Nancy Mandel – Editor

I'm a trained critic (seriously: MA in Architecture and Design Criticism, who knew that was even a thing) who's written how-tos, reviews, and profiles and written or edited thousands of letters, reports, and other texts in a variety of professional contexts. In the last five years, I've proofread or copyedited 60+ non-fiction books, plus articles and student papers. I've also been tutoring English speakers with poor literacy; it's revelatory to see written material through my students' eyes and recognize how writers and designers can make readers' lives easier -- or much more difficult. I'm also a lifelong avid reader of fiction, especially mysteries, historical fiction, and literary fiction.

I bring all this experience to you. You'll get thoughtful consideration of structure and language where needed; gaps and ambiguities will be identified and solutions suggested. I'll show you where to prune and where to plant. On the small scale, verbs, spellings, and commas will be perfected. You'll sound like you, but sharper and clearer. How I work: Typically, I make changes directly in text for simple corrections and leave comments for authors with suggestions for less obvious ones, but I am happy to dial interventions up or down, so let me know what works best for you. I will reply to emails within half a day. I'm a fast reader and will offer short but reasonable time estimates. *Special interest in historical fiction and how-tos & recipes.*