About me

Hannah VanVels Ausbury is an editor, writer, and literary agent at Belcastro Agency. Her life is consumed by all things books, and when she’s not working on books, she can usually be found reading with a cup of coffee or glass of wine, depending on the time of day.

She earned her BA at the University of Michigan and holds MA degrees from Tel Aviv University and the University of Chicago. Hannah has worked various bookish jobs including a stint as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, a freelance editor for scholarly and academic essays and journals, and most recently as the acquiring editor at a young adult imprint with HarperCollins Publishing.

With a decade of editorial work under her belt, Hannah made the jump to freelance editing. Her editing business was born out of a love for working closely with authors and coming alongside them to make their vision come to life on page.

On the fiction side, Hannah has worked on everything from epic fantasies to fast-paced thrillers and mysteries, accessible science fiction to immersive historical fiction, romantic comedies to heartfelt topical books. On the nonfiction side, Hannah has worked on narrative memoirs, topical books, and devotionals. Whether working on fiction or nonfiction, it’s always Hannah’s goal to preserve the author’s vision and voice and take their writing to the next level.

Hannah is also an editor for the Twitter pitch event Revise & Resubmit (#RevPit) and contributor for Book Riot. She lives in West Michigan with her partner, two German Shepherds, and two cats.