Peggy Campbell

Peggy Campbell

Academic, General Nonfiction Editing

PEGGY CAMPBELL has been editing nonfiction books for more than two decades, working as a line editor and copy editor for both top university presses and trade publishers. She also works as a developmental editor and is an expert user of the Chicago Manual of Style. Her areas of expertise are history (especially American history), including biography, memoir, and autobiography; politics, government, public affairs, and public policy; and equine topics.

Books that she has edited have won a number of awards and honors, including New York Times Notable Book of the Year, the Tankard Award, Choice Outstanding Book of the Year, National Jewish Book Award, and Choice Outstanding Academic Title. She has been privileged to edit forewords for John Kenneth Galbraith and Morley Safer. Campbell’s own work as a reporter was nominated for a Pulitzer.

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Academic, General Nonfiction Editing

Peggy’s background makes her ideally suited for the academic who wants to write for a general audience—she is familiar with the mores and cadences of the academy but has never lost the ear for plain language that she developed as a journalist.

Her standards are high, but her motto is “Never give a critic a free lunch.” She regards editing as a collaborative process and wants to help authors produce their best work, leaving nothing (as the horseracing people say) at the gate.

Her attention to detail is ferocious—authors are amazed by her ability to catch discrepancies, inconsistencies, and redundancies hundreds of pages apart. Her favorite compliment from an author? “You make me sound like me—only better!”

Beyond Affirmative Action“Peggy Campbell’s . . . editorial guidance was invaluable. It was a joy to work with someone as skilled as Peggy because she really grasped the nuances of my ideas and knew exactly how to push and direct the book in progress. She made a difficult process a lot more fun.”

—Robert A. Ibarra, Beyond Affirmative Action

Testimonials

“Peggy Campbell is a consummate professional with a magic touch for shaping manuscripts into marketable products.”

—Kyle Keiderling, Shooting Star; Heart of a Lion; Incident in LA; The Perfect Game; Olympic Collision; Trophies and Tears

Your Average Nigga“Peggy Campbell reads beyond the surface and with keen insight.”

—Vershawn Ashanti Young, Your Average Nigga

Super Fuel“Peggy Campbell is far more than a copy editor: she sharpened the prose and clarified the reasoning on literally every page of this book.”

—Richard Martin, Superfuel

The Inner Life of the Dying Person“I was lucky to work with Peggy Campbell, my wonderful copy editor; meticulous and collegial, she provided deft guidance and mentoring for the final draft of my writing.”

—Allan Kellehear, The Inner Life of the Dying Person

How to Make Dances in an Epidemic“Peggy Campell, my dream copyeditor, not only has been an ace in matters of spelling and consistency but has also grappled deeply with the ideas in the book. Our exchanges have been extremely fruitful and have rendered otherwise difficult chores a pleasure.”

—David Gere, How to Make Dances in an Epidemic

Dark Days in the Newsroom“It was a pleasure working with copy editor Peggy Campbell, who edited my first book and again worked wonders by smoothing the rough edges and identifying gaps that needed to be filled.”

—Edward Alwood, Dark Days in the Newsroom

Race and the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition“Copy editor Peggy Campbell not only improved this book considerably, but she also made editing fun.”

—Theda Perdue, Race and the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition of 1895

African American Mayors“Peggy Campbell . . . proved quite extraordinary and greatly aided the quality of the manuscript.”

—David R. Colburn and Jeffrey S. Adler, eds., African-American Mayors

Equador and the United States“Peggy Campbell, an exceptionally talented and most insightful editor, helped me so much.”

—Ronn Pineo, Ecuador and the United States

Making Chastity Sexy“Special thanks go to Peggy Campbell for her smart and careful edits.”

—Christine J. Gardner, Making Chastity Sexy

From Chocolate to Morphine“We are greatly indebted to Peggy Campbell, copy editor extraordinaire.”

Andrew Weil, M.D., and Winifred Rosen, From Chocolate to Morphine, rev. ed.

CBS's Don HollenbeckPeggy Campbell, a talented copy editor with a light touch, spotted gaps that needed to be filled, paragraphs that deserved to die, and questions that remained to be answered.”

—Loren Ghiglione, CBS’s Don Hollenbeck

The Sixteen Trillion Dollar Mistake“Peggy Campbell skillfully copyedited the text, immeasurably improving its flow and accuracy.”

—Bruce S. Jansson, The Sixteen-Trillion-Dollar Mistake

Intamicies“Special thanks go to our fierce and relentless copy editor, Peggy Campbell, whose dedication to accuracy made all our chapters that much better.”

—William R. Jankowiak, ed., Intimacies: Love and Sex Across Cultures

Works Edited (Partial List)

Asterisks denote works that have received awards and/or honors.

African American Studies

  • African-American Mayors: Race, Politics, and the American City. By David R. Colburn and Jeffrey S. Adler. University of Illinois Press, 2001.
  • *Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls’ Escape from Slavery to Union Hero. By Cate Lineberry. St. Martin’s, 2017. Christian Science Monitor 30 Best Books of 2017.
  • Carl B. Stokes and the Rise of Black Political Power. By Leonard N. Moore. University of Illinois Press, 2003.
  • Chronicles of a Two-Front War: Civil Rights and Vietnam in the African American Press. By Lawrence Eldridge. University of Missouri Press, 2012.
  • Code-Meshing as World English: Pedagogy, Policy, Performance. Edited by Vershawn Ashanti Young and Aja Y. Martinez. National Council of Teachers of English, 2011.
  • From Bourgeois to Boojie: Black Middle-Class Performances. Edited by Vershawn Ashanti Young and Bridget Tsemo. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2011.
  • From Sweetback to Super Fly: Race and Film Audiences in Chicago’s Loop. By Gerald R. Butters Jr. University of Missouri Press, 2015.
  • In Their Parents’ Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees. By Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda. Columbia University Press, 2007.
  • *In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption. By Rhonda M. Roorda. Columbia University Press, 2015. Winner, Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2016, American Library Association.
  • Many Middle Passages: Forced Migration and the Making of the Modern World. By Christopher, Emma, Cassandra Pybus, and Marcus Rediker. University of California Press, 2007.
  • The Brown Decision, Jim Crow, and Southern Identity. By James C. Cobb. University of Georgia Press, 2005.
  • The Nation’s Region: Southern Modernism, Segregation, and U.S. Nationalism. By Leigh Anne Duck. University of Georgia Press, 2006.
  • The Political Use of Racial Narratives: School Desegregation in Mobile, Alabama, 1954–97. By Richard A. Pride. University of Georgia Press, 2008.
  • William Wells Brown: A Reader. Edited by Ezra Greenspan. University of Georgia Press, 2008.
  • Your Average Nigga: Performing Race, Literacy, and Masculinity. By Vershawn Ashanti Young. Wayne State University Press, 2007.

Anthropology/Cultural Anthropology/Sociology

  • Accidental Brothers: The Story of Twins Exchanged at Birth and the Power of Nature and Nurture. By Nancy L. Segal and Yesika S. Montoya. St. Martin’s, 2018.
  • Beyond Affirmative Action: Reframing the Context of Higher Education. By Robert Ibarra. University of Wisconsin Press, 2000.
  • Field Notes from Elsewhere: Reflections on Dying and Living. By Mark C. Taylor. Columbia University Press, 2009.
  • Intimacies: Love and Sex Across Cultures. Edited by William K. Jankowiak. Columbia University Press, 2008.
  • Sewing Women: Immigrants and the New York City Garment Industry. By Margaret Chin. Columbia University Press, 2005.
  • *The Twilight of Cutting: African Activism and Life after NGOs. By Saida Hodzic. University of California Press, 2016. 2017 Michelle Z. Rosaldo Book Prize presented by the Association for Feminist Anthropology.

Business

  • Alibaba’s World: How a Remarkable Chinese Company Is Changing the Face of Global Business. By Porter Erisman. St. Martin’s, 2015.
  • Audience Economics: Media Institutions and the Audience Marketplace. By Philip M. Napoli. Columbia University Press, 2003.
  • Geek Girl Rising: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech. By Heather Cabot and Samantha Walravens. St. Martin’s, 2017.
  • Guten Tag Y’all: Globalization and the South Carolina Piedmont, 1950–2000. By Maunula Marko. University of Georgia Press, 2009.
  • Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? How the Famous Sell Us Elixirs of Health, Beauty, and Happiness. By Timothy Caulfield. Beacon, 2015.
  • Living It Up: Our Love Affair with Luxury. By James Twitchell. Columbia University Press, 2002.
  • Pragmatic Capitalism; What Every Investor Needs to Know About Money and Finance. By Cullen Roche. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
  • Retail’s Seismic Shift: How to Shift Faster, Respond Better, and Win Customer Loyalty. By Michael Dart and Robin Lewis. St. Martin’s, 2017.
  • Six Billion Shoppers: The Companies Winning the Global E-Commerce Boom. By Porter Erisman. St. Martin’s, 2017.
  • Survival Investing: How to Prosper amid Thieving Banks and Corrupt Governments. By John R. Talbott. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
  • The Dysfunctional Workplace: Theory, Stories, and Practice. By Seth Allcorn and Howard F. Stein. University of Missouri Press, 2016.
  • The $500K Sales Recruiter. By Mark DeChant. Privately published, 2020.
  • The Rise of the Naked Economy: How to Benefit from the Changing Workplace. By Ryan Coonerty and Jeremy Neuner. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
  • The Successful Property Manager. By Scott Brady. Forthcoming.
  • Twitter Is Not a Strategy: Rediscovering the Art of Brand Marketing. By Tom Doctoroff. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Gay Studies/Gender Studies

  • Gay Men Choosing Parenthood. By Gerald P. Mallon. Columbia University Press, 2004.
  • How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of AIDS. By David Gere. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.
  • Making Chastity Sexy: The Rhetoric of Evangelical Abstinence Campaigns. By Christine J. Gardner. University of California Press, 2011
  • Queer Stepfamilies: The Path to Legal and Social Recognition. By Katie L. Acosta. New York University Press, 2021.
  • Sex Panic and the Punitive State. By Roger N. Lancaster. University of California Press, 2011.
  • Studs, Tools, and the Family Jewels: Metaphors Men Live By. By Peter Murphy. University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.

History/Biography

  • A Very Private Citizen: The Life of Grenville Clark. By Nancy Peterson Hill. University of Missouri Press, 2014.
  • *CBS’s Don Hollenbeck: An Honest Reporter in the Age of McCarthyism. By Loren Ghiglione. Columbia University Press, 2008. Finalist, 2009 Tankard Book Award; finalist, Frank Luther Mott/Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award, 2008.
  • Charles K. McClatchy and the Golden Era of American Journalism. By Steven M. Avella. University of Missouri Press, 2016.
  • Communities of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their Readers. By David P. Nord. University of Illinois Press, 2001.
  • *Dark Days in the Newsroom: McCarthyism Aimed at the Press. By Edward Alwood. Temple University Press, 2007. Winner, 2008 Tankard Book Award; Connecticut Press Club’s Best Book of the Year: Adult Non-Fiction, 2008.
  • Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City. By Jonathan Soffer. Columbia University Press, 2010.
  • *Friendlyvision: Fred Friendly and the Rise and Fall of Television Journalism. By Ralph Engelman. Foreword by Morley Safer. Columbia University Press, 2009. Winner, 2010 Abraham Krasnoff Memorial Award for Scholarly Achievement.
  • Hell’s Broke Loose in Georgia: Survival in a Civil War Regiment. By Scott Walker. University of Georgia Press, 2005.
  • *Hidden Talent: The Emergence of Hollywood Talent Agents. By Tom Kemper. University of California Press, 2010. Named Choice Outstanding Academic Title in Film for 2010 by the American Library Association.
  • *Howard Andrew Knox: Pioneer of Intelligence Testing at Ellis Island. By John T. E. Richardson. Columbia University Press, 2011. Winner, 2011 Outstanding Book in the History of the Neurosciences.
  • Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror. By Bill Yenne. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
  • *Making a Non-White America: Californians Coloring Outside Ethnic Lines. By Allison Varzally. University of California Press, 2008. 2009 Theodore Saloutos Memorial Award, Immigration and Ethnic History Society.
  • Muhammad, the World-Changer: An Intimate Portrait. By Mohamad Jebara. St. Martin’s, 2021.
  • On the Road with Mark Twain: In Search of America’s Identity. By Loren Ghiglione, with Alyssa Karas and Dan Tham. University of Georgia Press, 2020.
  • Project 9: The Birth of the Air Commandos in World War II. By Dennis R. Okerstrom. University of Missouri Press, 2014.
  • Race and the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition of 1895. By Theda Perdue. University of Georgia Press, 2010.
  • Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union. By Robert Cottrell. Columbia University Press, 2001.
  • Stanford White: Decorator in Opulence and Dealer in Antiquities. By Wayne Craven. Columbia University Press, 2005.
  • *Straight News: Gays, Lesbians, and the News Media. Columbia University Press, 1996. By Edward Alwood. New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 1996; GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Award for Outstanding Achievement in Publication, 1997; Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America Award for Outstanding Book on Human Rights in North America, 1997; Choice Outstanding Book of the Year, 1997.
  • Superfuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future. By Richard Martin. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
  • The Cinematic Voyage of The Pirate: Kelly, Garland, and Minnelli at Work.By Earl J. Hess and Pratibha A. Dabholkar. University of Missouri Press, 2014.
  • The Collapse of Price’s Raid: The Beginning of the End in Civil War Missouri. By Mark A. Lause. University of Missouri Press, 2016.
  • The World War II Desk Reference. Edited by Michael E. Haskell and Douglas Brinkley.Collins Reference, 2004.
  • They Dared to Call Their Souls Their Own”: The Greek and Latin Classics as Tools of Social Uplift and Empowerment at Black Colleges and Universities in the United States, 1870–1940. By Kenneth W. Goings and Eugene O’Connor. Forthcoming.
  • Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens. By Richard Seymour. Verso, 2013.

International Studies

  • Demokrasi: Indonesia in the Twenty-first Century. By Hamish McDonald. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
  • Divided Korea: Toward a Culture of Reconciliation. By Roland Bleiker. University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
  • Ecuador and the United States: Useful Strangers. By Ronn Pineo. University of Georgia Press, 2007.
  • Igniting the Internet: Youth and Activism in Postauthoritarian South Korea. By Jiyeon Kang. University of Hawaii Press, 2018.
  • *Pretext for Mass Murder. University of Wisconsin Press, 2005. By John Roosa. Finalist, Social Sciences Book Award, the International Convention of Asian Scholars.
  • Vertical Margins: Mountaineering and the Landscapes of Neoimperialism. By Reuben Ellis. University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.
  • Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change the Country and the World. By Zak Dychtwald. St. Martin’s, 2018.

Memoir

  • *An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir. By Phyllis Chesler. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. National Jewish Book Award from the National Jewish Council for best memoir of 2013.
  • A Woman Soldier’s Own Story: The Autobiography of Xie Bingying. Translated by Lily Chia Brissman and Barry Brissman. Columbia University Press, 2003.
  • Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen: A Memoir. By Sandra A. Adell. Eugenia Books, 2010.
  • Counting Down: A Memoir of Foster Parenting and Beyond. By Deborah Gold. Ohio University Press, 2018.
  • Field Notes from Elsewhere: Reflections on Dying and Living. By Mark Taylor. Columbia University Press, 2014.
  • *In My Father’s Arms: A True Story of Incest. University of Wisconsin Press, 1999. By Walter de Milly III. Named One of the Best Southern Books of All Time by Oxford American Magazine in its May–June 2000 edition.
  • Joothan: A Dalit’s Life. By Omprakash Valmiki. Columbia University Press, 2007.
  • Life with Mae: A Detroit Family Memoir. By Neal Shine. Wayne State University Press, 2007.
  • Lying Together: My Russian Affair. By Jennifer B. Cohen. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.
  • On the Parole Board: Reflections on Crime, Punishment, Redemption, and Justice. By Frederic B. Reamer. Columbia University Press, 2016.
  • Sailing to the Far Horizon: The Restless Journey and Tragic Sinking of a Tall Ship. By Pamela S. Bitterman. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.
  • Stronger Than Steel: Forging a Rust Belt Renaissance. By Jeffrey Parks. Rocky Rapids Press, 2018.
  • *The Twenty-Third Psalm: A Holocaust Memoir. University of Wisconsin Press, 2003. By George L. Salton. Outstanding University Press Book Citation, American Association of School Libraries.

Self-help

  • Eight Weeks to Optimum Health. By Andrew Weil, M.D. Rev. ed. Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
  • From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs. By Andrew Weil, M.D., and Winifred Rosen. Rev. ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
  • Shame: Free Yourself, Find Joy, and Build True Self-Esteem. By Joseph Burgo. St. Martin’s Essentials, 2018.
  • You Need a Plan: How to Prepare for Death, Taxes, and Long-Term Care. By Justin Elrod. Lioncrest, 2016.

Sports

  • *Heart of a Lion: The Life, Death and Legacy of Hank Gathers. By Kyle Keiderling. Morning Star Books, 2010. Named Best Sports Biography of 2011 by International Book Awards.
  • *Olympic Collision: The Story of Mary Decker and Zola Budd. By Kyle Keiderling. University of Nebraska Press, 2015. Named Best Running Book of 2016 by Competitor magazine.
  • Shooting Star: The Bevo Francis Story. By Kyle Keiderling. Sport Classic Books, 2005.
  • The Perfect Game: Villanova vs. Georgetown for the National Championship. By Kyle Keiderling. Morning Star Communications, 2012.
  • The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It. By Warren Corbett. Southern Methodist University Press, 2009.
  • Trophies and Tears: The Story of Evansville and the Aces. By Kyle Keiderling. Morning Star Communications, 2012.

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