Melissa Haskin – Editor

As an experienced recipe editor, cookbook editor, and food writer, I'm an expert at fixing confusing or incomplete recipe instructions, correcting erroneous cook times, and noticing when ingredient amounts are fishy. Among others, my editing and proofreading clients have included Hachette Book Group, Time Inc. (now Meredith), Rodale (now Hearst), and Keen Publishing.

If you've ever been midway through cooking a new recipe only to realize that you have an ingredient and no idea what to do with it because it isn't mentioned anywhere in the instructions, then you probably know why it's important to hire a recipe editor.

Recipe editors help cookbook authors by catching errors and discrepancies. We fix recipe-specific problems that can range from scaling issues to missing ingredients. We rewrite directions so that they're easy to follow and make the most sense. For example, in a recent cookbook, an author called for readers to pan-fry bell peppers, set them aside and then cook chicken for an hour. I suggested we tweak the recipe to call for readers to cook the chicken first, then add the peppers in towards the end. The proposed change saved the ingredient from sitting on the counter, unused, for an hour. It also cut down on the cook time and number of dirty pans since the peppers were being cooked with the chicken in the same pan instead of two separate pans at different times.

When I work on recipes, I rely on my professional training and experience, which includes extensive work on-staff at a cooking magazine, where I helped rate and troubleshoot dozens of recipes each day. I also hold a master's degree in journalism. During my studies, I took two food writing courses including a weekend workshop with Jonathan Gold and I wrote my final paper on the ethics of food writing.

I correct recipes using Word, Google Docs, or .pdfs. I check each recipe to ensure that every ingredient used in the recipe is listed in the ingredients list and vice versa. Likewise, I check for typos, consistency, and tone. I can shorten a recipe or change the instructions so that they are easier to follow. I can verify that cook times and photos are accurate. I can also make sure that recipes conform to a specific style guide.

I have a $50 minimum for projects.

Economics editing: In addition to cookbook editing, I specialize in economics manuscripts. Researchers at institutions such as Berkeley, Harvard, and Stanford trust me with their work. If you're looking to polish a nonfiction manuscript or journal article, I would love to hear from you.