Louise O'Donald | Book Editing Associates

LOUISE O'DONALD has more than 25 years of experience working with theses, dissertations, journals, magazines, manuals, newspapers, policies and procedures, press releases, proposals, reports, technical publications, and white papers. Louise has specialized experience in copyediting, developmental editing, proofreading, and writing documentation for a variety of technical disciplines. Her specialties are APA and Chicago Manual of Style.

Editing and Copyediting: Technical / Business / Academic (thesis/dissertation)

Feedback

"I like very much the way you have edited my article. I remember how I was fighting with many of the sentences and you have found such elegant solutions — thanks.” — Prof. Z. Stachniak, Dept. of Computer Science, York University, Canada

“Just wanted to let you know how pleased we are and what a great job you did editing. The issue is one we can distribute to our founders and other supporters with much pride.” — L. Johnson, President, Software History Center

“Just wanted to thank you again for your patient editing effort in making the manuscript the very best it could be—and for writing such a succinct abstract. It’s very hard to summarize twenty-odd pages in four sentences, but you succeeded beautifully.” —Dr. P. Frana, Charles Babbage Institute, Minneapolis, Minn.

"You have done a very good job on a topic and era which must be unfamiliar. Thank you very much." — Dr. M. Croarken, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Warwick

"Knowing that you always devote such attention to detail is sometimes the saving grace in doing my job! Thanks so much for your careful work." — J. Prow, Managing Editor, Computer magazine

"Having worked on a number of other collaborative publishing ventures I found your comments to be the most pointed and ultimately helpful in editing my own article as well as in working with the authors of the other articles in the double issue. That in itself is a very unique skill but combined with the ability to address details in such a variety of works on topics I suspect you may have little direct knowledge or experience of is all the more impressive." — R. Graham, Head, Library Systems, Johns Hopkins University, Md.

"What a great job you did on editing the special issue — it looks great! It's a glorious feeling to see the results in print and so well presented. It was very easy to work with you, and I look forward to working with you in the future." — B. Grad, Software History Center

"Louise did a superb job editing my manuscript, and she's a pleasure to work with." — M. Goetz, Goetz Associates, N.J.

"Thanks so much for your assistance in making this a much-improved article." — Prof. S. Becker, Computer Information Systems, Northern Arizona University

"Thanks so much -- you have been an incredible help with this article!!" — Dr. E. Vote, Brown University, R.I.

“Thank you very much for the final edition. I appreciate your excellent work.” — Prof. T. Ikedo, Computer Information Sciences, Hosei University, Japan

From the Acknowledgments paragraph of “mSTAR: Enabling Collaborative Applications on the Internet” article by P. Parnes, K. Synnes, and D. Schefström

"We thank all those who reviewed this article, especially the anonymous reviewers, as well as Louise O’Donald, who edited it."

From the Acknowledgments in their book, The Anatomy of a High Performance Microprocessor: A Systems Perspective by B. Shriver and B. Smith

"We would like to thank Louise, the copy-editor … for … improving the readability of the manuscript."

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.