Ghostwriting & Manuscript Development, Book Cover Design, Self-Publishing/Print-On-Demand Consultant
Ghostwriting, collaborative writing, and developmental restructuring for the following subject categories:
Art: As a lifetime artist (oil painting, drawing, graphic design, and photography), I have a deep appreciation for art, the art world, aesthetic philosophy, and creativity. I have had shows in France, Brazil, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. I am also a lifelong student of communications media and media technologies (old, new, and emerging media tools).
Business: I have written strategy plans, business continuity plans, marketing plans, and various kinds of sales copy and proposals. My corporate clients include: Merck, The Vanguard Group, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Unisys, Devon Consulting, Lumina Americas, The Franklin Mint, The Devereux Foundation, and many others.
Ethnic / Culture/ Sociology: Special focus on social psychology and cultural change.
Nonfiction (general): Special focus on new ideas, philosophy, media, and social change.
Politics / Government: Special focus on international and public affairs.
Religion / New Age / Spirituality / Inspirational: I am interested in books that explore the relationship between consciousness change and social change and have studied all major religions extensively.
Science / Medical: I edited two substantial medical monographs, The Acid Monograph and The H2 Receptor Anthology, and wrote the Chemistry and Manufacturing Control section of the New Drug Application for Modafinil (Provigil). I also wrote several software and system development documents related to pharmaceuticals and healthcare procedures.
Self Help / How-To: I have written many technical manuals, such as software user guides and other how-to descriptions. I also have a deep interest in psychological self-help works.
Technical / Computers/ IT: I worked as a technical writer/ business analyst/ project manager in the IT field for many years and have written over 200 book-length technical and business documents. I have developed strong modeling and diagraming skills.
SARAH ANDERSON is a freelance editor and writer, experienced in fiction and nonfiction. Her work has been called outstanding, and she was solely responsible for editing the three most successful romances published by Banbury Books and distributed by Dell. Her recent nonfiction projects include A Loving Guide to These Shifting Times and Biography of A Time Traveler: the Man behind the 2012 Phenomenon. Recent fiction projects include The Apprentice and Sisters of War. Sarah is an acknowledged contributor to The Wisdom of The Enneagram, published by Bantam. She has self-published a relationships handbook, Relationships Made Easy: How to get along with all kinds of people, and has written articles on the psychology of personality.
Clients are particularly impressed by her ability to make their text sparkle while maintaining their voice. She is flexible, personable, and highly proficient. As one client noted,
Sarah is clearly a gifted, disciplined editor. It was obvious that she took great care to preserve my voice, and not to change meaning when structure needed adjusting. Her art is subtle – at first glance, I wondered what she'd done . . . but the changes added power, conviction, and flow to my thoughts. I am so glad I found my way to Sarah!
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.
KATHRYN CLAPPER is a writer’s editor. She is passionate about partnering with both nonfiction and fiction authors to bring their ideas and stories alive. With 10 years of experience editing more than 300 titles and textbooks for major publishers such as National Geographic, Candlewick Press, Scholastic, Prentice Hall, Pearson Longman, and Blackwell-Wiley, Kathryn knows what it takes to convert an idea into a bound book. With every manuscript, she acts as an advocate of the reader while holding true to the author’s style. Her talents do not stop at developmental editing, however. As an eagle-eyed copyeditor and proofreader, she relentlessly perfects details while keeping the big picture in mind.
Kathryn is a certified English teacher with a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University (anthropology) and a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (teaching and curriculum). Her areas of expertise include literary nonfiction, YA fiction, biography, general interest nonfiction, scholarly works, children’s nonfiction, and instructional content in the humanities and social sciences.
Kathryn offers the following services:
Copyediting and proofreading
Developmental editing
Project management
Nonfiction: literary, scholarly, children’s, textbooks, other instructional content, Web content
Fiction: YA, mass market, literary, historical
Manuscript critiques and writing assistance
“Thank you for a truly excellent job in editing my nonfiction book. Before retaining your services, I interviewed a number of editors for the job. All of them were highly credentialed editing professionals. However, I was looking for additional qualities in selecting my editor: intellectual integrity, sensitivity, encouragement, and someone that truly enjoys working with writers. I found these qualities and more in working with you. I also found an inspirational guide. You did an outstanding job!” Henry Dahut
"If I were to build my dream editor from scratch ... Kathryn Clapper. She's everything an author needs and wants: highly skilled, thorough, professional, dependable, kind, and cool under fire. With more than 70 books in print, I've worked with plenty of editors in my career, but very few are in Kathryn's class. I can always trust that in her capable hands my work will shine. She is, simply, the best!" - Trudi Strain Trueit, children's fiction and nonfiction author
"I worked with Kathryn Clapper on a book a while back and found her approach refreshing after a couple of not-so-wonderful experiences with other editors. Entirely professional, she was relaxed and friendly without losing focus on the job at hand, demanding of high standards without making either one of us crazy, and forthright about business matters without being cold. I would work with her again anytime. A thoroughly pleasant professional." - Stephen Peters, writer/storyteller
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
Val serves as advisor/mentor to graduate students; teaches scientific writing courses;
and edits scientific, biology, ecology, and and medical research papers.
Science and medical editor and writer since 2001. Editing, copyediting, and writing of manuscripts, books, dissertations, grant proposals, etc. Topics range from ecology to epidemiology, from biochemistry to biomechanics, from environmental policy to paleontology, from natural products to swine nutrition. Focuses on organization, interpretation, and clear presentation of complex information.
Past clients include professionals and students from Australia, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, Venezuela, even the U.S.! Goals are successful completion of specific writing project, and helping clients improve their own writing skills for future projects.
Val’s own work includes more than fifty publications in ecology, botany, zoology, physiology, biochemistry, and mathematical modeling (see her publication list), and one million dollars worth of successful grant proposals.
Over thirty years of teaching experience, including scientific writing courses. Served as advisor and/or mentor to many graduate and undergraduate students.
Past experience as associate editor, editorial board member, and/or reviewer for over two dozen scientific journals, including Science, and government funding agencies.
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TINA HARDY is a professional copy editor and proofreader who specializes in the editing of scholarly works, specifically academic and student documents. Many of her clients are authors whose first language is not English.
She has edited hundreds of academic titles and has been involved with dozens of scholarly journals, primarily in the fields of psychology, scientific measurement, and communication.
Tina has been repeatedly recognized for her ability to grasp complex concepts and for expertly balancing between reader comprehension and instruction. She is an expert in Chicago and APA formatting.
* Copyediting, line editing, and proofreading (nonfiction)
* Specialties: scholarly/academic manuscripts, education, psychology, communication, and scientific measurement
* Website copyediting and proofreading
* ESL editing
* Developmental editing (nonfiction)
* Formatting: Chicago Manual of Style, APA 5th and 6th editions
If you are writing a scholarly article, academic essay, thesis, dissertation, or research paper, Tina will ensure that your grammar, spelling, punctuation, tense, and so forth, are 100% correct.
She will review your document and ensure total compliance with your style of choice, using her extensive expertise in Chicago or APA style as her guide. She will work to mold your document into the appropriate form, ensuring items such as headings, abbreviations, technical terms, citations, references, and so forth, all conform to the appropriate style.
She will work with you to ensure that your word choice and word form flow naturally, so that each sentence builds on the next to advance your argument in a logical, consistent, and cohesive manner, all while keeping your natural voice intact.
This will result in a document that is precise, exact, and
flawless in its message and presentation.
Recent books Tina has edited include the following:
Collaborate, Communicate, and Differentiate! (Wendy W. Murawski and Sally Spencer), SAGE, forthcoming (2011).
Homelessness Comes to School (Joseph Murphy and Kerri Tobin), SAGE, forthcoming (2011).
Making ALL Kids Smarter: Strategies That Help All Students Reach Their Highest Potential (John DeLandtsheer), SAGE, 2011.
Social Problems: Community, Policy, and Social Action (Anna Leon-Guerrero), Pine Forge Press, 2011.
Encyclopedia of Religion in America (Charles H. Lippy, Peter W. Williams, Eds.), CQ Press, 2010.
Testimonials:
"You are so skilled at making recommendations, asking questions, and eliciting creativity from us. Your thoroughness and thoughtfulness in editing made our revisions easy and logical. We will ask for you again!" Margarita Calderón, Johns Hopkins University, coauthor (with Liliana Minaya-Rowe) of Preventing Long-Term ELs
"Tina Hardy's editing skills are outstanding. Her ability to revise in a way that captures the original intentions of the author is top-notch!" Maria Grant, Director, Secondary Teacher Education Program, California State University, Fullerton, coauthor (with Douglas Fisher) of Reading and Writing in Science: Tools to Develop Disciplinary Literacy
"Tina Hardy is a quality professional copy editor with an enormous understanding of the concepts and extraordinary attention to even the smallest details. I would confidently recommend her services to those who want their projects manicured properly. She's on my extremely short list of trusted editors for anything I'm involved with." Stephen Thomas, The Pioneer News
"I have worked with many editors. I have written 20 books. This is the best job I've seen to date. You have made what we said clearer with every edit and NEVER compromised the message we want to send. We accept everything you have done gleefully with no changes. Thanks so much. This has been a total pleasure for both of us." Peter Desberg, coauthor (with Jeffrey Miller) of Understanding and Engaging Adolescents
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JO-ANN LANGTREE writes and edits books, stories, and articles in the following fields: business, medical, insurance, health, holistic health, spirituality, religion, psychic phenomena, young-adult fiction, children's books, mystical experience, self-help, New Age, nutrition, diet, exercise, saints & masters, gurus, theosophy, Christianity, homeopathy, vitamins & minerals, herbs, and food supplements. She was a writer and editor for Aetna Life & Casualty. As editor of Life NEWS, she had sole responsibility for finding, developing, writing, editing, and proofing all articles. Topics included new products, sales campaigns, insurance-agent interviews, accolades, seminars, Company acquisitions and policies. Jo-Ann also edits personal and business sites.
TOM GRANT LEMONS is a successful novelist, editorial consultant, publisher, ghostwriter, and managing editor. His historical fiction has won awards and appeared on bestseller lists, and his novels have been translated and published in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Poland.
Tom is passionate about the written word, and he is eager to bring his passion and expertise to your writing project. Authors Tom has worked with include Oliver North, T.D. Jakes, Bob Hamer, Joe Moscheo, and Hamilton Gayden. The fiction and nonfiction books Tom has worked on both as developmental editor and ghostwriter have been published by major houses including Broadman & Holman, Warner Faith Publishing, Hachette/Center Street, and Greenleaf Book Group.
A skillful editor or ghostwriter can help you refine your words, create a flow that will pull readers in, and still leave the work stamped unmistakably with your unique literary voice. Tom has been able to do this for dozens of books and authors during his writing and editing career. One author told him, “It’s like you were inside my head.” Another wrote in the acknowledgments to his book, “…to Tom … who ‘got it’ immediately, and without whom this book would not have happened.”
Developmental and substantive editing, both fiction and nonfiction;
“Tom is simply one of the finest men I've ever known and one of the best writers I've ever encountered. His combination of creativity, craftsmanship, integrity, and intelligence puts him at a level I've rarely seen.”—Gary Terashita, Executive Editor, B&H Publishing Group
“Tom is an exceptional editor. An author himself, Tom is meticulous and creative in his work as he expertly brings a writer's best ideas forward. Not only are his editorial abilities outstanding, he is also warm, patient, caring, and thus a joy to work alongside. I recommend him wholeheartedly!”—Edwina Barvosa, Associate Professor, University of California at Santa Barbara
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
DON McCLAIRE uses forty years of editing and writing experience to help both fiction and non-fiction writers polish their work for publication. He’s spent his career as a magazine editor (11 years), award-winning public relations executive (six years), head of his own marketing communications firm (21 years), professional editor, and writing instructor. He’s written and placed hundreds of press releases and trade magazine articles, and has produced three non-fiction “how-to” books, two young-adult novels, and four Donna McClaire-bylined romance novels, all published. McClaire’s work won him The Public Relations Association’s highest award, the Silver Anvil, plus two Golden Trumpets from the Chicago Public Relations Associarion.
McClaire knows firsthand, after editing for others for years and judging numerous writing contest entries, the many mistakes unpublished writers make. He spreads this knowledge by conducting workshops at weekend writing conferences and teaching two online writing classes: Editor-Proof That First Chapter for WriterUniv.com, and 21 Steps to Fog-Free Writing, at WritersOnlineClasses.com.
He'll edit your manuscript, correcting
things you may have been doing wrong your whole writing career. Areas of focus include appearance, hooks, plot, motivation, dialogue,
setting, point of view, research, conflict, and voice. He'll also edit weak verb forms, strip away
author intrusions, identify character filters, ban redundancies, eliminate
foggy phrases, correct passive voice sentences, slash misused and
overused words, and correct other writing bugaboos. These are all
problems an acquisitions editor or literary agent won't take the time or effort to tell you about, but they could keep
you from being published!
"I’m going back and redoing everything I’ve everwritten…ever! When you edited the first chapter of my latest manuscript, you opened my eyes to a whole new world—and that’s way too cheesy to be an exaggeration! I can’t thank you enough for the
profound impact you’ve had on my work. I don’t think it was coincidence that I received my first contract hardly a month after you set me straight!"
Amber W. Shedeck,
w/a Amber Leigh Williams,
Fairhope, Alabama
JIM McDONOUGH has edited books on such different subjects as translations from Greek and Latin prose and poetry, Roman history, Catholic schools, Jews and Gentiles in the ancient world, Martin Luther, World War II, the Bible, foreign phrases used in English contexts, and biography. He has also edited a medical dictionary, a historical novel on the First Crusade, and encyclopedia articles. He prefers the Chicago/Turabian style. When he receives a manuscript with great idea but less than ideal presentation of these ideas, he takes great delight in helping the author give form, organization, and polish to the work so as to increase its chances of publication and of getting the author's ideas across effectively to the public. He also enjoys helping persons with Ph.D.s prepare their dissertation or other research for publication by university presses and trade publishers.
HOLLY MONTY, MA, MAComm, ELS, has been a professional APA and Chicago style editor and writer for 10 years.
Since operating as a freelance editor and writer, Ms. Monty, a Microsoft Word and LaTeX expert, has worked on books and articles published by many of the world’s leading publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, MIT Press, John Wiley, Springer, Lawrence Erlbaum, Pearson-Prentice Hall, Berg, Macmillan, Berkshire, American Geophysical Union, Praeger, Greenwood, Blackwell, Elsevier, Sage, Begell House, Teacher Ideas Press, Libraries Unlimited, UTH Zürich, RAND Corporation, and other top names in academic and nonfiction publishing. To date, she has edited over 1,500 published journal articles, over 100 nonfiction books, and a wealth of dissertations and theses. An elected member of the board of governors of the Editorial Freelancers Association from 2007 to 2008, Ms. Monty is proud to have worked with a diversity of students and academics from a broad range of our nation's universities. Given her wealth of experience, she is adept at working within the precise terms of your university's thesis/dissertation guidelines or with the publication guidelines of any peer-reviewed journal.
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."
NANCY ROSENBAUM is an expert at eliminating extraneous verbiage to bring the important points into clearer focus in works of fiction and non-fiction. As a rewriter, proofreader, editor, fact-checker, and indexer, Nancy works from the reader's perspective to help her authors generate more polished manuscripts, whether they self-publish or pursue commercial representation. Her clients' works have been on subjects as diverse as memoirs, fictional tales, short stories, self-help and new-age topics, diet and personal health care, and wealth management, to career and business management, political treatises, philosophical and social science critiques, business development and marketing optimization, textbooks, historical studies, travel and tourism guides, and finance and economics. Whether her clients need assistance with book proposals, query letters, critiques, or fine-tuning of completed manuscripts, Nancy is ready and able to provide just the right touch to hold the reader's attention.
Nancy earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Mt. Holyoke College and studied technical documentation and business communications at Northeastern University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Nancy went above and beyond heavy editing, putting my 70 page, 15,000
word Capstone in APA compliance. Her ability to understand the material and
translate into higher level English is very impressive. The feedback from my
professor was ‘exceptional work’ and he turned it back to me with no corrections.
Her work was PERFECT. I can’t thank her and the editing network enough. Well
done!" - Brian Bowman, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical, Deputy Group Commander,
USAF
"It has been a pleasure working with Nancy Rosenbaum. Her professionalism
is outstanding. She walked me through the every step of the editing process
and, was always available. The quality of work was far more superior than I
had expected. I intend on using both Nancy and the service again to assist with
the final editing of my dissertation project."
"Nancy Rosenbaum was very accessible and easy to work with. She was responsive, and most importantly, I’m very happy with the finished result (edited manuscript)." —Steve Todd
"I didn't know that services of this caliber existed online!"
"She is a master of APA and of the English language!" —Jasey Kolarik, Aurora University
"Nancy did an amazing job of making my manuscript much more polished and professional. Her services included rephrasing, tightening text, and proofreading. Nancy was a joy to work with. I highly recommend her services to anyone."
A. J. SOBCZAK is an editor, proofreader, and writer (business writing, business methods, business history, communication, literary analysis, fiction in various genres) with more than 25 years of experience in the publishing industry. He has edited nonfiction work, both articles and books, in a variety of fields, including various social sciences, technical research, and medical research. He has edited dozens of books and journals in the social sciences, research methods, mathematics, political science, psychology, business and management, history, and health and medicine, among other topics, and also has worked on several successful doctoral dissertations.
He is an expert in APA and Chicago styles and is on several publishers' lists of "go-to" editors for manuscripts with heavy math content. His fiction specialties include science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and young adult.
Writing, copyediting, developmental editing
Manuscript evaluations and critiques
Fiction: science fiction, horror, mystery, mainstream, short story
MADGE WALLACE is a professional freelance indexer. She creates indexes found at the back of nonfiction books. When an index is done according to generally accepted indexing standards, it performs flawlessly. The reader finds what he is looking for and doesn’t give the index a second thought. On the other hand, if the index is poorly done, the reader becomes frustrated and will likely move on to the next book. Worse yet, a nonfiction book published without an index may not be taken seriously by the publishing industry. In short, a good index enhances the value of a book to readers, reviewers, librarians, instructors, and researchers. It is a mark of a serious book.
Indexing is a skill Madge acquired after many years of writing freelance for newspapers and magazines, as well as authoring four published books. Her award-winning novel, Paying the Price, the story of a real estate deal in Hawaii that goes terribly bad, was published in 2005. Her Hawaii Real Estate Exam Book has been used by students all over the world to pass the Hawaii real estate licensing exam.
As an indexer Madge puts herself in the mind of the potential reader and anticipates his needs. Indexing involves such things as
gathering together scattered information on the same subject
breaking down large ranges of information into manageable subtopics
cross referencing related topics
double posting topics that might be accessed in several different ways
distinguishing between passing references and substantive discussions
Madge has a degree in mathematics, and is a graduate of the U.S.D.A. Graduate School's Basic Indexing Course, a tried and true standard for indexers. She is a member of the American Society of Indexers. She indexes books on topics ranging from history to politics, cookbooks to real estate, social studies to biography, and health and wellness to Hawaiiana. All subjects will be considered.
"This book was a challenging indexing project. Madge Wallace...did an excellent job sorting through this complicated task and the result is a book of which everyone involved is very proud."
"We greatly appreciate your diligence and care in creating the index for Patients Beyond Borders Second Edition—a quantum improvement. I was particularly pleased with the way you distilled a large amount of technical information—potentially confusing to the reader of a consumer guide—into an accessible, friendly format. Try as we might, we could not find an error in your work!"
SHANNON WILKINS – PhD in Professional Writing (medical
communication emphasis)
Shannon is not accepting submissions
until April 1, 2012
Before focusing her energies on a freelance editing career, Shannon was a staff editor at Mayo Clinic, which has the largest in-house editorial service at a medical institution. In this role, she edited whatever manuscript came down the pike, whether it was about cardiology or dermatology. Such demands required her to be nimble in her approach to editing and to have a firm grasp of the medical resources necessary to assist authors in creating credible, cohesive documents.
In her dissertation, she analyzed the arguments regarding the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Besides providing an understanding of the nexus between public discourse and science, the PhD degree nurtured in Shannon a strong sense of what belongs in a scientific document and what does not. Added to this scholarly knowledge is the practical experience of being the copyeditor of the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics for 5 years. During the past 8 years, Shannon has balanced her time between editing scientific documents and teaching college composition courses. She currently teaches a college course in technical communication.
As Shannon follows the rhythm of an author’s language, she picks up the language of ESL writers that might need further clarity or the odd detail that seems out of place and needs to be researched. Her first clients were biomedical engineers whom she assisted in preparing their manuscripts for successful publication. Since her entry into the field of editing, she has edited manuscripts on pharmacology, dermatology, cardiology, echocardiography, endocrinology, transplantation, hand surgery, asthma, various cancers, and other topics. Shannon has edited manuscripts that have been published in several highly respected journals:
Biomedical Microdevices Echocardiography Endocrine Practice IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics Journal of the AmericanAcademy of Dermatology Journal of the AmericanCollege of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging Mayo Clinic Proceedings Neurocritical Care Techniques in Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery
Shannon considers all of the documents that she edits to be life documents—documents that are pivotal in the development of one’s life. Medical manuscripts are not just write-ups of research; they are documents that affect the career advancement of the writers and, often, the very lives of those in need of medical care. Various impediments may complicate journal acceptance of a manuscript, but the quality of expression should not be one of them.
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.