Brooke Maddaford – Editor

I'm a nonfiction editor with nine years of in-house editorial publishing experience and fifteen years of freelance experience. My editorial goals are to strengthen an author's voice, content, and intention while enhancing and clarifying the writing. I offer FREE SAMPLE EDITS (up to 1,000 words) to all potential clients to ensure we'd be a good fit. Let's talk!

My in-house experience includes being a senior editor for a Big Four (formerly known as the Big Five) publishing house (Perseus Books Group, now Hachette) and many years on the editorial staff for Chicago Review Press, an independent trade book publisher. In addition, I've been a freelance editor since 2006.

My favorite genres to edit include memoir, biography, spirituality, prescriptive nonfiction, sociology, environmentalism, gender studies, history, travel/adventure, and children's nonfiction. I've also edited historical fiction, mysteries, and general fiction. I LOVE working on books that teach or share something valuable, from personal experiences to important information. I like to say that I edit "books that matter."

My services are varied, flexible, and entirely dependent on the needs of my authors and their manuscripts. I offer everything from manuscript assessments and content/development/substantive editing to copy editing, line editing, and proofreading. My rates are negotiable.

Message me to learn more about how I can help you to achieve your goals for your book!


***Testimonials from past clients***

"Working with Brooke has been fabulous. She is so insightful and thorough. Best of all, she truly delights in helping to shape the manuscript while retaining the true voice of the author. That's an amazing combination to find in an editor!" --Curlin Reed Sullivan, author of *Where's My F***ing Cake, Bob? How I Survived My True Love's Trips to Rehab*

"My first book, *The Life I’ve Picked,* came out good, but it was Brooke Maddaford who put the icing on. She brought it to its final stage, making it even more appealing to the reader. Her abilities were quite diligent, focused, and on target, never straying from the original intent but instead making it better. Brooke gave it that nice final touch that shows an how editor of her talent is essential for the best final version. Thank you Brooke!” --John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and author of *The Life I've Picked: A Banjo Player's Nitty Gritty Journey*

"Brooke served as my editor on several major projects. She is everything you want a copy editor and development editor to be: attentive, a stickler for rules, and sharp-eyed. I highly recommend Brooke for all of your editorial needs." --Anthony Wahl, Acquisitions Editor, Oxford University Press

"Personable. Responsive. Technically skilled yet keen not to edit over the author's voice. Those are precisely the attributes I look for when seeking editorial assistance, and Brooke Maddaford delivered. I couldn't have been happier with my experience with her. When I worked with Brooke I was a rookie author. With close to a dozen books now to my name, my experience with her still stands out as being among the most positive." --Dr. Michael Carolan, Colorado State University Associate Dean of Research for the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Sociology


***Exciting News!***

A trade book that I copy edited (*A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever*) was recently adapted into a major motion picture of the same name that was featured at Sundance 2018 and is streaming on Netflix.

A music memoir that I copy edited (John McEuen's *The Life I've Picked: A Banjo Player's Nitty Gritty Journey*) has been receiving stellar reviews. As of June 2021, 132 of 149 Amazon reviews have FIVE STARS!