Joey Hoelscher

Joey Hoelscher – Editor

8 years at a Christian educational publisher (editor, then editorial manager). I'll help you be clearer and more engaging with your writing!

Overview

I'm an experienced editor with 8 years at a Christian educational publisher, first as a project editor and then as manager of the editorial department. I have a penchant for clean copy and clear communication, and I'm excited to work with you on your next project.Because most of my editing career has been in editorial management, my list of published titles is brief. But I'm now branching out into freelance editing, and I'm ready to help your manuscript come alive! I'm comfortable editing Christian fiction, Christian nonfiction, general market nonfiction, and children's titles.In addition to my book editing work, I'm a sought-after writer and editor in the web content and content marketing space, where I've learned to craft high-quality, engaging content that performs and converts.Edited titles include Heritage Studies 3 and Writing & Grammar 10 from BJU Press, including student editions, teacher editions, and ancillary materials, as well as the teacher edition for American Literature. I've also completed an editorial assessment on a yet-to-be-published children's book from a local religious nonprofit. I served as managing editor for a recent revision of Companion to College English, also from BJU Press. I've also written and edited over a thousand web articles, blog posts, and whitepapers for hundreds of content marketing clients.
Services
Fiction
Children's Christian Fiction
Non-Fiction
Christian Non-Fiction Education & Reference Music
Languages
English (US)
Awards
  • Rookie Award, BJU Press, 2014

Work experience

BJU Press

Jun, 2014 — Jul, 2021 (about 7 years)
-Hire and train new editorial staff in editing procedures, house style, best practices, and more -Assign projects and balance workload among editorial team -Work with the leadership team to refine and update processes and workflows -Oversaw significant growth, from 14 to 24 staff editors -Direct reports include a proofreading supervisor and a policy and process supervisor, in addition to the editorial pool -Maintain house style documentation and make recommendations for updates (delegated to policy/process supervisor beginning fall 2020) -Directly edit some smaller items, including marketing materials and errata reprints

Self-employed

Jan, 2017 — Present
-Have written over 2 million words, mostly articles and blog posts, on a range of topics, mostly in technology, music, and religion/spirituality -Numerous editing and proofreading clients

BJU Press

May, 2013 — Jun, 2014 (about 1 year)
Edit textbook and ancillary materials through every stage of the publication journey, including the following: -developmental editing -copyediting -production editing -interacting with proofreaders and making judgments on their marks -reviewing postproduction proofs Work with a project team on revisions spanning 12 to 24 months

Portfolio

Made with Reedsy
Hiba and the Treasure Jar

Soubhie, Nadia

Copy Editing Proofreading
Developmental Editing Copy Editing
Made with Reedsy
The Scale (Grandma Salt)

Soubhie, Nadia

Copy Editing
Copy Editing Proofreading
Developmental Editing Copy Editing Proofreading
Copy Editing Proofreading
Copy Editing Proofreading
Copy Editing Proofreading
Developmental Editing Copy Editing Proofreading

Joey has 15 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Cindy S.

Cindy S.

Oct, 2025

Joey polished the boom, the bark, and the bite, He wrangled the sun and made chaos feel right. From cannonball arcs to a dog's daring feat, Joey helped make my story--both wild and complete! Thank you for the great edits!
Joey H.
Thanks, Cindy! It was great to work with you a second time on this story!
Tacara P.

Tacara P.

Aug, 2025

Joey was great to work with! The turnaround time was excellent, and I could tell he really took his time with the edits. He provided thoughtful, insightful feedback that helped improve my work. Highly recommend!
Joey H.
Thanks, Tacara!
Roger W.

Roger W.

Aug, 2025

Not only did I enjoy working with Joey, but also, I learned much about writing which I have incorporated into my other manuscripts. It was a labor or love. I believe I learned valuable lessons about all aspects of writing, and I was an English teacher for over 34 years.
Joey H.
Thank you, Roger! You’re very kind. I enjoyed working on your manuscript and I hope to see it out in the wild soon!
Dan M.

Dan M.

Jul, 2025

Working with Joey was easy and super helpful. He did a developmental edit on my book. As a relatively inexperienced writer, Joey helped me understand how to use his documents and get the most out of this edit. He was not technically "on time," but I made it clear from the beginning that time was...
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Joey H.
Thank you, Dan! Working on your manuscript sharpened my thinking on an important biblical topic.
scott L.

scott L.

Apr, 2025

Joey met my expectations by giving me a good summary of what was needed to develop my manuscript.
Joey H.
Thank you, Scott! I enjoyed working with you on this manuscript.

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Most recent contributions

Does a protagonist have to change over the course of their story?

No. But in most cases, it's probably a good idea. This criticism ("protagonist needs development/arc/change") is often shorthand for "this story doesn't have much craft to it" or "there's no arc to this thing." If the protagonist has no arc, good chance the story doesn't, either—but this isn't ...
Read more

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