Scotland to migrate to Australia in 1921. It regards the piano from the perspective of some historical and fictional women who sat […]

I was delighted to discover Jenny, and then find her a publisher for this warm, haunting novel set in Melbourne and a small mountain village in Turkey.

Maryanne has a large following on Instagram and Etsy for her beautiful modern works of woven art. I was delighted to advise Maryanne on her agreement with a big US publisher.

Guy contacted me after stumbling upon my website, to see if I thought his book idea about the socio-economic history of dogs in Australia had any ‘legs’. With his professional background as a dog behaviourist, I knew instantly the book had enormous potential appeal to publishers — so long as Guy could develop a story-driven chapter outline and write a publishable manuscript. We refined his chapter outline together, and I provided editorial feedback on the first few chapters before we approached a shortlist of publishers. The book was published by HarperCollins in Australia, where it was a history bestseller, and is now available in the United States. (Guy’s follow-up book is coming out in 2021.)

Fiona was a nonfiction client when she sent me the draft of a novel she’d written. When I read The Mothers’ Group manuscript, I knew this was an important – not to mention page-turning – book. My job was to help Fiona maximise its appeal to prospective publishers through editorial feedback. The Mothers’ Group went to auction and was a bestseller in Australia and Europe. Virginia’s mentoring was vital to the ultimate publication of my work. Her insights were helpful at every stage of the process – from big-picture thinking on narrative structure and focus, through to line-by-line editorial feedback at final draft. She is an expert editorial ‘curator’ and a godsend for a first-time author. Fiona Higgins

Structural edit for the publisher, Allen & Unwin

A young professional woman finally meets the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with, only to discover that he is terminally ill. After her beloved John’s death from cancer, Virginia was faced with addressing the chronic rising damp problem in the house they had shared and, over her first year as a young widow, her house had to dry from the inside out – and so did Virginia. The Young Widow’s Book of Home Improvement is a wry and touching love story that plays with the parallels between our homes and ourselves.

I was Fiona’s agent for her follow-up to the bestselling The Mothers’ Group.

I edited three drafts of this novel as the author developed it.

I provided a detailed report on a draft of the manuscript.

I helped the author shape a publishable book-length work from a diary she kept of her not-for-profit work in Afghanistan.

Reviewing and advising on aspects of the author’s offer from her publisher, Norton

Structural edit for the publisher, Simon & Schuster

Structural edit on the bestselling debut author’s second novel for the publisher, Simon & Schuster

Structural edit for the publisher, Simon & Schuster

I provided encouragement and some editorial notes, and found Jamie an Australian publisher for this spectacular book about transgender surfer Westerly Windina.

Brad came to me with a great idea and a rough ms. With some editorial tough love I got him a book deal on a partial manuscript.

After working with the author on story structure and a chapter outline, I was able to find her a publisher based on a partial manuscript.

The first book of Lily’s I edited, a collection of personal essays.

I edited this folllow-up novel to Ashley’s international bestseller The Railwayman’s Wife for Allen & Unwin

I interviewed the artist to create a first-person introductory essay to this volume, published by Macmillan, which also featured art historian Dore Ashton’s reviews of his work, which I edited.

Structural report and developmental editing on my client’s memoir-in-progress