Award-winning writer and editor H. L. BELL is committed to helping other writers make their work the best it can possibly be. Intimately familiar with the thrills and insecurities of the writing process, she empathizes and works especially well with other writers. Clients have praised her as an editor with an engaging manner, a meticulous attention to detail, and a consummate skill with language.
She has edited a broad range of acclaimed fiction and nonfiction titles, including Bonnie Jo Campbell’s American Salvage, finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in fiction. Her own fiction and book reviews have appeared in Jane, Salon,The Women’s Review of Books, and the Chicago Reader.
DEANNA H. BRADY is a highly versatile freelance writer and editor with more than two decades of experience. Known as an "editor's editor," she ghostwrites, rewrites, develops, and copyedits a wide range of material, including self-help/how-to books, novels (both literary and genre fiction), creative nonfiction, biographies/memoirs, proposals, cover and query letters, articles, essays, scripts, business communications, and Web content. She has written and edited marketing and advertising copy for Fortune 500 companies and is adept at editing ESL and translated text, as well as scientific/technical material. In addition, she specializes in projects concerning spirituality, ecology, Native American Indian culture, psychology, allopathic and complementary medicine, and health, and she particularly enjoys working with& fantasy, science fiction, historical, romance, adventure, mystery, and young adult literature.
Deanna spent more than a decade as a magazine editor. She also taught at California State University for a dozen years, has written several children's textbooks, and is an award-winning author of short fiction and poetry. Her many happy clients greatly appreciate her expertise, gentle guidance, and ability to preserve their individual voices and help make their manuscripts shine.
BETH BRUNO is a columnist, author, and book editor. Hundreds of her articles have been published in print and online, and her first book, Wild Tulips, came out in 2001 and went into a second printing in 2002. Beth's proximity to New York and her position as President of the CT Authors and Publishers Association give her unique access to literary agents and publishers in and around New York City. Several of the authors whose manuscripts she has edited have been published in the mainstream, thanks to her referrals on their behalf. Beth's editing interests are eclectic and include a delicious mix of fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and children's works.
"I want to thank Beth for the spectacular job she did editing my book, which has just been published. When Beth first*** received the manuscript, she understood what was missing and recognized the changes needed to improve the flow, characterization, plot, etc., of my novel. She had a keen eye for small details. Beth was also always very available to discuss suggestions, and she quickly came up with alternatives to solve the problems we encountered along the way. She guided me through the particulars of my novel to the final polished product. The result: A published book." Oscar Medina
FAITH HICKMAN BRYNIE is the author of 25 nonfiction works related to science, medicine, health, psychology, and education. Her latest book, Brain Sense (Amacom, 2009) explains the latest advancements in neuroscience for general audiences. She has won numerous awards for her juvenile and young adult nonfiction, including “Best of the Year” from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and “Best for Teens” from the International Reading Association.
She has a Ph.D. in science curriculum and instruction, and she is an experienced editor of science activity books, trade books for middle school and high school, and textbooks K-12. She has worked for major publishers as writer, substantive editor, developmental editor, copyeditor, and fact checker. She excels at communicating complex ideas clearly and simply. Over the last eight years, she has assisted more than 20 authors with preparation of their nonfiction proposals and development of their manuscripts. Several have gone on to achieve publication and commercial success.
Brynie loves fiction, and she has written three novels, all published by Geneses under a pseudonym. She has won several contests and awards for her short fiction. She critiques novel manuscripts, helping authors develop their characters, plot, dialogue, voice, and style. Over the last eight years, she has critiqued more than 30 novels. Her advice has led to publication and commercial success for several novelists.
Nonfiction: assistance with the development of manuscripts, proposals, and queries; developmental/substantive editing; rewriting, ghostwriting
Fiction: novel critiques in all genres except romance and fantasy; no preschool, picture books, or rhyming poetry, please.
Note: Faith is not taking submissions until March 1, 2012.
JOAN DUNAYER has been a professional editor for more than two decades. She has edited research papers, dissertations, journal articles, magazine articles, and books on a wide range of topics, including psychology, language, literature, education, politics, and medicine.
THESIS AND DISSERTATION EDITOR
APA FORMAT EXPERT
A graduate of Princeton University, Joan has master’s degrees in psychology, English education, and English literature. She has taught writing to high school, college, and university students. At the University of Pennsylvania, Joan taught classes on preparing psychology reports in APA format. In addition to being an expert in APA style, Joan is thoroughly familiar with Chicago and MLA styles.
Joan also has written professionally. Her articles and essays have appeared in magazines, journals, textbooks, and anthologies. Most of her writing has focused on literature, language, psychology, philosophy, and politics. For example, she has written the commentaries for new editions of twenty-one literary classics.
"My committee chair suggested that I have my dissertation professionally reviewed to insure that its formatting complied with the latest version of APA standards. Luckily I found Joan Dunayer. She was easy to work with, provided quick turn-around, realistic pricing, and suggestions that made my dissertation stronger. Her work made me confident that my dissertation would not be held up by the university’s APA police . . . And it wasn’t! I am pleased to say that I have now completed my doctoral journey." -- Edward Lisi, Northcentral University
"Joan has been very helpful with clarifying concepts throughout the whole chapters that she worked with me. She always made sharp comments which helped me to re-shape my thoughts and writings. Joan attended my request on specific things, and helped to make the whole documents in better shape. She was never late with giving me feedback. She is the best editor that I have ever worked with, and I am truthfully recommending her." -- (Contact information on request)
"Joan was excellent. She replied very quickly to my emails, and she was extremely helpful. Her knowledge and experience were invaluable to me. I think I received a wonderful value for the cost of the service. I would recommend her to anyone without reservation. Her honesty was helpful as well as her insight. I would have loved to have her as my graduate advisor." —Scott Carey
"Joan is an outstanding editor. She is timely, sincere, and honest with the work she provides. Before contacting Joan, I was frustrated and felt as if I was not going to meet my deadline for my proposal. Now, thanks to her professional consultation, my proposal is definitely on the right track."
"A fair price for high-quality work. I would highly recommend her to others seeking assistance for their dissertations. Thank you so much. Money well spent!")
"Joan did a very thorough review of my dissertation. Her expertise in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and most importantly APA formatting was invaluable to me. I would definitely use Joan again."
"Joan’s assistance with my dissertation proposal exceeded my expectations, and went beyond the reason for which I had originally contracted her services. Her comments and suggestions were on-target, insightful, and helped me to craft an even better document that was tighter, smoother, and more acceptable to my academic review board. I intend to ask for her services again prior to my dissertation submission."
"Joan did a very thorough review of my dissertation. Her expertise in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and, most importantly, APA formatting was invaluable to me. I would definitely use Joan again."
“I consider myself a skilled writer, but I admit that after this experience I realize I have much to learn. I have never had my writing so effectively edited. Joan’s suggestions and revisions were masterfully crafted to retain and enhance the meaning of my writing. I will certainly ask Joan to help me craft future projects. I feel very fortunate to have found her.” —W.B. Elder, University of Utah
HERBERT M. LEVINE is a freelance writer and editor (nonfiction). His publications include 36 books and more than 75 articles. Subjects include: American government, state and local government, world politics, terrorism, arms control, state and local government, public administration, civil liberties, gun control, illegal drugs, chemical and biological weapons, and immigration. His articles have appeared in newspapers, magazines, journals, and reference books (including an encyclopedia). He served as a consultant for book projects on counterterrorism and evaluated and edited the work of academics and former government officials for that project.
He holds a Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University. He taught political science for 20 years at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He has edited numerous doctoral dissertations. He advised dissertation writers on the substance and style of their work and directed them to publishing markets. Dr. Levine is an expert in APA and Chicago writing requirements.
Copyediting, developmental editing
Academic and scholarly topics
Book proposals
Young adult nonfiction
"Herbert Levine was outstanding. His editing comments made it very clear that he spent a great amount of concentrated effort on the project, and he is clearly an exceptional scholar. He returned his comments 3 days before the deadline. I could not have asked for a better experience!" Laurie Sandefer
JAMES POWELL is "a good literary surgeon," as one of his accomplished clients noted. As an editor of fiction and non-fiction, he views manuscripts with a broad, comprehensive vision and an eye for detail-for "the right word in the right place." Powell's editors will tell you that his books need no editing, as Powell is, himself, an editor. He will read your fiction with an eye to making it believable and your non-fiction with a knack for making it both convincing and engaging. His books and short stories have been translated into many languages and are known throughout the world. His list of publications includes The Tao of Symbols (Morrow 1982), Energy and Eros (Morrow 1985), The Prentice Hall Global Employment Guide (Prentice Hall 1983), Mandalas: The Dynamics of Vedic Symbolism (Sterling 1980), Derrida for Beginners (Writers and Readers 1996), Postmodernism for Beginners (Writers and Readers 1998), Eastern Philosophy for Beginners (2000), and Deconstruction for Beginners (2005), and Slow Love: A Polynesian Pillow Book (2008). His short story "The Silence of the Hummingbird" was published in Spanish in Revista Katharsis in Malaga, Spain and his journalism has appeared in the Santa Barbara Independent and Montecito Journal.
Books, memoirs, theses, and dissertations
APA and MLA formats
"The turnaround time was excellent. The work was fabulous!!" Nova University student.
"His editing really streamlined my ideas. Mr. Powell's service offered much needed support."
KAREN SCHADER specializes in fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults, including chapter books, picture books, and educational resources. She has worked as a substantive editor, copyeditor, and proofreader for authors, trade publishers, and educational publishers. With an academic background in child development, she brings an understanding of children to her work, and several of her titles have been recognized with iParenting Media Awards and National Health Information Awards. A client once described Karen's editing as going beyond "simple grammar and sentence structure to style, age-appropriateness, and clarity." She respects readability, grammar, punctuation, accuracy, deadlines—and the importance of preserving the author's voice.
Substantive editing and copyediting
Fiction: juvenile and young adult
Nonfiction: mental health, self-help, and education
You may send your initial submission to all addresses to make sure it's received.
Required:
Submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript (Word/DOC or RTF
attachment preferred). Large files
should be zipped. Attachment not required if writing has not started
(e.g., because you're looking for a ghostwriter).
A sample is required to receive an estimate
for editing services
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)
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?
$ ________________
(Note: The editors will quote their regular rates, but having an idea of your budget allows the editors to tell you what services they can provide to stay within that budget.)
(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) Do you want the coordinator to reroute your submission if you requested editors/writers who (a) are not available by your deadline date, (b) do not handle the type of material you submitted, and/or (c) do not perform the service(s) you want?
(19) How did you learn about our service?:
(20) Attach the first 50 pages of your manuscript (include prologue/preface, 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.)
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.
Note:Questions about price and turnaround times cannot be given over the phone or via chat.
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 (M-F, 9a-7p central). Expect longer response times if you submitted after U.S. business hours or on weekends.
You may also send your submission to our alternate e-mail addresses if you do not receive a response within three hours M-F:
Help2012 at Airmail.net
editingnetwork at gmail.com
contact at editing-writing.com
You may also leave voice mail for the network coordinator: 469-789-3030. This number is for verification of e-mail submissions only.
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 editor or publishing consultant, not with the editing network as a whole or its coordinator.