Claire Dunn

Claire Dunn – Editor

Experienced non-fiction editor specializing in health (particularly women's health), wellness, fitness, self-help, and parenting.

Overview

I have over 20 years of experience, including in-house roles for HarperCollins and Bloomsbury as well as roles outside of traditional publishing houses.

I am passionate about polishing text to ensure the author's ideas, thoughts, and findings are expressed as clearly and precisely as possible, while never losing each individual writer's tone and voice. This commitment to excellence is reflected in my consistently excellent customer reviews.

I specialize in copy editing and proofreading, especially in the genres of health (and in particular women's health, having spent several years working at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists), wellness, fitness, self-help, and parenting. My expertise in parenting stems from my time at Parent Zone, a social enterprise supporting digital family life and children's online safety via partnerships with the likes of Google, Facebook and the UK government - plus my own experience as the parent of a seven-year-old.

My book editing experience further extends to sports, wellbeing, general interest, cookery, crafts, humour, mind/body/spirit, and more. I gained this experience at large international publishers, including HarperCollins and Bloomsbury.

I also have expertise in academic editing across a number of medical specialties, particularly women's health/obstetrics and gynaecology. I am therefore confident in my ability to work on pretty much any non-fiction text.

In later roles in my career, where my portfolio expanded, editing and publishing remained a key part of my skill set, interests, and employment responsibilities. Following a detour into external relations and corporate affairs, I returned to my first love: non-fiction book editing.

I am a fast, detail-oriented worker and would be happy to adapt my ways of working to whatever suits you best. I would love to use my copy editing and proofreading skills to help your work shine.

Services
Non-Fiction
Health & Wellbeing Parenting & Families Self-Help & Self-Improvement Sex & Relationships Sports & Outdoors
Languages
English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

Dibbly | The Urban Writers

May, 2023 — Present
Line editing, copy editing and proofreading a variety of non-fiction books, from 10,000 to 40,000+ words. Topics include women's health, health and wellness, parenting and relationships, self-help, and sports. I have consistently excellent ratings from the customers I have worked with (based on over 200 books edited), and I was selected as 'Freelancer of the Month' in October 2023 and November 2025 based on my excellent customer reviews.

HotGhostWriters

May, 2023 — Present
Developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading a range of non-fiction books, including health and fitness, parenting and cookery.

Self-employed

Apr, 2023 — Present
Following a successful book and journal publishing and external affairs career, I am now establishing a freelance editing and writing career.

Royal College of Surgeons of England

Aug, 2022 — Mar, 2023 (8 months)
I advised on the format and content of various reports and outputs for the newly established National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre. I edited academic and corporate reports, and wrote and managed content for a range of channels, including website, emails and social media.

Parent Zone

May, 2021 — Apr, 2022 (12 months)
I managed all content, communications, creative, and policy/public affairs activity for Parent Zone, a social enterprise and parenting organisation. I oversaw and quality-controlled content development, editing, writing, and communications activity and outputs for a range of partners, including Google, Facebook, the UK Government (Home Office and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), and Children in Need.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)

Dec, 2014 — Apr, 2021 (over 6 years)
I developed and managed the RCOG’s external profile and presence among the organisation’s key stakeholders: NHS leadership, media, commentators, opinion-formers, professional bodies, women’s health charities, campaigners, and funders. I managed the RCOG’s academic journal portfolio, website, and other digital and print publishing and communications platforms, and oversaw and contributed to the development of content for a range of campaign and communications activity, across numerous channels and for diverse audiences.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)

Jun, 2012 — Nov, 2014 (over 2 years)
I led and managed the Journals and ePublishing directorate, covering two STM journals, the corporate website, and all other digital publishing activities (e-learning, apps, e-books etc.). I oversaw a shift from print to digital-first publishing and managed a website redesign and relaunch project, including a full content review and rewrite.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)

Jul, 2010 — May, 2012 (almost 2 years)
I managed the RCOG book publishing business, including commissioning, project management, copyediting and proofreading, for postgraduate medical textbooks and study guides. I edited and proofread clinical guidelines and patient information, and copyedited and produced content for the RCOG membership magazine.

Touch Briefings

Apr, 2007 — Jul, 2010 (about 3 years)
I led a team of in-house sub-editors and a range of freelancers for an STM journals publisher. I quality-controlled all journal content before publication and copyedited and proofread content for all journals in the company’s portfolio.

Elwin Street Productions

Apr, 2006 — Dec, 2006 (9 months)
I managed the editorial team at this lively, independent book packager and publisher. I commissioned, project managed, copyedited, and proofread highly illustrated colour books for the co-edition market, liaising with a range of international publishers.

A&C Black (a division of Bloomsbury Publishing)

Jan, 2004 — Apr, 2006 (about 2 years)
I worked on a range of fully illustrated colour and black and white books in the area of sports and fitness, including commissioning, project management, editing, and proofreading.

HarperCollins Publishers

Oct, 2002 — Dec, 2003 (about 1 year)
I assisted senior editorial colleagues in addition to managing my own projects, working on complementary health and fitness and mind, body, spirit titles. This included editorial project management, writing marketing copy and carrying out market research.

HarperCollins Publishers

Jul, 2001 — Oct, 2002 (over 1 year)
I provided administrative support to the team of editors and commissioning editors working on complementary health titles.

Portfolio

Endometriosis

Jen Moore

Bloomsbury Publishing

Have you struggled to get diagnosed, be believed or get the right treatment for endometriosis? This book is for you. We still don't know what causes endometriosis, and we don't know how to cur... read more
Copy Editing
Proofreading
Made with Reedsy
EMBODY: The Power of Presence in an Age of Distraction

Woodhams, Andrena

Yinbound Books

Proofreading
Made with Reedsy
Surviving Postpartum Emotions: When You Expect Flowers But Get Weeds

Alsworth, Sandra

Platypus Publishing

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
UNRESTRICTED-A Woman's Guide to Leading Through Limitations

St James, Liz

Urban Cryo Publishing Inc

Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
The Journey Home

Tamplin, Emma

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
Love Your Vulva: Celebrating Women’s Bodies

Dowling, Laura

Peacetree Ltd

Proofreading
Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
The Wild Hart Year: A Year of Healing and Transformation

McCourt, Lauren

Wild Hart Rituals

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
The Curiosity Quotient: A Renegade Pathologist's Detour Guide to the Morgue

O'Laughlin MD, Sabine

Health Matrix Success Navigator, LLC

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
The Fiction Fix: Stories that Heal, Empower & Transform Us

Nedkov, Louisa

Shamrock Heart Press

Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Developmental Editing Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
The Great Burnout

Thompson, J. A.

J.A. Thompson

Proofreading
Made with Reedsy
The Truth Behind The Bump

Avila, Hilda

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
Inner Journeys: Navigating the Corridors of the Heart for Self-Discovery

Sanhye Sensei, Danny

Independently published

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
Mind Callisthenics: Make Your Mind Strong

Yates, Francis

Mind Cali Publishing

Proofreading
Copy Editing
Proofreading
Made with Reedsy
Effortless Until Now: What to do when high-performing kids begin struggling in school

Whitfield, Erica L.

Independently published

Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
Week 26: A Memoir of Hope, Faith, and Perseverance

Bernardo, Jennifer Alves

L3 Concepts LLC

Copy Editing
Every day, as we go about our daily routine, we are “rolling the dice’, in one way or the other, and without knowing it, because it’s what we do, it becomes a habit. What if you choose a criti... read more
Copy Editing
Copy Editing

Claire has 34 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Jessica F.

Jessica F.

Dec, 2025

Pinned
Claire was a delight to work with. She was knowledgeable, prompt, and thorough. It was easy to gain confidence in her work very quickly because of her timely communication and the samples she sent early on. This was an investment for me, as a first time author and one-woman business, and it was w...
Read more
Jan P.

Jan P.

Nov, 2025

Pinned
Claire is a writer's dream editor and proofreader. Her thorough attention to detail and responsiveness are reassuring for new authors like myself who value an expert's guidance and support. She also clearly read every word for meaning and clarity in addition to providing thoughtful comments and q...
Read more
Lauren M.

Lauren M.

Sep, 2025

Pinned
Working with Claire has been an incredible experience. She brought such care, insight, and attention to detail to my manuscript, and her feedback was both constructive and encouraging. Claire has a real gift for helping an author bring out the best in their work while ensuring clarity, flow, and ...
Read more
Anthony L.

Anthony L.

Dec, 2025

I'm a first time author who used some AI help on writing the book. Claire was happy to work with author's who use some AI and will edit out the common AI sounding lines. We did the editing in 3 phases. One the first chapter to get a feel for the editing. The second was a run of the entire boo...
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Anne-Queline K.

Anne-Queline K.

Dec, 2025

Working with Claire was a complete surprise. I am so grateful for her guidance and insight. We began the process with my document not being at correct place in the editing process. Claire easily adapted, offered suggestions for possible next-steps, and we moved forward. We shifted to a developmen...
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Most recent contributions

How do I balance getting professional editing with keeping my own voice?

An editor shouldn't be rewriting your work. Your work should still sound like you, even after a heavy line edit. The reviews I really cherish from clients and writers are the ones that remark on the fact that I've retained their voice throughout the editing process, as I think that's the core pur...
Read more

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