Stuart Walton

Editor

Stuart Walton is an established writer and editor who has had sixteen books published, and has been a senior writer and inspector on the Good Food Guide for thirty years.

Stuart Walton is a writer and editor who has had sixteen books published. These range from a history of intoxicants, Out of It (now in its second edition), to critical studies of the emotions and the five senses, as well as a debut novel, The First Day in Paradise (2016). His most recent work is an inquiry into mayhem and disorder, An Excursion into Chaos, published by Bloomsbury in 2021. He has been translated into twelve languages.

As well as being a prolific book critic for, among others, the TLS, the London Magazine, the LA Review of Books and Review 31, Stuart is a Royal Literary Fund Tutorial Fellow at Plymouth University. In his early career, he wrote on food and wine, co-edited the Hachette Wine Guide and has been a senior writer and inspector on the Good Food Guide for thirty years. He was educated at Manchester University and Lincoln College, Oxford, and holds the Oxford Advanced Certificate in Creative Writing.

Find Stuart on Twitter here: @stuartwalton1

Stuart's specialties

Fiction

Contemporary

Non-Fiction

Subject-led Non-fiction

WHY WE LOVE STUART

In an industry that is more intensely competitive than ever, Stuart believes that aspiring writers need all the constructive and objective help they can get. His subject-lead non-fiction prowess is primed and ready to give you just that. Stuart is scrupulous in his examinations and will tentatively probe any areas of weakness, including both the effectiveness and clarity of your argument. Eyes like a hawk, he will sense check each chapter and ensure you are making the most of your research – and, most importantly, that your prose is comprehensible to your reader. We spoke to Stuart about his editing practises here.

WHAT STUART SAYS ABOUT EDITING

Neither commissioning editors nor agents have the time to offer the kind of detailed feedback in which we specialise at Jericho Writers, and yet nurturing the next generation of authors, whatever their age or background, has never been more essential.

I do believe in the old-fashioned virtues of clear, precise English, constructed of flawless grammar, spelling and punctuation, but I am always inspired too by genuinely stylish and energetic writing. Discovering and facilitating that makes me very happy. What we will aim to do is make your work not just saleable, but distinctive. I specialise in non-fiction proposals, particularly historical, theoretical and biographical work, and am well-versed in the standards of presentation required by academic publishers. My attention to detail is such that I am open to line-editing work as well as overall assessment.

By purchasing any of these products, you'll have the opportunity to express your interest in working with Stuart.