At the IPEd Conference in July, Emma Rafferty was awarded the Rosanne Fitzgibbon Editorial Award (the Rosie Award) for her work on JP Pomare’s 17 years later. Since receiving the award, Emma has received a flurry of congratulations and support from friends, family and colleagues.
“It’s been the most wonderful experience,” she said. “It’s been so incredible to get this recognition, and to receive lovely messages from so many former colleagues and friends.”
We caught up with Emma recently and are pleased to share her reflections on the award, her editing story and why she encourages editors to nominate themselves for the Rosie Award.
Emma Rafferty has worked in publishing for more than 2 decades but the excitement of publication day for a book she has worked on has never wavered.
“That feeling of a book you worked on being out in the world, it’s fantastic,” she said.
“Each time it’s a unique and new experience: it stays fresh because every book is different and every author is different and every editorial process is different. Knowing you have helped an author make their book the best it can be, and then seeing that out in the world and in the hands of readers is the best possible pay-off for the work you’ve put in.”
Like many editors, Emma’s story begins with a childhood filled with books.
“I was a real bookworm as a child. I vividly remember adoring Ramona Quimby and all Enid Blyton books. Graeme Base and Jeannie Baker and The balloon tree were special ones. I came of age in the Baby-sitters Club era, so those book memories are strong, as is devouring everything by Roald Dahl, Charlotte’s Web, of course, Sweet Valley High, Choose Your Own Adventure books, and books by Morris Gleitzman, Ruth Park, Katherine Paterson and Judy Blume – these were the amazing books that children were reading at that time. I cried buckets reading Bridge to Terabithia. I was always a reader.”
However, Emma wasn’t aware of the world of publishing and the career opportunities it held. Growing up, she didn’t know anyone who worked in publishing, and had only ever attended one literary luncheon (which was a real childhood highlight). Until a serendipitous conversation with a classmate at university.
“Someone in my BA cohort was talking about how they wanted to work in publishing, and I was like ‘Wait what, is that a career? That sounds perfect.’”
“It was really a kind of lightning bolt moment where I realised that there’s actually a career you can pursue if you love reading.”
From lighting bolts to legal publishing
Emma got her start in legal publishing, before making the jump to trade publishing. She took a break from publishing for several years, working in roles at the Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW and at the Australian Writers’ Guild. She returned to publishing as a freelance editor, before returning in house to Hachette. In May 2025, she started a new role as commissioning editor at Pan Macmillan Australia.
Today, with plenty of books under her editorial belt, Emma says the Rosie Award has provided an opportunity to stop and reflect on her career and editorial practice, but it has also created opportunities for conversations about the role of an editor.
“It puts a bit of a spotlight onto the editorial role and the complexities and nuances of the role. It is the role in publishing that’s most represented in popular culture, but people do not always understand what it entails beyond that.”
While grammar and proofreading are certainly part of the role, Emma says it’s author care that is equally as important and “can’t be uncoupled from the edits”.
“Part and parcel of delivering edits is developing rapport and trust with authors, respecting the author for what they’re bringing to the table and having a clear understanding of what their role is and what your role is. It is a collaboration – and like all collaborations, it takes skill, grace and care to get it right.”
The discussion and conversations generated by the Rosie Award are, Emma says, particularly relevant as the industry grapples with AI.
“While authors and illustrators are always at the centre of any book project, it’s good for editors to stand up and claim their place as well. Particularly in an environment where people are under the false illusion that AI can do what an editor does, which we all know is not possible because so much of it is that human dynamic and managing that relationship so that the author feels supported and safe while perhaps also being extended and challenged. Now, more than ever, it’s important for editors to step out from behind the curtain and ensure their value is recognised.”
Mutual support and unreserved thanks
While acknowledging the honour of the Rosie Award, Emma was unreserved in her thanks to and appreciation for her nominators, author JP Pomare and Hachette Head of Fiction Rebecca Saunders.
“I would like to thank JP for being so wonderful to work with: he is not only a wild talent, but also a wildly nice person. I want to thank him for his support and wish him every success. He’s such a talented writer; he’s a superstar.
“To Rebecca Saunders at Hachette, for nominating me. Something that really stands out working with Rebecca is how much she values the editorial role and editorial input, and how she sees it as absolutely essential for the success of the books that she’s publishing. Her nominating me for the Rosie is a kind of manifestation of that broad support that you get from her. A big thank you to her.”
Also on the list of thanks are the many freelance and in-house editors Emma has worked with.
“There is a whole labour force of freelance editors who are integral to the work that we do and the books we publish,” she said. “Editors like Ali Lavau, Nicola O’Shea, Dianne Blacklock, Paul Smitz, to name a few. Vanessa Lanaway, Rebecca Hamilton and Libby Turner. All incredible editors who I have been lucky to work closely with.
“It was reading the edits of the freelance editors who I worked with at the start of my career that really taught me how to edit. The work that they do is often even more unsung than the work in-house editors do. And we couldn’t do it without them.
“The supportive relationships between editors have been a huge force in my career in terms of learning, advice-seeking, getting reassurance, clarifying one’s thoughts. I have never taken for granted the expertise I have had access to working with freelancers and alongside teams of brilliant in-house editors. People like Karen Ward, Rebecca Allen, Bri Collins, Danielle Walker, Jacquie Brown, Chrys Aiello: founts of wisdom, all. It’s really lovely to be a part of that community, really enriching and extremely beneficial in terms of one’s own professional development.”
Stepping forward
On her advice to other editors considering nominating for the Rosie, Emma is unequivocal: go for it.
“I would absolutely encourage people to apply for the Rosie Award,” she said. “It ends up being a great opportunity to stop and take stock of the work that you do and the collaborative approach that’s required, and to reflect on why something worked so well.
“In a way, preparing the application is kind of a reinforcement of best practice in and of itself because you get to look at the big picture. Why did this relationship work so well? Why did this collaboration produce such great work? Even from a personal professional development point of view, I think it’s a really useful exercise.
“There are so many editors who are worthy of this award. The editors that I work with, they all put their heart and soul into their jobs, and into every book they work on. They care deeply about manuscripts, they care deeply about authors. They want to support authors to produce their best work. They work really hard, they cope with deadline pressure and keep things calm, and they also bring incredible technical skill to the page.
“Most editors I know are too modest, and I think this is a way to step forward and talk about what you bring to a project.”