Jesse Conrad – Editor

Who I Am

I'm some guy who wants to help you with your book. I’m trained in literary criticism, but I’m mostly concerned with authors' intentions. What do you want your book to do? I can help you make it happen.

I’m a record collector and a ranked contributor to Discogs with 3,902 titles and 8,572 images submitted. My alphabetized collection of more than 10,000 vinyl records comprises disco, punk, funk, and more. Wrangling chaos appeals to me, and if your book is a mess, I can help.

I cut my teeth on punk rock. Toppling hierarchies and overturning systems of oppression is fun. My musical tastes have evolved, but I still admire thinkers and artists who upset staid and stultifying norms.

I’m a lapsed Mennonite. I grew up in a tight-knit Anabaptist community that emphasizes service and selflessness. When there’s work to be done, one helps. I bring that work ethic to your project, and I’ll put forth extra effort to ensure its success.

I’m your selfless ally, collaborator, and sounding board. Being helpful makes me happy; take my work and make it your own.

What I Do

No one likes being corrected. Many writers don’t like the idea of working with an editor. That’s why I edit in a spirit of helpfulness, not in a spirit of correction or remediation. An author ready for copy editing has put in many hours of hard work already, and I respect that. As an editor, I assume no authority that isn’t granted by an author or a publisher. All substantive suggestions I make are merely that: suggestions. They can be accepted, rejected, or modified freely. I will rewrite a sentence or an entire paragraph if I see a need for improvement. Such intensive editing may sound invasive, but authors receive the full markup, and that makes it easy for them to accept changes they like and reject changes they don’t.

Helping authors think outside their echo chambers, no matter their ideological perspective, is the most delicate and rewarding part of the editing process. Whether my views align with an author’s or not, I employ my 20 years’ worth of diplomacy and tact to hone their point and ensure the text anticipates and preempts arguments that may arise in readers’ minds. This is important in nonfiction, but the best fiction writers have their audiences in mind as well, and they too anticipate and manipulate reader expectations.

Every text needs more than one reader before it goes out into the world. Maybe yours has had several already. Your colleagues, friends, and loved ones may have read drafts and offered their thoughts. Great! As a copy editor, I dig in directly—line by line and word by word—to make changes preliminary readers only suggest, then fade into the background to let you take all the credit. Put an extra mind to work on your prose. You’ll be amazed at the result.