Colleen Anderson – Editor

I am a full-time, freelance editor with over two decade's experience in copy editing, structural/content editing, and proofreading. With a strong background in horror, fantasy, weird fiction, and poetry, I enjoy editing speculative fiction and have worked for individuals, publishers, companies, and magazines and on SF/fantasy, horror, children's books, and historical fiction, as well as non-fiction, including corporate handbooks, guides, and other communication. Featured in Lit Reactor Sept. 10, 2024 as one of the top ten speculative editors.

I love guiding writers to the next level so that they reach their full potential. I'll hunt down issues like a hungry zombie and ensure you understand what's needed. I am pleased to offer quick response, expert, punctual service, competitive/flexible pricing and scheduling, and thorough/honest feedback. Note: I will be honest and if I think you need to do more work before hiring an editor, I'll tell you.

A published author, with a BFA in creative writing, I can suggest ways to increase visibility of your work. I am a member of HWA and SFPA, and have served on Stoker Award and British Fantasy Award juries, as well as the HWA scholarship committee. I'm current President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA). Poetry instructor at Crystal Lake Publishing.

TESTIMONIALS

"In a world awash with editors, it is too often difficult to find one who possesses both excellent language and structural skills. Colleen is incredibly knowledgeable in those arenas and has a background in a variety of genres, from literary to commercial. Her work is detailed, her eye sharp, her scope ranging from substantive editing to proofreading. I have been very pleased with the work she's done on my manuscripts and would not hesitate to hire her again."

~Nancy Kilpatrick

Author: The Thrones of Blood series (recently optioned for film and TV). Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for mystery writing.

"During my time as the science fiction/fantasy editor for book packager Byron Preiss, Colleen was one of the copy-editors I most relied on. She was always thorough and timely, and I could always count on her to deliver excellent work on time."

~Keith R.A. DeCandido

Author: Numerous Star Trek, Precinct, superhero, and other novels.

"I found Colleen to be a consummate professional. I admired her approach to editing my manuscript, which was came from a place of honesty, she never sugar-coated anything, yet gave concise, constructive, detailed feedback in a timely manner. I was impressed by the way Colleen promptly answered my questions and helped clarify things that I asked to be clarified. The result was an improved finished product, ready to be published. Thank you for all your help and for your services!"

~Ryan Kazulin

Author: Everything a Shrew Can Do