Overview
For the past fifteen years, I've worked as a literary coach and freelance editor, helping clients in a wide variety of academic disciplines and genres. I have a PhD in English, and before moving into freelance editing full-time, I taught college writing for eighteen years. I also served as a senior editor at a small independent publisher that specializes in trade nonfiction.
I work with authors who are at every step of the writing process. I’ve brainstormed book proposals and plot structures, offered developmental feedback on early drafts, line edited for clarity, and copy edited and proofread to make sure a manuscript totally shines. From the largest structural questions to the smallest grammatical details, I work with writers to discover what their manuscript is trying to do and how to help get it there.
I collaborate regularly with academic clients from disciplines as diverse as political science, English, film studies, history, cultural studies, the humanities, sociology, and even mechanical engineering. My book clients have published with Princeton University Press, Oxford University Press, Columbia University Press, Bloomsbury, Belt Publishing, and West Virginia University Press. I also edit journal articles, conference papers, abstracts, dissertations, and tenure materials. I’m deeply familiar with the forms and conventions of academic writing—I know how it works—and I can help translate your ideas into clear, accessible prose. I’m fluent in the major style guides (CMOS, MLA, and APA), and I also have experience working with non-native English speakers who are looking to polish their writing.
Whether you’re looking for broad feedback about a manuscript that’s just getting started or for a meticulously rigorous eye to put the final touches on a project to make it absolutely perfect, I can offer timely and personalized feedback to help you get there.
Services
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Languages
Work experience
Self-employed
I offer developmental editing to clients for both trade and academic nonfiction in fields such as film studies, history, English, Asian studies, sociology, and cultural studies. I line edit and copy edit journal articles, monographs, and multiauthor volumes for clients writing for both specialized academic audiences and general readers. I also copy edit and proofread dissertations and theses, and I edit fiction and creative nonfiction.
Belt Publishing
I served as primary editor and project manager for trade nonfiction titles, line edited and copy edited manuscripts with an eye toward popularizing writers’ styles for a general audience, and proofread trade nonfiction in coordination with chief editors and designer (using CMOS). Titles I’ve worked on have been reviewed or discussed in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other national publications.
Portfolio
Michael has 1 review
Professionalism
Quality
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Britta W.
Jun, 2021
