Connie Buchanan: Fiction & Nonfiction Book Editing

From the beginning of her career, when she edited Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October, to more recent years while freelancing for Time-Life Books and other publishers, Connie Buchanan has maintained a reputation for editorial excellence. With degrees in English Language and Literature from Princeton and Oxford universities, Connie is an award-winning short story writer and book reviewer, and has more than twenty years of experience in book editing. Says former Speaker of the House Jim Wright, author of Worth It All: My War for Peace: "Connie's editorial improvements are absolutely outstanding! I wonder why I didn't think to say it that way in the first place."

Connie performs everything from basic copyediting to rewrites, and specializes in detailed manuscript evaluation. Throughout the editorial process, one of her top priorities is remaining sensitive to the client's concerns. She has a passion for helping authors communicate and for building on their unique strengths through a combination of editing and teaching.

Her interest in effective communication was sparked at Princeton, where she was Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford. Connie's book reviews have appeared in literary journals and newspapers such as the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Star. Her stories have been published in The Journey Prize Anthology: The Best Short Fiction from Canada's Literary Journals, Louisiana Literature, The South Carolina Review, The New Quarterly, Grain and Prairie Fire. Among other book projects in recent years, Connie has written and edited material for Time-Life's Our American Century and What Life Was Like series.

Specialities:
Memoir, literary and commercial fiction, health/nutrition, U.S. and European history, cultural history, art history, philosophy and religion, environmental issues, military history, politics and public policy.

Feedback

"Working with you these past three months on The Hunt for Red October has been a delight. Your artistic instincts are near perfect, and your command of the nuts and bolts of the English language is remarkable. Throughout it all, you've been pleasant, helpful, and conscious of my easily bruised ego. In short, Connie, you're one great editor! I hope to work with you again." -Tom Clancy, author of The Hunt for Red October, a Literary Guild selection, New York Times bestseller, and Publishers Weekly All-Time First-Fiction Bestseller

"Connie's editorial improvements are absolutely outstanding! They add to the clarity and readability of the manuscript, without doubt. I wonder why I didn't think to say it that way in the first place." -Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright, author of Worth It All: My War for Peace

"I wanted to thank you for a superb job of editing. I have written over a dozen books, and yours is the best editing job I have ever seen. You never made any change that had any possibility of altering the meaning without calling my attention to it. My heartfelt thanks for really first-rate work." -Roger Hilsman, assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs under President Kennedy, author of American Guerrilla: My War behind Japanese Lines

"Some authors I know have told me that working with editors can be difficult. In this case, nothing could be further from the truth. Connie Buchanan was a delight to work with, and I gained enormously from her experience, cordiality, and professionalism. She helped me transform a manuscript that was all over the lot into a coherent presentation." -Dr. Tom Connally, author of The Third Third: A Physician's Guide to a Healthy, Happy, Longer Life

"I was astounded by the number of redundancies, chronological errors, and grammatical inconsistencies you located, not to mention the many instances of confusing prose. I have retained the original copyedited version and have no doubt that in years to come, I will refer to it as often as I do to Webster's and the Chicago Manual of Style." -Georgie Boge, Rhodes Scholar and author of Paving Over the Past: A History and Guide to Civil War Battlefield Preservation

Submission

Please fill out this form to request a quote

Cut and paste the questions and answers into an e-mail:

2008@book-editing.com

Required:
Submit a sample of your book manuscript or story (Word/DOC or RTF attachment preferred). The sample should be 5-50 pages. Large files should be zipped. Attachment not required if writing has not started (e.g., because you're looking for a ghostwriter).

Along with a sample, the following information is required. Ignore questions that do not apply to your project (e.g., footnotes).

(01) Word count of complete project (under "Tools" in MS Word):

(02) Put your 100-word (approx) synopsis/description here (or attach):

(03) Describe your genre and topic (e.g., nonfiction/self-help, science fiction, horror, romance, mystery, Western, young adult, children, poetry, Christian, creative nonfiction, literary):

(04) Deadline date, if any, for return of complete project. (Please be realistic. Remember that professional editors usually have a project in process.):

(05) If you have no immediate deadline, when do you want to start the editing process?: (For instance: within 30 days, within 60 days, within 90 days, 4-12 months)

(06) Level of editing desired/expected --

Copyediting / Proofreading / Line Editing (e.g., English corrections, typos, paragraph and sentence structure, word use)
Developmental (e.g., help with the big picture, such as flow/pacing, telling the story, characterization, structure, style)
Rewriting / Ghostwriting
Critique / Evaluation

(07) Number of charts/tables/pictures (if any):

(08) Writing style/format manual (e.g., Chicago Manual, APA, MLA), if applicable:

(09) Number of footnotes/references:

(10) Do you have a contract with an agent or publisher?:

(11) Do you plan to self-publish?:

(12) What is your budget for the entire project? $ ________________

(13) Your name:

(14) E-mail addresses:

(15) Day/evening phone numbers (required -- in case the response to your e-mail bounces or the editors need clarification regarding the scope of service needed, deadline, etc.):

(16) City, State, Country (or time zone):

(17) The name(s) of the editor(s)/writer(s) you'd like to contact.
(If no names are selected, your e-mail will be sent to several consultants chosen by the coordinator):

(18) How did you learn about our service?:

(19) Attach writing sample(s) (e.g., prologue, chapter 1, proposal, query)

Notes:

No hidden charges
We won't quote you one price and charge you another. When possible, we'll provide you with a per-word or per-page rate so you'll know up front exactly how much your project will cost. (Of course, we ask that you fairly represent the scope of your project.)

To learn more about the rates charged by professional editors, please see: Editorial Freelancers Association

It is a mistaken notion that freelance editors work "on spec" (speculation) with no payment to the editor. It is basically asking the editor to work for free. There's no guarantee that a book will see a profit (or even be published). The editors posted here do not work on spec.

LIVE AGENT

Note: Price quotes and time estimates for individual editors cannot be given over the phone or via chat. This is a network of freelance editors with varying prices and work schedules (see our FAQ). To obtain a price quote please follow the procedures listed on our quotes page. Contact live support if you do not receive a response within three hours. It is possible that your submission was not received. You may also page the network coordinator by leaving voicemail or sending a fax to 469-789-3030.

Please be as complete as possible in representing your project's scope and size so you will receive the most accurate estimate.

Disclaimer: Your agreement, whether oral or written, is with your freelance editor / proofreader / writer, not with the freelance network as a whole or its coordinator.