Meet this year's speakers
Lisa de Caux
Charlie Clarey
Paula Clarke Bain
Gemma Creffield
Sarah Giles
Louise Harnby
Heather Ivatt
Nikki Laine
Lorraine Law
Rachael Prest
Aki Schilz
Catriona Turner
Candice Van Dertholen
Aimee Walker
Lisa has been an editor and proofreader since 2017, after spending many years as a chartered accountant working in the retail and manufacturing sectors. She retrained as an editor and proofreader as her daughter started primary school – her daughter’s sitting her GCSEs next year!
The CIEP’s vibrant community gave Lisa the light-bulb moment that encouraged her move to editorial services. Lisa was the CIEP local group coordinator for Manchester from 2018 to 2025. She still enjoys being part of the community and appreciates the generosity with which colleagues share ideas.
Lisa works with self-publishing authors, traditional publishers, and businesses. She specialises in business books and fiction. Lisa became an Advanced Professional Member of the CIEP in 2024.
Lisa is glad to embrace her degree in English Lit. She loves being part of an author's book team!
The emotional investment in editing Saturday @ 9:30 AM
Charlie is a Marketing Strategist who helps ex-corporate women build businesses that feel structured, strategic, and genuinely exciting to run. With two decades of experience leading multi-million-pound marketing projects for global brands including Coca-Cola, Cadbury, Disney, and Samsung, she brings a rare blend of corporate strategy and entrepreneurial heart to her work.
A regular speaker and podcast guest, she’s passionate about helping women break free from outdated corporate conditioning and create businesses that reflect who they truly are. Her work centres on empowering women to express themselves fully, build wealth with purpose, and use their influence to create positive change.
When she’s not supporting clients, you’ll find her out walking her dog Doug, rowing, or hunting down the perfect flat white. She loves connecting with inspiring women but avoids bad coffee at all costs.
From editorial expert to strategic partner: Position yourself as essential Saturday @ 1:00 PM
Paula Clarke Bain is a Fellow of the Society of Indexers (SI) and is celebrating 25 years of being a freelance book indexer and editor in 2026. She most enjoys working on biography, comedy, film, literature and music books, plus indexes on indexes. She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) and she was a freelance copyeditor and proofreader before training in indexing with the Society of Indexers. She is also an Associate Member of the Society of Authors. Her qualifications include BA (Hons) English and American Literature (UEA) and BSc (Hons) Psychology, and she has an employment background as an in-house proofreader for publishers and printers. Currently, she is Chair of the Executive Board of the Society of Indexers, and she has enjoyed being involved in many other SI matters, including writing for The Indexer journal and being co-creator with Ruth Ellis of the first National Indexing Day in 2017, commemorating the founding of the Society of Indexers in March 1957. She is now part of the SI presentation team at the associated annual #IndexDay workshop events for publishing professionals, currently held at the Publishers Association in London.
Her website and indexing blog is baindex.org and she can be located on social media at LinkedIn and on Bluesky at @baindex.org.
Email: [email protected]
Index in progress: Uncovering the ancient art and modern science of book indexing Saturday @ 11:00 AM
With over ten years’ experience, Gemma Creffield is the Editorial Director of Solstice, Simon & Schuster UK’s brand new SFF imprint. She works with Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors such as Nikita Gill, Jaysea Lynn and Stacey McEwan, publishing the very best in SFF, horror and romantasy.
Sarah has been a writer, editor and proofreader for 25 years, including 20 years of freelancing. She specialises in working with charities and Christian publishers, and currently divides her time between working in-house for Tearfund (an international development charity) and her freelance work. She’s a Professional Member of the CIEP, enjoys a nice juicy house style guide that reflects the ethos of an organisation, and is firmly #TeamOxfordComma.
Sarah was diagnosed autistic and ADHD in her mid-40s which made a lot of things suddenly make more sense! She brings some of this understanding (and almost certainly some Sherlock GIFs) to her session on the importance and benefits of authenticity in our professional relationships.
You can find Sarah online at sarahgiles.co.uk and on LinkedIn, where she’s always happy to talk shop and/or Sherlock.
The authenticity advantage Saturday @ 4:05 PM
Louise Harnby is a professional fiction editor with 35 years' publishing experience, and she specialises in working with independent crime, thriller and mystery writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), has curated The Editing Blog since 2011, and co-hosts The Editing Podcast with Denise Cowle.
Louise also offers a range of books and courses that teach editors:
Find out more about her courses, books and editorial services at harnby.co/fiction-editing.
How to conquer editorial business overwhelm with the MARKUP Method Saturday @ 4:05 PM
Heather Ivatt is a former academic editor and change manager who, after being diagnosed with a chronic illness in 2024 and made redundant in 2025, started her own business – the Ivatt Editorial Consultancy. Specialising in fantasy fiction, she offers bespoke services that have been created using her academic research and professional expertise gained from two separate industries.
She exhibited at London Book Fair 2026 and is currently planning a non-fiction guide that focuses on her business journey and editorial approach, providing handy tips to polish complex manuscripts.
Editorial impact assessment Saturday @ 9:30 AM
Nikki Laine (formerly Nikki Owen) is an internationally published novelist with HarperCollins (HQ), a book coach and freelance editor and proofreader working across fiction and nonfiction, and a lecturer in creative writing and English literature at the University of Gloucestershire.
With over twenty years' experience across publishing, journalism, editorial services and research communications, her work focuses on helping writers and organisations clarify what they are trying to say and how best to say it.
She has worked as a writer and editor for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and has supported writers whose work has gone on to receive wide recognition, including the Laurie Lee Short Story Prize.
From editor to adviser: How to read what the client isn’t saying Saturday @ 11:00 AM
Lorraine Law has 30 years’ experience of editing and managing scientific publications. Her first role was as a subeditor for Chapman & Hall book publishers before shifting to learned society publications, working as an Assistant Editor with the Institute of Biomedical Science and as the Editorial Manager for the British Journal of General Practice.
Lorraine has since spent 20 years working in medical communications, where her experience has spanned publications project management, line management and mentorship of junior editorial staff, editorial process development, and delivering training in medical editing and Good Publications Practice.
Insights from medical communications: Teamwork, negotiation and asserting editorial authority Saturday @ 9:30 AM
Rachael Prest is a non-fiction editor and proofreader, specialising in arts, crafts, and social sciences. She is also an avid crafter, which naturally led to becoming a technical editor of knitting and crochet patterns. She lives in Bristol with her family, several spinning wheels, and a perpetually hungry cat. She is a Professional Member of the CIEP.
Imposter syndrome: Tips and strategies for taming the beast Saturday @ 3:05 PM
Aki Schilz is the Director of The Literary Consultancy, the UK's longest-running consultancy for writers. She has twice featured in the Bookseller 150, a list of the most influential figures in UK publishing, for her work to improve representation and accessibility in the literature sector. In 2023 Aki was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature for services to literature. At TLC Aki oversees all writing service provision and public programming, and leads on TLC’s in-house training with corporate publishers, supporting them to establish more ethical editing frameworks. She is co-Director of TLC’s Being A Writer programme which focuses on how writers can cultivate creativity, resilience and wellbeing. Aki is particularly interested in holistic wellbeing, and brings her training in Restorative Care Practice (established by Gaylene Gould in partnership with Clore) into all of her work. As an editor and coach, Aki has worked with fiction writers, memoirists, poets, and a number of independent publishers. She is the current Vice Chair of the human rights charity English PEN.
Your holistic business plan Saturday @ 3:05 PM
Catriona Turner has been copyediting fiction and memoir for indie authors for about eight years in her business The Word Bothy. Her clients include first-time writers and successful career authors. She's also a writer and memoirist. She has worked on fiction with the Faber Academy, and published her debut ‘Nest: a memoir of home on the move’ in 2023.
She spent a decade as an English teacher in Scottish secondary schools until she moved abroad with her family, when she took the opportunity to create a freelance career. She has been a member of the CIEP since 2021.
Since returning to Aberdeen, she has continued to write and work with clients, while building experience as a speaker and organising author events. Her TEDx talk ‘Find Your Main Character Energy’ is available to watch on YouTube.
More than memories: Copyediting memoir and creating connection Saturday @ 3:05 PM
Imposter Syndrome: The signal beneath the struggle Saturday @ 1:00 PM
Aimee Walker is a romance and women’s fiction editor from Northern Ireland. Her background in education and therapeutic counselling resulted in a natural affinity to coaching authors, and she uses a very collaborative and coaching-based approach with the majority of her clients.
Aimee is passionate about helping women self-publish and having romance respected as much as other genre fiction. She is the author of Top Tropes: A Romance Writer’s Guide and has also published a romance anthology, a romance planner and a DIY series bible. Her next book, The Romance Author’s Companion, will be published next year.
When she isn’t working, Aimee can be found pottering in her garden with her menagerie of animals.
You can find her at www.awepress.com or on Instagram @aimeewalkereditorial.
Being client centred: Tailoring your approach to suit your clients' needs (and your own) Saturday @ 1:00 PM
Live goal-setting session using coaching techniques and questions Saturday @ 4:05 PM