Editing

GETTING IDEAS INTO ORDER

Having been a professional book editor for many years, I have a well-honed instinct for how to improve different kinds of writing. I often work directly with authors – of both fiction and non-fiction texts – and enjoy helping people marshal their ideas, and seeing them achieve their creative objectives. Offering candid, friendly and insightful guidance to both new and established authors, I deal with everything from a text’s overarching argument, style or building of character to page-level issues relating to structure and expression.

Whatever kind of editing commission I take on, as an editor who also works professionally as a writer, I’m not only able to identify problems but also to offer credible creative solutions. I can suggest ways to improve content, style and expression as well as the basics of syntax, consistency and spelling, etc. I offer manuscript assessments and full development edits, as well as lower-cost sample versions of both services.

I am based in Norwich.

> Full list of my services

Recent editing projects

Development editing

In the last few years, I’ve done developmental editing on a varied set of fiction and non-fiction manuscripts, by both established and new authors. These have included two novels by award-winning British novelist and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Giles Foden; a book by Ulrich Lehmann, a Professor of Design Practice and Theory at the New School in New York (for the MIT Press), about the relationship between revolution, progress and design in the period between the French and Russian revolutions; an unconventional biography of Robert Mugabe by a debut author supported by the Miles Morland Foundation; an illustrated book on happiness and mid-life creativity by a business consultant-turned-mosaic artist; and a children’s book on the life of St. Augustine. I have also done a number of manuscript critiques for unpublished authors, on texts ranging from a history of the Malay chicken to a collection of short stories and a work of climate fiction.

I also do developmental work on online projects, which include public-facing websites, reports and blogs. I am an approved supplier of editing services to Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, and also help develop online content for Kinship Works, a new non-profit policy network that aims to help invigorate the public sector’s approach to tackling some of society’s biggest problems. Editing projects from the past few years have also included online messaging and content for the Eschaton–Anselm Kiefer Foundation in Paris, a series of online reports for The World Economic Forum, and bringing better focus to a set of essays for the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo‘s catalogue for ‘Christian Marclay Translating’, the artist’s first large-scale museum exhibition in Japan.

Ally is one of the best editors I’ve worked with.

Giles Foden, author of novels including The Last King of Scotland and Freight Dogs

Ally is a sympathetic and exacting editor who gets people to look critically at their writing. She not only offers the external perspective crucial to any project, but also helps make genuine improvements to the quality and appeal of the text. Working with Ally makes me a better writer.

Ulrich Lehmann, Professor of Design Practice and Theory, The New School, New York

Copy editing

I’ve been the sole freelance editor used by White Cube (one of the world’s leading commercial art galleries) for over 20 years, doing both developmental and copy-editing work on catalogue texts by leading writers, curators and academics, including Will Self, Nicholas Serota, Simon Schama, Michael Bracewell, Ben Okri and former director of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, Rudi Fuchs. In the past, I also did lots of copy-editing work for leading contemporary art magazine frieze, as well as for Damien Hirst’s publishing company, Other Criteria.

Ally is the sole freelance editor called on by White Cube in the gallery’s work on publications, on jobs that range from copy editing to more complex rewrites. Although she’s a sensitive editor, she’s also not afraid to argue for changes, as well as having the creativity to be able to find ways to better and more imaginatively present a set of ideas. I have often received high praise for the gallery’s editing and must in no small part attribute this to her.

Honey Luard, Director of Publications, White Cube

With a keen eye for detail and a great sensibility for the English language, Ally is an exceptional editor, and has the intelligence and sensitivity to confidently handle a range of complex subject matter. Working with Ally is always a pleasure, since she is both incredibly personable and extremely reliable – a true professional!

Rosalind Furness, former Managing Editor, Frieze

Ally is an excellent and efficient editor, capable of forensic yet sensitive shaping of text. She is also a brilliantly astute reader – her broad-sweep reports on approach, content and tone have been as invaluable as her detailed edits. I would recommend her for any publication project without hesitation.

Amie Corry, former Editor, Other Criteria

Past editing projects

Artist and illustrator Paul Davis‘s Line in the Sand, the catalogue for a show of his work at Ginza Graphic Gallery, Tokyo; Jake Chapman’s introduction to the catalogue for the Chapman Brothers’ notorious exhibition ‘Insult to Injury’, for MACK; a survey of contemporary Colombian photography for The Photographers’ Gallery, London; conversations between acclaimed architect and designer Ron Aradand art critic Matthew Collings for the book Ron Arad talks to Matthew Collings (published by Phaidon); a book published to accompany a Tracey Emin retrospective at the Southbank Centre; a series of books on cultural theory for Iniva (the Institute of International Visual Arts), London; books on art, architecture and critical theory for arts publisher August Media