What I Do

 

My primary goal is to facilitate communication between authors and readers by ensuring that each piece I edit is clear, coherent, consistent, and correct. The services I offer fall into two basic categories: copyediting and developmental editing.

Copyediting

When copyediting, I perform four interrelated tasks. First, I correct mechanical errors and inconsistencies in order to make a piece of writing conform to an appropriate editorial style, such as Chicago, MLA, or a publisher's house style. Mechanical editing requires attention to technical elements, including spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation, treatment of numbers, use of abbreviations, and format of notes, bibliographies, and reference lists.

Second, I correlate the parts of the manuscript by verifying cross-references, checking the table of contents against the text, checking illustrations against captions, and the like.

Third, I edit the language of the piece. I attend to grammar, usage, and diction, and I make changes to any prose that is incorrect, confusing, ambiguous, or inappropriate. When editing an author's language, I am always careful to avoid imposing my own voice and stylistic preferences on the text.

Finally, I perform content editing of the piece, attending to internal inconsistencies, discrepancies, and organizational problems in the content or structure of the manuscript.

Developmental editing

It is in content editing that the distinction between copyediting and developmental editing arises. While a copyeditor brings any major problems with the content of a manuscript to the author's attention, a developmental editor proposes ways to resolve such problems.

Developmental editing sometimes involves working through the text line by line and rewriting troublesome passages for the author. (Such work is also known as line editing or substantive editing.) At other times, it entails the writing of a short or long report for the author that diagnoses problems with the manuscript and contains advice and detailed instruction on how to solve them.

I make decisions about what sorts of developmental editing a manuscript requires in concert with the author. In the case of book or article manuscripts for which peer reviews have been obtained, I will also take the reviewers' comments under consideration in my work, implementing suggested changes or evaluating the author's success in doing so, as appropriate.

Writing coaching

For scholars who would like to improve their writing or who require assistance with all their written work, I offer my services as a personal writing coach, reviewing and editing their scholarship and providing feedback designed to help them improve their composition skills.

Personal and family history editing

I offer a variety of types of assistance with personal and family histories. I can help to develop or complete manuscripts, make suggestions for improving the flow or organization of a manuscript, and copyedit or line edit completed manuscripts for publication. In addition, I can help to arrange for the private printing of small numbers of completed personal or family histories for distribution to friends and family members.