Louise Harnby | Crime Fiction and Thriller Editor
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Layout and design resources for crime, mystery ​and thriller writers and fiction editors

Learn about layout and design in fiction

Hone your writing and editing craft with articles, books, webinars and booklets dedicated to helping you solve problems with formatting, layout and design.

​Scroll down the page or click on an icon to go straight to a section. Want to learn about a different topic? Select the green icon to return to the main library page.​
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ARTICLES
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Articles about layout, design and formatting in fiction

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Free booklet: Formatting in Word: Find and replace

This booklet provides independent authors and editors with guidance on how to tidy up a Word document.
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Free booklet: Formatting in Word: Find and replace
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​Hone your novel line craft​


Editing Fiction at Sentence Level

Fiction is about flow, rhythm, mood, voice and style. But mostly it’s about story. When writers self-edit at line level with confidence, story is elevated by the sentence, rather than buried beneath it.

Editing Fiction at Sentence Level shows you how to hone your line craft so that your narrative and dialogue compel readers to turn the page.​
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Book: Editing Fiction at Sentence Level
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IF YOU WANT YOUR WRITING TO BE BETTER, GET LOUISE TO EDIT IT​ ...
Louise has the rare ability to refine and polish sentences with a perceptive lightness of touch, revising only where necessary, and somehow, magically, what is left on the page better captures the very essence of exactly what you wanted to say.

​Add that she is a pleasure to work with and clearly loves what she does, and it really does become impossible to find fault with her service.

​In short – if you want your writing to be better, then you need to get Louise to edit it. I can't recommend working with her highly enough.
KESS GOLDLAND, THRILLER AUTHOR
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Webinars on formatting and layout in fiction


Preparing Your Book for Submission

'The BEST event I have been to on how to edit a manuscript. I learned so much!' – ​SoA @ Home Festival​ attendee
This 30-minute webinar teaches commercial fiction authors 11 pithy line-editing tips that make a substantive difference to writing flow and reader experience.
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Preparing for editing

​This 14-minute webinar offers writers 12 tips on how to make a book file ready for an editor and avoid wasting time on unnecessary design.​
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Using styles

This 13-minute webinar shows writers and editors how to bring consistency to their book-file interiors using Microsoft Word's styles tool.
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© 2011–2026 Louise Harnby
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