Joseph Staten – Editor

I'm based in New York, and copyedit for a variety of publications. My primary employer is Rolling Stone magazine, for whom I regularly copyedit cover stories and features, collaborating with editors and fact-checkers to collate all changes and finalize each piece for publication. I also frequently copyedit articles for the architecture magazine Architect's Newspaper. Additionally, I have a longstanding relationship with Amazon Kindle Singles, for whom I have copyedited numerous ebooks in the genres of memoir, history, fiction, and biography.

I love professional copyediting, because it means I get to read all the time. I highly value the great diversity of books and stories that come my way, from late-in-life travel memoirs, to histories of Winston Churchill's early days as a soldier, to in-depth profiles on rock stars. I also love copyediting because nothing pains me more than finding mistakes in a book that's already been published—this way, I get to correct them! I have a very sharp eye, extensive knowledge of grammar, syntax, vocabulary and the major style guides, and a deep commitment to making sure everything I work on turns out perfect.

Perhaps most of all, I love to work with authors, communicating and querying back and forth to collaboratively produce a clean manuscript they're thrilled about. And authors, as I've been told countless times by clients, feel the same way about working with me.