Joe Levit – Editor

With over a decade of nonfiction editing experience, I understand how to help authors move a manuscript from inspired idea to compelling completion. My ability to collaborate with authors and experts to excise redundancies and extraneous jargon ensures that necessary edits are made, allowing the heartbeat of a story to shine through.

As a structural editor, I’m adept at helping authors tell their stories in creative and engaging ways, with rhythm and pacing that capture the attention of readers. Yet my past as proofreader and copyeditor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt guarantees the eagle eyes needed to set right issues of grammar, and consistency of tone or brand.

I’m especially proficient in the topics of science and sports, where my vast educational and acquired experience provides a broad base of knowledge that enables me to intrinsically recognize when facts or data needs to be queried or changed. I have an MS in Science Journalism, and have edited science titles such as National Geographic’s Dr. E’s Super Stellar Solar System. I also wrote about fantasy football for five years with Sports Illustrated (SI.com), and have edited sports titles like Sports Illustrated Kids Big Book of Who—Football.

Real-world experience makes me a well-rounded editor. For five years I was the media producer and writer in the exhibition department at the American Museum of Natural History. There, I learned how to bring creative and interactive projects through to fruition. I am also a writer in my own right. I’ve penned feature articles for National Geographic Explorer for years, and firmly believe that my dedication to craft on the other side of the creative ledger helps me communicate more effectively with other writers as an editor. I get the desire to keep a publishing dream alive. And I understand why authors want to tell their stories in specific ways. I’ve learned over the years that in editing, as in writing, it’s important to slay your dunces, not kill your darlings. The personality and truth of writing cannot be sacrificed.