Corinne Colbert – Editor

A good editor brings more to a writing project than expertise in grammar and mechanics. She helps you close the gap between the words in your head—what you mean to say—and the words on the screen (or paper, if you're old school). I know, because I've benefited from working with good editors in my own career as a writer.

And if I'm a good editor too, if I do say so myself. (It's not just me, though: See the testimonials below.)

What makes me so good? I clear the imprecise and misleading usages that confuse readers and dissolve the weak, flabby phrases that clog your sentences. I suggest where you might move paragraphs around to improve logic and flow or expand on a concept to enhance reader understanding. I can even check facts and documentation—I'm a research demon. You'll end up with sharp, sparkling text that sounds like what you wrote in your head before you ever sat down at a keyboard.

Need someone to lay out your book? I also have expertise with page layout in Adobe InDesign. :-)

About Me:
Mom was an old-school grammarian who taught eighth-grade English; both she and my third-grade teacher taught grammar through diagramming. (I've forgotten much of the diagramming, but the grammar remains.) I was that kid who always had a book handy and seemed to know all sorts of weird facts because I read the encyclopedia for fun—plus stuff like "The Book of Lists" and "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" (I still can spend hours jumping around Wikipedia, which is not as untrustworthy as some would have you believe.) Trained as a journalist, I've been a working writer since my teens and got my first editing job after graduating from Ohio University.

Testimonials!

“Over the years, Corinne has been a consistently reliable and proficient contract proofreader and copyeditor for Ohio University Press. She is a professional writer as well, and has a good eye for detail and a good ear for language. I recommend her services without reservation.” — Rick Huard, Ohio University Press

“Corinne edited two previous novels of mine and a memoir. She’s fast, funny, finicky and fair, and when she has finished stirring around the ingredients in a story, I feel that my work is finally the best that it can be. That is a powerful feeling for any writer of fiction or nonfiction, since most scribblers need help. Corinne’s exceptional editing skills allow me to present my work in the most professional way possible—that is her calling and her expertise—and it is something I value. Corinne is the best. Underlined. Period. And let’s add an exclamation point, too!” — Norah McFarlane Perez, author