Lois Stuck – Editor

I have a B.A. in English and Education, but rather than become a classroom teacher, I chose to put that training to use to help authors create their best work. In my career of over three decades as an editor, I have worked on books with deeply important messages--and sometimes thousands of footnotes! And I enjoyed all of it.You can trust me with your message because my goal is to help you, the author, do your best work. I want to retain your voice, and I have no intention of inserting my thoughts or preferences. I will help remove obstacles (grammatical errors, sentence structure problems, redundancies, confusing wording, etc.) to help you get your message out as clearly as possible.I have worked on hundreds of books, across many genres. They include books about becoming a professional public speaker, marriage relationships, recovery from abuse, worship, running an online business,depression, faith, and much more.I look forward to getting to know you and helping you get your polish your message.Since I am new to Reedsy, I am including two recommendations from authors I have worked with--one a first-time author, and the other over an editor I have worked for over a period of decades.From Jack Bender, author of Skin on Skin, addressing the needs of those living in poverty.

"I chose Lois over a number of other copy editors because of the inquiries that I made. I found Lois to be continually professional and exceptionally fast. I urged her to use her considerable experience to go beyond the standard role of copy editor. I was rewarded for having done so. I wanted to put out a good book and soon realized that she could be an asset toward that end. Lois displays a helpful orientation toward reader reception, warning me that a position I took was reasonable but that it might bother a subset of my audience. She is tactful, always respecting what I’ve written but often suggesting alternatives. There’s a little bit of mystery surrounding her work. I asked myself on more than one occasion how she could dive deeply into my project, yet still provide such good turnaround time. Would I seek her help in the future? Unquestionably, yes."

From Paul Brinkerhoff, previously an in-house editor and now owner of his own editing company:

"When I was at Baker Books many of my projects were the 'thoughtful trade' books, and when I couldn't edit them, my go-to editor was Lois. She's experienced and knows how to edit long and complicated projects (faster than I can).

"I know that trust is essential in Lois's relationships with the people, especially those for whom she works. Such integrity combined with dogged Germanic focus and undaunted tenacity in tackling even dissertations and similar tomes makes her a good fit for editing both academic and trade books. She readily understands and follows instructions, is conscientious, and does a good and thorough job editing manuscripts. Her editorial style sheets are detailed and complete.

" The pleasure is mine to recommend Lois as an expert book editor."

Paul J. Brinkerhoff, Editor and Publishing Consultant, Grace and Truth Communications