Brooke Vitale Editorial Services
I am a children’s book editor with nearly twenty years’ experience at some of the world’s top publishing companies, including Penguin Random House and Disney. Over the course of my career, I have edited thousands of traditionally published and self-published children's books. My list of published books spans all categories, including picture books, early reader books, chapter books, middle grade, activity books, and nonfiction.
Among my favorites (and my most successful) published books were Hide and Hug Olaf, by Kevin Lewis, which sold over 400,000 copies, and Olaf's Night Before Christmas, which sold over 250,000 copies.
But I’m more than just a children's book editor. I’m also a best-selling children's book author of more than 100 books with sales exceeding 500,000 copies to date. I have been published by Scholastic, Disney Press, Random House, Penguin, and Insight Editions. Among my favorite books that I’ve written are The Magic is in You, published by Disney Press, The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Goonies published by Insight Editions, and the Timmi Tobbson Young Explorers chapter book series. I am also the founder of Charge Mommy Books, the independent publisher behind the successful Charge into Reading Decodable Readers.
Having been on both sides of the table means I truly understand the whole children's book publishing process. I know how to edit a children's book to make it sing, but I also understand as an author what it means to have parts of your book that you love too much to cut—even when they don’t really fit.
As a children's book editor, there is nothing I love more than diving into a manuscript and helping to pull out all its potential. I believe in collaboration, but also brutal honesty. Too often as an author it is difficult to see where a story is not being true to itself. That’s where I come in. It's my job to tease out the scenes that are good and help you to make them great. To find the moments that aren't quite working and figure out how to turn them into the strongest scenes in the story.
Now, I'm excited to take on a new challenge: helping you to turn your book into exactly what you always dreamed it would be! I look forward to working with you and, together, creating an absolutely fantastic children's book.
Check out my services and rates
About Professional Children’s Book Editor Brooke Vitale
Leslie Grubb
Brooke was AMAZING!!!! She turned my children's chapter book into a magical piece of art. Thank you! She is extremely thorough, honest and diligent with her editing and not afraid to provide critical feedback to improve your story. I loved working with her and only wish her the best. I felt privileged to work with such a professional.
Kirsty-Louise Garbutt
Brooke, what can I say! Brooke guided me from beginning to end on my very first children's book, Santa’s Lost Buttons. I was a novice and knew nothing only I had a story to tell. Brooke’s advice and step by step assistance was paramount to the success of the book thereafter. I cannot begin to tell you in this review how much knowledge I have gained in writing and publishing from Brooke. I have used Brooke’s services for two further titles due to be released in 2023. I couldn’t do it without her
Frank J. Sileo
Brooke has been an invaluable resource for me as a kid lit writer. She is talented, thorough, and possesses an extensive knowledge of book publishing and editing. When you give your material to her, it is kept confidential and she is able to provide objective, honest feedback with a quick turnaround. Look no further for an editor. She has helped me bring several of my books to the finish line of a publishing contract!
Diane Russell
Brooke Vitale is one extremely talented editor! If you are looking for thorough editing, clear communication, healthy suggestions with impeccable timelines, Brooke is your choice of Editors!
Michael Wong
When I was searching for an editor, I was hoping to find one with experience working for a major publisher. As soon as I read Brooke's impressive credentials, I knew I had to have her on my team. I'm so grateful for all she does for me. Just hire her. What she can do for your manuscript is priceless. 🤗
Lauren
Brooke is absolutely fantastic to work with! From the very start, she was professional, knowledgeable, and very friendly. She was extremely prompt without compromising on her work. She went above and beyond by providing me with so many tips about my writing style, story line, and even laid out all the pages for me including giving me art notes for each page. I have had Brooke edit two children’s books for me so far and I will 100% keep going back to her for all my future books!
Marissa Bader
Brooke Vitale is a wealth of knowledge about every aspect of putting a picture book together. Not only did she help me rework, refine & polish my book, she offered key suggestions about how to make it more relatable to a wider audience. Brooke also made smart & thoughtful illustration & pagination suggestions, which made things far easier for my illustrator. Lastly, Brooke is willing to answer questions for her clients throughout the entire process & beyond. Trust me: you want Brooke on your team!
Red George-Torres
When finding an editor, you want someone to care about your story as much as you do. I truly found this with Brooke Vitale: Editorial and Writing services. Brooke has been so helpful in my process of writing a children’s book. Her editing is so thorough and I felt like she treated my story with care! Brooke was available to answer additional question I had about the steps of writing, publishing and more. She is speedy in her responses and will give you the facts you need in making your story successful.
Valerie Ramer
I highly recommend Brooke Vitale editing services. Brooke provided a contract for her services which was very thorough so I understood the process. She took my manuscript and enhanced it - and added in a line that I absolutely love! Her service is so much more than just making sure the comma's are in the right place. She suggests new ways of saying and describing things. I would definitely use Brooke again.
Heather Gee Davis
Brooke is amazing! I strongly recommend her. She understands rhyme and meter and can help make your story more complete. Through her help and her great questions I was able to really take my story from a simple and shallow story with a good ending to a really good story that children will enjoy and relate to. I thought I had a good story when I sent it to Brooke fire a final edit. She helped me see it needed a lot of work. I needed to be open to her suggestions and I needed to work, bit I'm so proud of the story I have now!
Jess Robling
Brooke possesses the incredible skill of reaching into a story and pulling out the very best version. Her perspective and input were spot on, helping me to make my book better than even I imagined. She is direct yet easy to work with, and I cannot recommend her enough!
Kim Ann
Brooke is a wonderful editor and a valuable resource. She is great with developmental editing offering helpful suggestions that will truly improve your story. She will also advise you on illustrations, page counts, formatting, and even offer you a final read through. You can’t go wrong with Brooke!
Julie Willis
This was my first children's book. Brooke took it from being O.K. to being amazing. I loved all of her suggestions and she was wonderful to work with during the process.
Vivian Bouet
Brooke delivered as promised. She is very experienced, prompt and easy to work with. Most importantly, I was extremely happy with the end product. Highly recommend!
Dan McCauley
It was truly a joy working with Brooke on my children's book manuscript. Brooke's experiences and expertise came through her thorough, timely, and actionable feedback. She helped me bring clarity to my writing, and her comments had me thinking more critically about aspects of my manuscript and query letter. For anyone who wants honest and valuable feedback to develop their manuscript, Brooke is one of the best there is!
Aleisha Jain
I had a wonderful experience working with Brooke on a children's book draft and query letter. She was incredibly responsive and upfront with timelines. Her edits were very sharp and helped me tremendously in developing elements of the story and in tightening up word count, grammar, sentence structure, etc. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for an editor!
Keisha Jones
Brooke is exceptional! I’ve worked with her twice!
Charlotte Frohwitter
Brooke exceeded my expectations by a million times!!! She is truly creative, kind, reliable, honest and has a flawless instinct on how to make a story work! I could not be happier!
Ryan Waters
I'm so privileged to have gotten to work with Brooke. She's so professional, she's a great communicator and she's such a pro. I couldn't believe how much she helped improve my story and the rhythm/cadence of my writing. It's clear in her work that Brooke not only knows the craft well, but takes pride in the work she does. Thank you Brooke for sharing your expertise with me and my work. ...
Stella Maris Mongodi
I've really loved working with Brooke. She has a deep knowledge of children's books and their market, so her editing is not only about choosing the right words, but above all making the most out of a book as a whole (which also helps authors grow and learn). She is ready to answer questions and doubts and suggest different solutions if needed. I will certainly come back to her for future projects and would warmly recommend her!
David Hillman
What I liked about working with Brooke is she didn't try to change my story into something much different from what I had mind, as some editors have tried to do. Instead she took what I had and with her help, made it better, polished and ready for submission or publication. Brooke is great to work with and I highly recommend her editorial and mentoring services.
Travis Theiss
I worked with Brooke on my first children's picture book manuscript. She provided great feedback and insight. Even after the editing process was complete, she has been available for me to bounce off ideas and ask questions. I highly recommend working with Brooke on your manuscript.
Natalie Heberlie
Brooke has been instrumental in shaping my children's picture book to the story it is. Her wealth of knowledge is invaluable. She always has a response in a ridiculously timely manner and has been extremely patient with me during the process as I am a complete naive novice. I highly recommend her services.
Jane Hoffacker
I really appreciated working with Brooke. She was professional, clear, and prompt. Creatively, her suggestions really improved my picture book story and it felt like she was working WITH me the whole time. The project I worked with her on was my first book project and she was very helpful. Highly recommend Brooke and hope to work with her again!
Abby Griebelbauer
I am blown away by the second developmental edit completed for my children's book. Not only did she complete it in an extremely fast timeline for me because I was on a time crunch with my illustrator but it was exactly everything I needed. Brooke helped me more than I could explain in words!
Jason Lethcoe
I’ve worked with Brooke for many years and can’t speak highly enough about her abilities as an editor. She has consistently elevated my work with her insights, and her creative comments never fail to inspire. I can’t imagine having written my books without her help, and consider myself fortunate to have worked with her.
tiara white
Yes, Brooke is a superb editor. However, I also consider her my writing coach because I have learned so much from her edits and constructive feedback. Not only is she gifted at finding the story within the story, she also has the ability to understand not only what a writer says, but what the writer means to say. She's amazing!
A.F. Ruocco
I HIGHLY recommend Brooke as an editor - she was an absolute pleasure to work with and I will be using her again in the future. Brooke provided an editorial assessment and three developmental edits to my picture book manuscript. I learned so much from Brooke throughout the processes; she's incredibly talented, timely, and added significant value. She really helped whip my manuscript into shape!...
Merci T
Brooke is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. and has a magic touch! She helped me a lot in my story, recognized all my weakest points and learned so much from her.As a first timer, it would be best to work with a great editor that has a lot of skills, experiences, who simply gets you, communicates really well, truthful to ideas and I could go on and on.. And I'm quite elated that I found Brooke! She has all these...
Melissa Nackovski
As a first time author, I was unsure about this entire process. Brooke not only made my story come to life and provided suggestions I would have never thought of myself, but she also walked me through different options for publishing and what to expect of each. She was timely with her responses and edited drafts and was a complete professional. I would highly recommend her and will use her again...
Michael Currier
If I could have given more than 5 stars I would have. Brooke has been amazing to work with. Her communication and punctuality have been outstanding. She quickly offered incite into areas that helped to fix areas of my story that I had been stuck on for months. As a first time author I have needed a bit more understanding of the process and Brooke was very helpful with all of this as well. I have...
Rupamanjari Majumder
Brooke is amazing! She knows exactly what to do to bring out the best in a story. I have worked with her on 3 books so far and have plans for many more. She is very easy to communicate with, super punctual about deadlines, and she understands my book's requirements almost better than I do ?? Strongly recommended!
Ari Halper
Brooke is amazing! She is super responsive and very thorough. Her understanding of rhyme and meter and pagination are also major plusses for children's picture book authors. She's collaborative, has great ideas and is a true pleasure to work with. But best of all, even with all of her experience and knowledge, she has zero ego and never tries to show you how smart she is. Her only agenda is...
Get to Know Children's Book Editor Brooke Vitale
I still remember the day during my junior year of college that a friend asked me, “What do you want to do when you graduate?” and I said, “I don’t know. I wish someone would just pay me to read books.” She looked at me very seriously and said, “You know there’s a job that does that, right?”
No, I literally had no idea there was a job that would let me do that. For all the books I’d read, it had somehow never crossed my mind that someone had to edit those books—that someone had to work with the author to shape those books into their final form.
That was it. I was sold. I was going to be an editor!
And for the last twenty years, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I started my career at Sterling Publishing, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, before moving on to Penguin and then Disney. These days I’m a freelance writer and editor, and a mom to two young boys, who have taught me more about what makes a book great than any amount of time in a publishing house could. Every book I work on I see through their eyes. Will they understand the language? Will the story hold their attention? Will it make them laugh? Or cry?
As an editor, I love helping my authors find their voice. Whether you are planning to self-publish and want to perfect your book or need guidance on the publishing process, or you just want to whip your book into shape before you submit it to an agent, I’m here to help. I believe in collaboration, but also brutal honesty. It's my job to tease out the scenes that are good and help you to make them great. But it’s also my job to find the moments that aren't quite working and figure out how to turn them into the strongest scenes in the story—or to help you realize they just don’t belong.
I am an author of over a hundred published children's books and I have edited thousands of children's books for publishing companies and self-published authors. Please take a look at my Children's Book Portfolio to see a sample. Also check out my Amazon Author Page, Goodreads Author Page, and my Bookshop Contributor Page. I am also a member of SCBWI.
For a more detailed look at the roles I have played and currently play in the children's book publishing industry, check out my interview with Ryan G. Van Cleave on Only Picture Books and my article What’s It Like to Write Children’s Books for the Movies for Geeks Are Sexy.
So, are you ready to get to work? Let me help you shape your book into what you always dreamed it would be.
Children’s Book Editorial Services
Professional children's book editor providing editorial services to authors writing a children's book.