We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eden Northover a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eden, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

This is a really interesting question and one I don’t often reflect on, but when I consider the legacy I’d like to leave behind, three things come to mind: 1) my stories, 2) empowering and guiding writers to share their stories with the world, and 3) the love and care I have for my family.

When I was in primary school, creative writing was my life, and while it still is, the pressures you feel as an adult as opposed to when you’re a kid are entirely different. I used to write stories instead of play games; I used to constantly be conjuring up new ideas and characters to be featured in my next story, and if I wasn’t writing, you could bet I’d be cuddled up with a book somewhere. At the age of 14, I wrote a story of 80,000 words—80,000!

Yet as an adult, writing no longer seems or feels so easy. We tend to put more pressure on ourselves; we fear what other people—whether that be family, friends, or followers—will say about our books, and so we constantly find excuses not to write. Or if we do write, we don’t feel confident to share it. There are numerous reasons why we hold ourselves back and don’t take the leap, but my entire mission as an editor (and writer) is to empower and guide others to share their stories.

If that means encouraging even one person to write and publish a book, that’s my job done. In a world of AI and increasing technology, it’s never been more important for us to share our stories and keep writing alive.

In the end, I hope to be remembered as someone who dared others to share their voices, someone who reminded them that their stories matter, now and always.

Eden, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Of course! So, my name is Eden Northover, I am 23 years old, and I am the owner of Eden Editorial. I am a fiction editor and writing coach, and my aim is to empower writers to share their stories with the world. With my editing and coaching services, I help writers to prepare their manuscripts for publication and achieve their goals of becoming published authors.

A career in the publishing/writing industry has always intrigued me, but back when I was in sixth form, I felt a lot of pressure to pursue a career in a job that catered more towards money than passion, thus I studied Law for 3 years at the University of Birmingham. While I learned so much, I wasn’t at all passionate about it, and, deep down, I knew that it wasn’t the right job for me. In my second year, I decided to create a side-business, which involved editing CVs, essays, and personal statements, but I knew my heart remained with fiction stories, so I was determined to make it work.

After graduating with a first-class Law degree in 2022, I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a fiction editor. I became a member of the CIEP, invested in a series of editing and business-related courses, and began working with clients at reduced rates to build my portfolio. Nearly three years later, I’m booked up 8 months in advance, I’ve helped over 50 writers, and worked on over 70 manuscripts.

I offer three editing packages: developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading. However, my signature offer has and always will be my Publication Prep package. My signature package is a collaborative editorial process perfect for debut authors. By combining all three of my editing services into one, I work with writers over the course of 3-9 months to elevate their manuscript in three separate stages: developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading. By the time the proofreading stage is complete, their story is ready to share with the world. I’ve helped many writers with this package, including the incredible Laura Carter, author of the Lost Kingdom Saga.

My editing services:

– Give writers confidence to share their stories
– Clarify the writer’s vision
– Elevate their stories by enhancing structure, pacing, and character development
– Provide constructive, actionable feedback, allowing writers to understand both strengths and areas for growth
– Support goal-setting to help writers achieve their milestones throughout the writing and editing process

In July 2024, I released a programme, teaching fiction writers how to self-edit their book. This is unlike any other programme out there. There’s over 10+ hours of video trainings, over 100+ pages of editing workbooks, an exclusive community, and—this is what sets this programme apart from all others—monthly live training and coaching sessions, which will continue to run for years into the future. It’s a welcoming space for continuous learning and teaches writers how to edit their first draft, looking at plot structure, scene structure, POVs, character development, setting, world building—you name it, it’s probably in the programme. This is definitely my proudest achievement yet. Creating this community has just brought me so much joy—a few of the members are even attending my writing retreat in March next year!

As for your last question, I want writers to know that I am somebody they can trust. While I offer constructive feedback to ensure my clients know exactly how to improve their manuscripts, I’m also their biggest cheerleader. I want nothing more than to help them achieve their dreams of becoming an author, all while learning and developing their narrative skills.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I read a statistic recently which said that only 3% of people who start writing a book will finish it. I want to change that. My mission is to empower other individuals to share their story, no matter what their story is.

I truly believe that everybody has a story to tell, and I want to empower you to tell it. We often get in our own way and push aside our goals and dreams because of the stresses of our day to day lives, but we need to let that creative part of ourselves thrive. When we fully let go of all internal or external expectations and pressures and silence our mind, we give ourselves permission to create.

If my clients are struggling to write or create, I tell them to go outside, meditate, turn off their phones or devices, run a bath, read, walk—do whatever they need to do to silence the mind. By disconnecting and engaging in grounding activities like the above, you’re releasing stress and freeing up mental space for the ideas and words to come. By taking more time away from your phone to do the things you love, the easier it will be to write when the time comes.

I want clients to regain the joy they once had for writing—a joy that many writers had as children, like myself. By putting the fun and joy back into writing, we encourage individuals to write again. We encourage them to share their stories.

That’s my mission: Help individuals to find joy in writing again and create stories they wish to share with the world.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I love this question!

I think what really helped me to build a reputation within the writing/publishing industry was to create free content—typically through Instagram and TikTok—that educates and guides writers on all sorts of topics: planning a book, writing, editing, publishing, marketing, etc.

This is a great way to build trust with writers because they know that I know my ‘stuff,’ so to speak, and they can rely on me to share valuable information with them that will help them on their writing journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.edeneditorial.co.uk
• Instagram: @edeneditorial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@edeneditorial