Moriah Sharp – Editor

OVERVIEW OF MY GUIDING VALUES
Whether I'm editing or proofreading, my work is rooted in:

1) Respect for you, the author--your voice, hard work, your ownership of the text. (I know you've put years of blood, sweat, and tears into this manuscript before I ever see it. I consider it an honor to be entrusted with the fruit of your hard work, and be tasked with finding weak areas you might have missed.)

2) Admiration for the meaning and message of the text. (I only take projects that I resonate with. This enables me to do my best work each time, because I believe in the project and can put my heart into it.)

3) Concern for the future readers of the text. (I imagine a future reader. They need to connect with the content of your text--but they struggle to do so. Eventually they give up, thus missing out on interacting with some information that could have deeply impacted their life. My role when I edit or proofread your text is to clear away as many obstacles as I can that might prevent future readers from connecting with the message of your text.)


OVERVIEW OF MY EXPERIENCE
+ 3 years as an assistant editor at a publishing house. (My role there included copyediting and proofreading as well as a wide variety of other tasks, such as: assigning projects to freelance copyeditors/proofreaders, checking projects when they came back from freelancers, sending edited/proofread manuscripts to authors, combining changes from author and editor into a single manuscript, checking final proofs before they went to the printer.)

+ 10 years as a freelance editor/proofreader. (My experience has mostly involved working on non-fiction manuscripts for publishing houses. But I also have several fiction titles and self-published authors on my list of former projects/clients.)

+ Outside of editing, my other vocational pursuits have been in the areas of ESL teaching, curriculum development, educational consulting, and technical writing.


OVERVIEW OF MY SPECIALITIES
+ Non-fiction
+ Academic titles (especially on Languages, Cultures, Religions, or Education)
+ Practical titles (especially on Relationships, Parenting, Education, Self-Help, DIY, Travel).
+ Biographies or memoirs


THE KEY TO MY SUCCESS
The key to satisfied clients is making sure I clearly understand their expectations before I start. For example:

+ How do you want my edits entered/displayed?
+ How do you want the project delivered (chapter by chapter, or all at once)?
+ What do you want me to look for and fix?
+ What do you want me to leave alone?

I want to avoid the disappointments, wasted time, wasted money, and broken trust that can come from simply not being aware of some of your expectations from the start. I don't start any project until I've made sure to cross-check all my assumptions and turn them into clearly-defined expectations.