Services available for:
Bespoke Mentoring | Developmental Edit (Academic) | How Strong Is Your Book Idea? | Final Polish | Full Manuscript Review | Opening Chapters
Rachel Hamilton is a freelance editor with over ten years’ experience working with novelists, researchers and postgraduate writers to develop clear, compelling, submission-ready manuscripts.
A former literary agent and the author of six books for young people (published by Simon & Schuster, OUP, and Scholastic), she understands how storytelling craft intersects with market expectations. She helps fiction writers strengthen structure, find their voice, and avoid the inconsistencies that can quietly undermine a manuscript.
Rachel lectures in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and Academic Writing at the University of Lincoln. She holds a first-class degree in English Literature and Language, an MA (Oxon) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and is currently completing a PhD in Creative Writing. She enjoys working with academic authors to shape complex material into persuasive, coherent narratives without losing intellectual depth.
Having lived and travelled extensively in other cultures (mostly in the Middle East), worked in high-security prisons, and experienced life as part of a richly neurodiverse family, Rachel values distinctive perspectives and likes to work with a wide range of voices.
Her varied background and unusual position as an author-editor-agent-researcher-lecturer hybrid put Rachel in a unique position to support authors at every stage in their writing journey from early concept to polished work – whether creative, academic or somewhere in between.
Read our editing Q&A with Rachel Hamilton
Testimonials
“Rachel always pushes me to grow as a writer, providing insightful comments and expertise. Her attention to detail is unmatched, with an exceptional eye for plot inconsistencies. She cares not only about my manuscript but my skills as an author. I would recommend her to every writer I know.” – Mel Darbon, author of Rosie Loves Jack, nominated for the Carnegie Medal
“Rachel Hamilton is a highly skilled and insightful editor with an eye for details. She’s also funny and smart, and easy to work with.” – Jessica Jarvli, author of When I Wake Up and What Did I Do?, Montegrappa First Fiction Prize winner
“Rachel is the queen of structure. As an editor, she doesn’t simply point out where your story might need some restructuring, she suggests practical ways to achieve it so the entire book works better. She also quickly spots any places where your writing might have become a bit saggy or inconsistent - the kind of details you can easily rectify to help to make your writing really sing. If Rachel notices something isn’t quite right, you can be sure a publisher will notice it too - which makes her advice invaluable.” – Lu Hersey, author of Deep Water, winner of the Mslexia Children’s Novel Writing Award.
"Rachel has a rare ability to strengthen the intellectual rigour of a manuscript while also making dense research accessible to a general readership – exactly what non-fiction publishers need. I'd work with her again without hesitation." – Chris Capstick, Managing Director & Co-Founder of Empty Quarter Press.