Jillian Bray

Jillian Bray – Editor

Experienced grammar fiend specializing in children's and lifestyle nonfiction. Reliable, professional, and meticulous.

Overview

You’ve devoted countless hours to your craft. You've sacrificed and overcome obstacles, and it's all culminated with a manuscript you've proudly published for the world to see. Congrats! Just one thing: you accidentally typed "poop" when you meant to spell "pop." Facepalm.


Sound familiar? Don't let this happen to you. Instead, prevent such a faux pas from happening by partnering with me.


Clients benefit from my:

*Breadth of experience,

*Hawkish attention to detail,

*Relentless pursuit of errant punctuation and grammatical mistakes, and

*Unwavering resolve to submit projects ahead of deadline.


For 12+ years I’ve worked with publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Capstone Publishing, Skyhorse Publishing, W. W. Norton & Co., and ABDO. I've copy edited and proofread for #1 New York Times bestselling authors such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. David Agus, Sheila Johnson, Michael Uslan, and more to ensure their published manuscripts are worthy of readers’ eyes. I endeavor to do the same for you.


I've provided top-tier editing services on more than 1,000 projects, including memoirs, guidebooks, picture books, and more. And I’m a pleasure to work with, or so I’ve been told:


"Thank you so much for all your great work over the last few years, and for being such a pleasant, flexible, professional person to work with." — Yvette Grant, Simon & Schuster (previously at Penguin and Skyhorse)


Ready to put the finishing touches on your manuscript? I am. Let’s connect!

Services
Non-Fiction
Children’s Non-Fiction Health & Wellbeing History Self-Help & Self-Improvement Sports & Outdoors Travel
Fiction
Middle Grade Picture Books
Languages
English (US)
Certifications
  • Certificate in Editing - University of Washington

Work experience

Self-employed

Jun, 2012 — Present
As a thorough, knowledgeable copy editor, my main objective is to correct spelling, punctuation, and usage and grammar issues, including subject-verb agreement, redundancy, and passive voice. For Capstone Press, I specialize in nonfiction titles for young readers. For W. W. Norton, I line edit textbooks, test banks, and instructor's manuals. I review academic manuscripts for clients such as Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, and Duke University Presses. In my role, I adhere to publisher-specific style guidelines, ensure consistency, review notes and bibliography entries for proper formatting, and code documents for typesetting.

Self-employed

Jun, 2011 — Present
As a proofreader, I exercise my innate need to polish copy to perfection. For publishing houses such as Simon and Schuster, Skyhorse, ABDO, Crabtree, Rosen, and Capstone, I read and mark up works of fiction and nonfiction for a wide range of audiences and reading levels. With an eagle eye for spelling, capitalization, and grammar, I've reliably provided fast-turnaround services on hundreds of manuscripts. As standard practice, I cross-reference and reconcile front and back matter against main texts; inspect for bad breaks, widows/orphans, and word stacks; and check running heads and feet for accuracy, including pagination.

Self-employed

Jun, 2016 — Present
Through contracts with Capstone Press and Abdo Publishing, I have published two juvenile nonfiction titles: Famous Ghost Stories of Asia and Komodo Dragon: Toxic Lizard Titan, respectively. On the digital front, I compose 500-word blog posts for clients on a monthly schedule and craft effective SEO content for new Web pages.

Portfolio

World War C

Sanjay Gupta

CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, offers an accessible, data-packed answer to our biggest questions about Covid-19: What have we learned about this pandemic and how can we prepare for—or prevent—the next one?As America’s favorite frontline Covi... read more

Jillian has 55 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Zoé O.

Zoé O.

Apr, 2025

I had Jillian edit a special note that I wrote to parents that will be placed in the back of my picture book. She did exactly what I had asked her to do and I would definetely hire her again.
Jillian B.
Thanks, Zoé. Happy I could help! Best wishes with your picture book—I'd love to see it. It was a pleasure working with you, and I definitely hope to collaborate on future projects. Take care, and t...
Read more
Katie K.

Katie K.

Mar, 2025

Jillian is excellent to work with and I have used her multiple times to edit two children's books. Jillian quickly responds and provides useful feedback for any of the changes she suggests. Jillian has become a vital part of my team as an author and I will continue to request her services in th...
Read more
Jillian B.
Thanks, Katie, I appreciate it! A "vital part of your team" . . . I love that! :) Always a pleasure working with you too.
Rose G.

Rose G.

Oct, 2024

Wonderful! :) Jillian was professional, supportive and enthusiastic about my unique project throughout the entire collaboration! She was honest and very helpful with her comments and suggestions. This is the first book in a series of four, so I would definitely contact her again for her services...
Read more
Jillian B.
Thank you, Rose. I appreciate your thoughtful review and look forward to collaborating on future books in your series. Thanks again for hiring me! :)
Katie K.

Katie K.

Aug, 2024

This is the second project I have worked with Jillian on, and I will continue hiring her for future projects. Jillian is excellent at what she does, which for me is copy editing. Her "corrections" always come as suggestions with very positive feedback, which I appreciate as a new author. Her r...
Read more
Jillian B.
You're the best, Katie. Thanks for the kind review. It's always so great working with you. Best wishes with publication!
Katie K.

Katie K.

May, 2024

This is my second book in a series and my second project with Jillian. Jillian is such an asset to my team and is vital to my writing process. Her editing skills are impeccable, and I greatly appreciate her willingness to offer suggestions in areas where I lack knowledge. I look forward to more p...
Read more
Jillian B.
Katie, you're awesome. I appreciate your kind, honest review. It's always a pleasure working with you...thanks for hiring me for book 2. Next up, book 3! :)

Sign up to read more reviews

Create a free Reedsy account to connect with Jillian and thousands of other publishing professionals on Reedsy.

Professionals similar to Jillian

Get a range of offers by requesting quotes from multiple professionals.

Elissa Weissman

Elissa W.

Traditionally published middle grade and picture book author who taught creative writing at Johns Hopkins. American living in New Zealand.

Christchurch, New Zealand

100% reply rate

View profile
Rosie Greening

Rosie G.

Hi! I'm a children's book editor / author with 11 years of experience. I specialise in picture books and novelty books... and I love rhyme!

London, UK

95% reply rate

View profile
Pamela Juarez

Pamela J.

Expert copy editor and proofreader with 25+ years of experience at National Geographic, HarperCollins, and McGraw Hill.

DeKalb, IL, USA

100% reply rate

View profile