Literary attorney and editor Bruce Bortz has a passion for the publishing business that can't be measured. He's combined thirty years of journalistic experience with 15+ years book publishing experience and now offers his services as a classic generalist, editing both fiction and nonfiction.
He wears every hat in the publishing business, trading back and forth as duty requires—From manuscript acquisitions to contract negotiations to editing to marketing. His philosophy is simple: do what you love, do what you're good at, and do lots of it.
Manuscript Critiques
Copyediting, proofreading, developmental editing.
Ghostwriting
Book proposals
Marketing plans
Book contracts (review and negotiation)
"I've had the privilege to work with Bruce on several writing and editorial projects. He is the master! When ghostwriting, he has a unique talent for drawing out those things from the author that make a difference to the storyline. When editing, he instinctively knows what needs to be done to the manuscript in order for it to touch its reader with the greatest impact. And he always has the long-term interest of the project in mind. He begins planning the marketing campaign the first day he is introduced to a work, including how the cover should look and how to gain the most attention from the media. I got much more than I expected from Bruce and highly recommend him as an integral member of any publishing team."—Jill Bertolet, Publisher, Tapestry Press
ESTHER DAVID-ROLAND is a writer and editor whose experience includes writing and editing in technical and non-technical subject areas. She has worked as a journalist, writer, and editor for more than 25 years and brings her many years of experience to each project. As a freelance copyeditor, Esther has worked with major publishers, businesses, and individuals, and has worked extensively with authors whose native language is not English.
* Book editing (nonfiction)
* Developmental editing (nonfiction)
* Manuscript copyediting and proofreading
* Technical, medical, and scientific copyediting
* Website copyediting and proofreading
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.
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.
"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."
STAVRA KETCHMARK has edited more than 200 fiction titles while working for major publishing houses, as well as numerous medical, technical, and scientific trade, academic, and professional titles. She specializes in a variety of fiction genres, including romance, historical, mystery, suspense, crime, horror, fantasy, science fiction, and young adult. Her nonfiction specialties include all medical disciplines, nursing, allied health, alternative health, political science/politics, history, journalism, religion, parenting, and cooking.
Stavra has also helped a broad range of corporate clients fine-tune their annual reports, advertisements, websites, and other marketing materials to achieve the image they are seeking.
Her edited manuscripts have been published by Wadsworth, Mosby, Signet, Roc, NAL Trade, Thompson Delmar Learning, and Onyx.
"Simply put, Stavra is a PRO!
She has been editing my work for over a year and I find her professional, accurate and easy to work with. Quite frankly, I don't know what I would do without her." —John Bishop, Executive Director, Accent On Success, www.TeachingMoments.com
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
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 18 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
SARA WILSON has worked in the publishing industry both in-house and as a freelancer for nearly ten years as a project editor, copyeditor, proofreader, and more recently, developmental editor with specialties in entertainment, nursing, and college-level textbooks. She works with companies such as Random House, Inc., Pearson Education/Prentice Hall Health, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Augsburg Fortress, and Chelsea House Publishers. Sara also edits and proofreads for magazines, nonprofits, and businesses.
Copyeditor, developmental editor, project manager
Proofreader, writer
College-level textbooks: history, communication, criminology, world politics, psychology, philosophy, computer science/programming, nursing, medical terminology, massage therapy
Non-fiction: human rights, self-help, education, psychology, memoir, world history, world politics, religion, feminism and women's studies, animals, education, children's biographical
Entertainment: video-game strategy guides (in multiple genres such as historical, military, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller/suspense, action), theater, behind-the-scenes, pop-culture
Magazine articles: women's issues, personalities, community development, politics, health, mainstream and alternative medicine, nutrition, exercise, spirituality, pop-culture, arts, food, design, home and garden, entertainment, education of children and children with special needs, and more
"Our nonprofit organization hired Sara Wilson to copyedit a complex and lengthy handbook with a good deal of specialized language, charts, and forms. She did an excellent job not only in catching errors, but also in helping improve the readability and usability of the publication. Her work was thorough and professional, and I would definitely use her services again on future projects."
Alternates:
2010 at book-editing.com
help2010 at airmail.net
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).
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: 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.