Editing Services
I edit nonfiction of all kinds, including academic writing, creative nonfiction and memoir, and reporting. I'm straightforward, good-humored, and, when appropriate, extravagantly enthusiastic. I will think about your project at least as hard as you have.
I’ve worked with faculty and graduate students at over a dozen institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan; Brown; Harvard; Wesleyan; Princeton; Stanford; the Graduate Theological Union; and New York University. As a memoir editor and manuscript reader for the Virginia Quarterly Review, I've developed a knack for identifying structural issues and how to use your strongest prose as a model for revision.
Please contact me for rate information and so we can set up a time to talk by phone or Skype about your project. Quick turnaround work (72 hours or less) incurs an additional fee. I can bill your department or employer, and you can pay with PayPal, Venmo, bank draft, or Square. This will be fun, I promise.
Nice things people say about working with me:
There's both comments picking up stuff that's considered in the manuscript but isn't yet properly addressed here and comments drawing out entirely new connections. Both are hugely helpful. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to pay a professional editor and I can't thank you enough!
This is SO SO incredibly helpful, I can see already -- you point out all my bad habits that I can't of course see myself, and where I'm sort of too in the weeds to see where I'm not even making an argument anymore. This is excellent. I stand ready to endorse you to any and all. — Bathsheba Demuth, author of Floating Coast
Jacqui's work on my book proposal was invaluable. I knew I wanted a second pair of eyes on the work, and hoped for someone who could "sense check" my outline. What I hadn't expected was feedback not only on my style and structure but also on the ideas in the proposal. Jacqui's insight helped show up the weak spots in my study, going far beyond what you might expect from an editor. I highly recommend her work. — SJB
CALL THE ESSAY DOCTAh!
If you're stuck on a personal essay or creative nonfiction piece, let me take a look at your 10-12 page draft. For a $100 fee, I'll spend 1.5 hours with it and send you an editorial memo with commentary and suggestions for next steps. Just shoot me an email and we'll get started!