Tim has been a published author for more than 25 years. He has also worked as a TV producer, journalist, cultural commentator, and magazine editor. His first book, 'The Scent of Dried Roses,' won the PEN award for autobiography and is now a Penguin Modern Classic. Tim's first novel, 'White City Blue,' won the Whitbread Prize for best first novel, and his second, 'Rumours of a Hurricane,' was shortlisted for the Encore Award and the Whitbread Best Novel award.

Tim's Young Adult book, 'Fearless,' was longlisted for the Guardian Children's Book award. His thriller novel, 'The Seymour Tapes,' was purchased by Sony TV last year and is awaiting production. For ten years, Tim served as the President of the Prince Maurice Award for Literary Love Stories. He has lectured at a number of universities, as well as the How To Academy, and has taught extensively for the Faber Academy and Guardian Masterclasses. Tim is a Cornerstones Industry editor.

Interests: memoir, love stories, YA, fantasy, thriller, literary fiction

Naomi has over eight years’ experience working in children’s publishing. She began her career at Puffin (Penguin Random House) before moving to Orion, and then Hachette Children’s Group. Her previous experience as a Rights Manager brings invaluable insight into maximising a book’s sales potential and she has worked closely with both UK and international editors to develop a good knowledge of global publishing markets and trends. Naomi has a BA (Hons) in English Studies from the University of Nottingham and is a keen reader and writer. She has been the children’s book reviewer for award winning family travel blog Mini Travellers and a long-listing judge and mentor for the Jericho Prize. Naomi has been working as a freelance editor and mentor helping other children’s writers to develop their manuscripts and craft for over six years. Her picture books are published by OUP and HarperCollins. They have won and been shortlisted for multiple awards and are now translated into 19 languages. She is a Cornerstones Industry editor.

Interests: picture books, children’s fiction, YA.

Joanna has over twenty five years of experience in Senior positions within the publishing industry. During those years she has worked as a Commissioning Editor for Harlequin Mills & Boon, founded one of the first ever Literary Consultancies, (‘Write From the Heart’), worked as a ‘Book Doctor’ and given talks to Writers Circles across the UK and North America.

Joanna is currently employed by UCL as an Academic Lecturer on their Publishing MA course. She recently spent a year working as the Lead Researcher on an EDI project for Penguin Random House and continues to research and promote diversity and inclusion in all areas of the publishing world. For many years Joanna has also worked as a consultant ‘Book Doctor’ at the request of agents and publishers whose bestselling authors are in need of a fresh eye over their work. This fascinating, but confidential, role includes advising very well know authors who write historical fiction, crime, women’s fiction and romance, when their sales figures have dropped, or they are struggling with a new plot.

Overall, this varied career has involved Joanna in almost every element of the editorial and marketing process for manuscripts, across diverse genres, and has honed her instinctive sense of a commercially viable manuscript in today’s trade fiction market. Joanna has a forensic ability to spot potential and knows the best way to help each writer develop their plot and characters into irresistible, plausible events, places and people. As an eternal optimist and a committed editor, she always works to give constructive feedback that will encourage and incentivise. Joanna has a 1st Class BA Hons in English Literature, an MA in American Studies and holds a PhD in Black Atlantic Studies. Joanna is a Cornerstones Industry Editor.

Interests: general fiction, romance, historical, biographies, and memoir.

Adam is the bestselling ghostwriter of more than sixty titles. He has collaborated on fiction and non-fiction books that have sold millions of copies worldwide and which regularly appear in the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller lists. He has accrued hundreds of thousands of five-star Amazon and Goodreads reviews, and his clients include many household names.

Adam was Editorial Director of John Blake Publishing for nearly ten years before turning freelance. Now, as well as routinely writing for all the major publishers (including Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Pan Macmillan), he is often called upon to book-doctor manuscripts that require substantial pre-publication editorial attention. He has worked extensively across most genres of adult and young adult publishing, and prides himself on his ability to work sensitively and discreetly with a wide range of clients on an eclectic range of books.

Adam has a passion for helping authors and publishers turn great ideas into brilliant books, and for empowering less experienced writers to transform their manuscripts into the best possible versions of themselves. Adam is an Industry editor.

Interests: All genres, with particular experience working on memoirs, thrillers, YA, self-help, humour, food & drink and true crime.

Kate Barker has worked in publishing for almost twenty years as an agent, commissioning editor and ghostwriter. She spent ten years at Penguin, as an Editorial Director for Viking. She has also worked for Orion, for Curtis Brown and for digital publisher Bookouture. Kate is eager to find new talent, particularly new voices in reading group, literary and commercial fiction. Like most agents, Kate is looking for stories that really stay with her. Something that tends to catch her eye is an interesting setting, be it contemporary or historical. Kate is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: crime, thriller, suspense, commercial, reading group, and most nonfiction inc memoir

Kate has nearly twenty years of experience in the publishing industry, and is the Rights Director at a leading literary agency. She has always worked on the agency side of the business, and her career has taken her from New York to London. Helping an author realise their vision for a work is one of her many passions, as are books and reading. Her role in selling an author’s work abroad gives her a keen eye for what a manuscript needs to find a publishing home and captivate readers. She has sold translation rights for a number of bestselling writers in genres as broad as crime/thriller, women’s fiction, literary, memoir, narrative non-fiction and the sciences. Kate is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: commercial fiction, women’s fiction, rom-coms, historical fiction, crime, literary fiction, memoir and narrative non-fiction

Antonia was an editor at Frances Lincoln for 10 years, and has translated and published several French children’s books in English. She has been an editor and mentor with Cornerstones since 2009; since then she has supported, championed and encouraged hundreds of first-time authors, and helped many to publish their debut titles, including Jane Hardstaff’s The Executioner’s Daughter, and Rachel McIntyre’s Me & Mr J. Antonia is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: fiction, children's/YA, picture books, non-fiction

Frances Moloney has worked in children's publishing for over ten years. Starting out as a bookseller at Waterstones, she has worked for some of the world's largest publishing houses, Simon and Schuster and Hachette, and with independents Nosy Crow, Flying Eye and Knights Of, amongst others. She has worked with a range of bestselling and award-winning children's authors such as Holly Webb, Jonathan Meres, Pippa Goodhart and Berlie Doherty. Her debut novel for middle grade readers, The Mystery of the Missing Mum, is published by Pushkin Children's in August 2022. Frances is an industry editor.

Interests: Books with heart. Children's, middle grade, series fiction, young adult, teen, tween and picture books.

Kathryn is course director and tutor for our online course, Edit Your Novel the Professional Way, and co-author of On Editing, the essential Cornerstones guide to writing and editing. She spent several years working for literary agencies before joining Cornerstones as managing editor and later co-director. Over nearly twenty years with Cornerstones she has worked with many of their authors who went on to achieve publishing success – including Kate Scott, Kim Hays, Alison O'Leary, Celia Bryce, and Sarwat Chadda. Kathryn is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: children's fiction, fantasy, science fiction, literary, commercial.

Nick has a wealth of editorial experience in trade publishing. He worked for over nine years at Bloomsbury Publishing on books by such authors as Kate Summerscale, David Kynaston, Magnus Mills, and Will Self, and more recently commissioned and published a range of non-fiction at Penguin Random House. An energetic and creative editor, he has a strong commercial instinct and a passion for a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction. Nick is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: nonfiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, thriller/psychological

Edward is an author, former business consultant, publisher and commercial editor. His editing credits include two Man Booker contenders – one of which also won the Man Asia Literary Prize and the Walter Scott Prize for Best Historical Novel in 2013 – and a shortlisting for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller in 2011. He has an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and was the founder and publishing director of Myrmidon Books from 2005–2015, where he personally evaluated, acquired, edited over forty fiction and non-fiction titles including Tan Twan Eng’s Booker-recognized The Gift of Rain (longlist) and The Garden of Evening Mists (shortlist) and other bestsellers. He has been an editor and mentor with Cornerstones since 2012. Edward is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: literary fiction, commercial fiction, popular history, business, current affairs

Anna is a children’s book editor with over ten years’ experience in the industry. She began her career at Scholastic Children’s Books, developing the illustrious lists for both Scholastic Fiction and the boutique literary imprint Marion Lloyd Books. In 2013 she moved to Orchard Books, managing a wide range of bestselling series, middle-grade and YA fiction. She was recently nominated for the Branford Boase Award 2019 for her work on the Grandma Dangerous series. Anna is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Young fiction, middle-grade and YA, particularly commercial fiction, literary fiction, tearjerkers, magical realism, quirky reality-benders, inspirational coming-of-age and overcoming-of-odds stories

Becky has over eight years’ experience in the publishing industry. She started her career grading and passing the more promising submissions through to a literary agent. Since then, she’s worked in both an editorial and PR capacity. On the PR side, she worked at two major publishers – Transworld (part of Penguin Random House) and Headline (part of Hachette). She worked with a variety of fiction and non-fiction authors, across a variety of genres. She helped launch the career of debut authors such as Shari Lapena and Karen Hamilton, as well as working with brand women’s fiction, crime/thriller and literary authors. She attended in-house focus and acquisitions meetings, so has a strong idea of what publishers are looking for on the industry side of things. Over the last two years, she’s been working on a freelance basis, in both an editorial and PR capacity. On the PR side of things, she works independently with authors, as well as for agencies such as Midas PR, working mainly with fiction authors across all genres. Editorially, she works with aspiring and self-published authors, as well as on a project-by-project basis with traditional publishers. She prides herself on giving thorough, in-depth reports, and loves to see the improvements an author makes with editorial feedback. She is also an author in her own right - her novel, ONE MOMENT, sold in multiple global territories and will be published in the UK in 2023 and the US in 2024, where it was pre-empted as part of a two-book deal in a six figure deal. She is represented by Sarah Hornsley at PFD. Becky is an industry editor.

Interests: Thrillers/psychological thrillers, crime, women's fiction, commercial fiction, contemporary literary fiction, YA of all genres

Laura is a freelance editor with over nine years’ experience in the publishing industry. Most recently, she was a Commissioning Editor at Orion where she worked with many award-winning, and Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors. Previously she worked for Hodder & Stoughton as an ebook proofreader and has also interned at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. She has a degree in English Literature from the University of Leeds and an MA in Publishing from University College London. Laura has appeared on panels for the Romantic Novelists’ Association and was on the judging panel for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award in 2015. Laura is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: commercial fiction, women's fiction, reading group fiction, crime fiction, thrillers, psychological suspense, saga, historical fiction.

Nicola has over twenty years’ experience in the book industry, both as an editor and an author. She began her career at Hodder & Stoughton, home of Stephen King and John le Carré, where she launched the careers of bestsellers Max Pemberton and Rae Earl. She is the author of eight novels, most recently with Penguin, including two Irish Times bestsellers and one winner of the RNA Festive/Christmas Romance prize. She is a consultant editor for the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Curtis Brown Creative and HarperCollins among others. She is a Submissions Editor for the Cornerstones scouting programme and has taught fiction craft classes at the City Literary Institute. She has helped many Cornerstones authors on their journey to publication including Annette Sills, Kathleen Whyman and Fenella Forster. She loves working with debut authors, identifying their strengths and developing their talent with a rigorous but always encouraging report.

Interests: memoir, historical fiction, romantic and commercial fiction, reading-group fiction, psychological suspense, thriller, crime, saga.

Lucy has been editing and writing children’s books for 25 years, and is Managing Editor for children's publisher Farshore. She has been published by Hodder, HarperCollins, Stripes and Scholastic among others, and writes across the age range, with her most recent work in the younger middle-grade genre. She is the author of the Teach Yourself title Get Started in Writing an Illustrated Children’s Book (November 2016, John Murray/Hachette) and a regular contributor to The Children’s Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. She has been with Cornerstones since 2015. Lucy is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Children's and YA fiction, particularly humour, animals, magic, romance

Lil Chase is a writer and editor. She has written six books as sole author, and many more as a writer-for-hire.

Lil has had a varied experience in the publishing industry: she worked at ‘romance HQ’ a.k.a Harlequin Mills & Boon. For twelve years she was a Senior Commissioning Editor at Working Partners Ltd, the creative company behind massive commercial successes such as the Rainbow Magic, Beast Quest and Warrior Cats series. More recently, she worked with the Caroline Wakeman Literary Agency, editing everything from picture books to YA. Lil is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: commercial fiction of all kinds – from picture books to adult. Special interest: humour and heart.

Monica has over twenty years’ experience as an editor in the publishing industry, with a number of titles topping the Sunday Times Bestseller List. She has an MA in English Literature from Cambridge University and a post-graduate year learning print production at UAL.

She worked as an Editorial Director at HarperCollins Publishers, where she commissioned and edited her own list, transforming manuscripts and original ideas into successful, desirable books for a competitive market. She also has previous experience working for Picador, Profile Books, Faber Academy, and Dorling Kindersley. She has been an Industry editor at Cornerstones for many years, and now heads the scouting programme. Monica is an in-house editor.

Interests: Non-fiction, contemporary and historical literary fiction, women's commercial fiction, older children’s books

Vicky is a freelance development editor working for publishers (including Oneworld, Little, Brown, Bookouture, Legend Press and RedDoor Press), agents and authors across a range of genres including literary fiction and narrative non-fiction, crime and psychological thrillers, women’s commercial fiction, historical sagas and series. She has worked in publishing for over thirteen years, and was Senior Fiction Editor at Myriad Editions for seven years, launching the careers of award-winning debut authors who went on to become New York Times and Amazon bestsellers. She has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Sussex and read for literary scout Sylvie Zannier-Betts before working in-house in rights and then becoming a commissioning editor. She won the Independent Publishers’ Guild Young Independent Publisher of the Year Award in 2013. She also teaches creative writing at workshops for universities and mentors writers through the publishing process from planning to completing a novel and publishing strategy. Her training as a commissioning editor means she is quick to spot potential and she enjoys working with an author to develop that promise, ensuring every book is as strong as it can be and has the best possible chance of success in a competitive market. Vicky is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Contemporary and historical literary fiction, women's commercial fiction, psychological thrillers, memoir, literary non-fiction and short stories.