Maggie Riggs

Maggie Riggs was an Editor at Viking, Penguin Group. She is equally accomplished in both fiction and nonfiction. Some of her notable fiction titles have been Adrianne Harun’s A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain, Steward O’Nan’s Emily Alone, Kristopher Jansma’s The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, and Timothy S. Lane's Rules for Becoming a Legend.

Similarly, notable titles are Stacy Cordery’s Juliette Gordon Low, Jennifer Ringer’s Dancing Through It, Tanner Colby's Some of My Best Friends Are Black, Allen Shawn’s Twin, Sugar Ray Leonard's The Big Fight, and the critical claimed historical book, Freedom Summer by award-winning author Bruce Watson.

At Penguin Random House, she worked closely with debut novelists and seasoned historians, comedians and ballerinas, journalists and scientists, and helped authors at all stages of their careers transform their work from solid drafts to publication-ready projects. As a literary agent, she honed and identified ideas and stories that were working and guided writers toward producing polished, submission-ready work from the very earliest stages of a manuscript's development.

One of the most important things she’s learned in her decade-plus of working with authors is how isolating the writing process can be. Her goal for every project she has the privilege of working on is to give writers the tools they need to find their voice and to tell the best possible version of their story--and to be that support they need.

As an independent editor, she’s very excited to put all of these skills and experiences to work with authors at all stages of their careers, and especially those who are just beginning their journeys. From a manuscript assessment to a full developmental edit or support with the (always wildly stressful) query letter process, she’s happy to work with you on developing a plan together that best meets your specific needs and goals.

Maggie’s select booklist and a recent testimonial from Emma Slolely, the author of Disaster’s Children can be found below.

"Working with Maggie on my novel was a joy. Her notes and edits were thoughtful, precise, and full of insight, and I appreciated that she showed a deep understanding of the story and where it needed to go. She has the rare ability to see where editorial changes are needed while also knowing when to let the story breathe, and her warm and supportive approach ensures the writer-editor relationship is a productive and enjoyable one."

--Emma Sloley; Macdowell Fellow, Pushcart Nominee