Jodi Hughes – Editor

*Please note: My schedule is currently full for the remaining calendar year.*

Hi! I'm a professional, seasoned fiction editor with fourteen years of in-house experience in the traditional publishing industry, plus a year and some change of freelance work. I love books and reading and words. Growing up, I was always reading or begging to go to the library or bookstore. I was the student who got in trouble for reading during math or science class, and I worked at a bookstore throughout high school.

I attended Samford University where I chose to study Classics (Roman and Greek history and art and Latin and Greek languages) with a minor in English. Studying these languages strengthened my understanding of English and cemented my love for the written word.

My first job after college was as an intern at a traditional publishing company, Thomas Nelson, starting in June 2009. After about six months, I became a full-time employee as a marketing and publicity coordinator. Within two years I had acquired my dream job as editorial assistant for the fiction team. The company was bought by HarperCollins, and I was promoted to associate editor and later editor and then senior editor. I left corporate publishing in 2023 to venture out on my own and work as a freelance editor.

I specialize in *line editing* and have worked mostly on historical and contemporary romance and women's fiction stories. I also enjoy fantasy and Young Adult novels. (Please note that a line edit is different from a copy edit. All of the books listed below in my portfolio with the tag "copy editing" are books I line edited. If you have questions about the differences, please feel free to ask!)

A line edit is usually the second step in the editing process and occurs only after a developmental/macro/substantive edit has been completed. My focus during this edit is on polishing your story while maintaining your voice. The words, the sentence structure, the flow of the paragraphs, and more. I want to help you tell your story in the best, most concise way possible. I am very detail-oriented and good at catching repetition and inconsistencies. I am very open to feedback and discussion. After I edit your manuscript, you can expect to have a stronger, clearer story that is ready for a final proofread and the next step in your publishing journey.

I am also available for proofreading and copyediting.

Let me know how I can help you!