Our Editors

All our editors are handpicked for their industry and writing expertise, and trained in-house. Matching the right editor to a manuscript is a key part of our job, and we know their quirks, likes, dislikes and preferred genres so we will assign one on your behalf. But here is a glimpse of who they are, for your interest.

Our CORE editors are agented writers and experienced editors, many of whom also teach creative writing.

Our MARKET editors have worked in publishing for a minimum of three years, are already established authors, and may teach creative writing or freelance as book reviewers.

Our INDUSTRY editors have worked in a publishing house or agency for many years at a senior level (commissioning editors, editorial directors at publishing houses, and senior agents); or are multi-bestselling authors.

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Linda Alila

Linda Alila

Linda enjoys helping authors find their clearest, most authentic voice. She has been in the publishing industry for over seven years, with proofreading and editing credits for both major publishers and self-published authors. Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and a Certificate in Editing from Temple University. She is a member of Bookbuilders of Boston and has served as a committee member for the New England Book Show. Linda would love to appear on Jeopardy! again, should the opportunity arise. Linda is a Cornerstones US copyeditor and proofreader.

Interests: adult speculative fiction, diverse voices, academic and literary nonfiction, memoir, essays, thrillers, short stories
Lori Goldstein

Lori Goldstein

Lori Goldstein is the author of the Becoming Jinn Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy series (Becoming Jinn, 2015, Circle of Jinn, 2016, from Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan). With a journalism degree, she’s worked as a writer, content editor, and copyeditor in a full-time and freelance capacity for clients such as IDG and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She serves as a mentor for writers in online contests and workshops such as Pitch Wars and the First Five Pages Workshop as part of Adventures in YA Publishing. Lori is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Young Adult, Upper Middle Grade, women’s fiction, commercial fiction
Sandra Harding

Sandra Harding

Sandy Harding is an experienced editor of award-winning and New York Times bestselling fiction. She spent over fifteen years at Penguin Random House and Penguin Group USA, most recently as a Senior Editor at New American Library (NAL) before pursuing independent editing. In earlier days she earned an MA (and almost a Ph.D.) in American Literature at NYU, taught Expository Writing, and worked in the NYU Writing Center. She loves discovering new writers in unexpected places and nurturing their manuscripts and careers. Sandy is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Mystery/thriller/suspense, women’s fiction, historical fiction
Katie Herman

Katie Herman

Katie Herman is an independent editor with a decade and a half of experience editing fiction and narrative nonfiction. She began her career as an editor and later senior editor at the renowned independent publisher Soho Press, where she edited bestselling and award-wining literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, and crime fiction, as well as select memoirs. As an independent editor, she copyedits for clients including Penguin Random House and Soho Press and provides editorial services ranging from developmental editing to proofreading to writers in all stages of their careers. She holds an MFA in creative writing and has taught writing, literature, and editing at the university level. She serves as an editorial mentor for the Emerging Writers Fellowship Program at the Center for Fiction. Katie is a Cornerstones market editor.

Interests: Literary and upmarket adult fiction, mystery/thriller, short fiction, historical fiction, memoir
Shannon Jamieson Vazquez

Shannon Jamieson Vazquez

Shannon Jamieson Vazquez is an experienced editor of award-winning and bestselling fiction and nonfiction, with 15+ years at Penguin Random House (and before that with a literary agency and at a university press). When not reading for work, she can usually be found reading for pleasure, watching movies, or in another country. Shannon is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Mystery/thrillers, women’s fiction, historical fiction, and narrative nonfiction
Augustin Kendall

Augustin Kendall

Augustin has been editing fiction and nonfiction since 2012 and joined the Cornerstones team in 2020. He completed an editing certificate at NYU’s Center for Publishing. He also has an MA in psychology and a BA in Gender Studies and Philosophy. He enjoys working with both new and established authors, homing in on the changes that will help their manuscripts shine while protecting the author’s voice and the heart of their writing.

Interests: sci-fi, fantasy, YA, literary fiction, action/adventure, thrillers, psychology, self-help, LGBTQIA, creative nonfiction
Richard Klin

Richard Klin

Richard Klin is the author of Something to Say (Leapfrog Press), a series of profiles of various artists discussing the intersection of art and politics, and Abstract Expressionism for Beginners (For Beginners Books). His novel, Petroleum Transfer Engineer, was published by Underground Voices. His work has been featured on Public Radio International’s Studio 360 and has appeared in the Atlantic, the Brooklyn Rail, the Forward, Akashic Books’ “Thursdaze” series, Flyover Country Review, and many others. Richard is a Cornerstones market editor.

Interests: Non-fiction
Adam Korn

Adam Korn

Since graduating from NYU with a degree in journalism, Adam Korn has worked as an acquiring editor at Random House and HarperCollins, and as a literary agent at DeFiore and Company. He specializes in non-fiction and memoir and has developed, edited and/or represented authors as diverse as musicians Willie Nelson and Travis Barker, actors Billy Bob Thornton and Lauren Conrad, elite athletes Georges St. Pierre and Jerry Rice, and social entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie. He also has a soft spot for fiction of all types, particularly if they straddle the commercial/literary line ala Ian McEwan or Donna Tartt. He has recently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where he also teaches karate to children who, if you’re wondering, can beat him up. Adam is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: memoir, narrative non-fiction, humor, pop culture, sports, outdoor adventure, social science, entrepreneurship, martial arts, and fiction of all stripes.
Molly Lee

Molly Lee

Molly Lee is a writer, editor, and mentor, widely acknowledged by top-selling authors for her skillful edits and critiques. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Old Dominion University, and has published works in the Kechi Lamp, Splurge Magazine, and various creative writing and commercial outlets. Best known from Pitch Wars, Molly is serving her fourth year as a mentor in the program, which connects promising writers to established authors, editors, and literary agents in the community. Molly’s new adult romantic suspense novel is currently under representation. Molly is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: YA, NA, adult, contemporary, urban fantasy, paranormal, thriller, horror
Natalie Mae

Natalie Mae

Natalie Mae is the author of the YA fantasy series The Kinder Poison from Penguin Random House and of the sci-fi Duplicity (as N.K. Traver) with Macmillan. Her work has been acclaimed by Kirkus Reviews, USA Today, YASLA and HuffPost. As a four-time Pitch Wars mentor, she’s done over 200 critiques for contest entrants, and her mentees have scored in the top entries for agent requests every year. She is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: YA, especially fantasy, horror, psychological thrillers, and historical fantasy
Dionne McCulloch

Dionne McCulloch

Dionne is an American author living in England, who began as a CornerstonesUK editor before managing Cornerstones launch into the US. She writes YA, MG and adult fiction, and is represented by Writers House in NYC. She has been a long- and short-list judge for the Bath and Caledonia novel awards since their inception, and a PitchWars mentor since 2014. She previously wrote and edited scripts for TV, and copyedited speeches for President Bill Clinton during his first term.

Interests: YA and Middle Grade, all adult fiction less Sci-Fi and fantasy
Joy McCullough-Carranza

Joy McCullough-Carranza

Joy McCullough-Carranza has been a freelance editor and ghostwriter for fifteen years. She has twice been long-listed for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Prize and works as an assistant to a NYT-Bestselling children’s author. As a playwright, her work has been developed and produced in Seattle, Chicago, San Diego, and New York. She’s a Pitchwars mentor and has taught playwriting for multiple Tony Award-winning theaters. Joy is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Children's, YA
Fiona McLaren

Fiona McLaren

Fiona McLaren is full-time freelance editor whose clients have been published by MacMillan, HarperTeen, Swoon Reads, and more. Authors she has worked with have gone on to join established literary agencies, and she is personally represented by Don Congdon Associates. She has published national print articles, sold DVD narrative scripts, and interned with two literary agencies and a media company. She served several years as a Pitch Wars mentor. She works in both the US and UK markets. Fiona is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Adult, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Speculative
Rebekah Montgomery

Rebekah Montgomery

A former literary agency apprentice and reader for publishers, Rebekah Montgomery is skilled at evaluating manuscripts with an eye towards marketability while nurturing the unique voice that makes a story shine. She has worked as a writer, reviewer, publicity consultant, and mentor. As an experienced freelance editor, Rebekah has worked with both publishers and private clients. She co-founded Half Light Publishing, an independent publishing company based in Phoenix, Arizona. She was also a reader for Entangled Teen and completed an intensive one-year internship program at Corvisiero Literary Agency. She has written numerous screenplays, co-developed a television series, and is currently working on a novel. Rebekah is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: YA, MG, ADULT, dystopian, science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction with fantastical elements
Hollie Overton

Hollie Overton

Hollie Overton is a TV writer and bestselling novelist. An accomplished TV writer, Hollie has written for CBS All-Access Tell me a Story, Shadowhunters, The Client List and Cold Case. Her debut novel Baby Doll was an international bestseller, a Richard and Judy Book club pick, was named “Best debut” by Dead Good Books and sold in eleven countries. Hollie has also written The Walls and The Runaway and is hard at work on her 4th book. Hollie is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Thriller, Crime, Romance, YA and NA
Julia Pastore

Julia Pastore

Julia Pastore is an editor and writer with over 20 years of senior editorial experience at major and independent publishing houses, including HarperOne (an imprint of HarperCollins), Crown Archetype/Harmony Books, and St. Martin’s Press. She’s worked with multiple New York Times bestselling authors, including Deepak Chopra, Daniel Amen, Cesar Millan, Meredith Baxter, and Pattie Boyd. Attracted to thought leaders who believe positive change is always possible, Julia appreciates strong-voiced prescriptive and narrative nonfiction that informs and inspires in the categories of health and wellness, diet and fitness, lifestyle, self-help, relationships, personal transformation, animals/pets, and memoir. Julia is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: nonfiction
Shelley Puhak

Shelley Puhak

Shelley Puhak is the author of the nonfiction book The Dark Queens (Bloomsbury 2021) and two critically acclaimed books of poetry. Her essays have been selected as Notables in Best American Essays and reprinted in Best American Travel Writing. Her work has recently appeared in The Atlantic, Teen VOGUE, and VQR. Shelley holds an MA in literature and an MFA in creative writing and she has more than a decade’s experience teaching creative writing and literature at the university level. Shelley is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: memoir, narrative non-fiction, historical fiction, literary fiction
Michele Rubin

Michele Rubin

Michele Rubin has been in publishing for nearly 30 years and was a literary agent at Writers House for 25 years, where she represented a wide range of authors, both adult and children’s, from bestsellers to award winners. She was also the literary agent the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr, and founded the King Legacy Imprint at Beacon Press. Michele left agenting in 2013 to work full-time as a freelance editor, writer, ghostwriter, and conductor of writing workshops. She is the Managing Editor of Cornerstones U.S. Her areas of expertise and interest are broad; she is open to all genres. Michele is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Children's, Middle Grade, Young Adult, all fiction and non-fiction
Cat Scully

Cat Scully

Catherine Scully is a writer of Middle Grade and Young Adult horror, science fiction, and fantasy as well as a published illustrator. Her world maps and illustrations have appeared in publications with Simon and Schuster, Sourcebooks, Spencer Hill Press, REUTS Press, and Under the Juniper Tree. She is the Young Adult Editor for the Horror Writers Association and has been a Middle Grade mentor for Brenda Drake’s annual PitchWars contest, where she mentored and helped secure agent representation for her 2014 mentee. She has also worked as a marketing copy writer, broadcast TV spot writer, international brand manager, and graphic designer for clients such as Cartoon Network, AT&T, NBC, Comedy Central and more. Cat is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: Young Adult, Middle Grade, horror, mystery, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, Steampunk, select contemporary, historical, Gothic, magical realism, LGBTQ friendly, diverse authors and stories
Jenni Walsh

Jenni Walsh

Jenni Walsh’s debut novel Becoming Bonnie releases from Tor/Macmillan in Spring 2017 and has been optioned for television. She’s also an award-winning copywriter, an experienced editor, and proudly serves as a mentor for Pitch Wars. Jenni is a Cornerstones core editor.

Interests: YA, historical fiction, contemporary, fantasy (low and high), retellings, and high-concept stories.
Noa Wheeler

Noa Wheeler

Noa Wheeler is a freelance editor specializing in books for kids and teens. She spent ten years at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group). She is the editor of many books, including the New York Times-bestselling Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and the Coretta Scott King Honor book How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon, as well as Firebug by Lish McBride, Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen, and Flutter and Hum by Julie Paschkis, among others. Noa is a Cornerstones industry editor.

Interests: Middle Grade, Young Adult, all fiction