Overview
I’m a bestselling and award-winning memoirist, teacher, and editor with a passion for books and writers.
While I write full-time, my true calling is teaching. Over the years, I've helped hundreds of writers improve their craft, reach their goals, and fall in love with their narratives, making me the perfect editing partner. I embrace the editing process and find joy in bringing stories to life. My mission is to help other writers reach their potential.
I have extensive experience in the writing and editing industry, specializing in developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Fluent in three languages, I’m comfortable working with non-native English speakers and can ghostwrite. My punctuality and ability to meet deadlines are influenced by my experience homeschooling my kids, one of whom started college at sixteen.
I work hard for my writers because I believe that if you've come this far in your writing journey, you have something important to say. Your voice deserves to be heard.
As a college English/Literature professor, I also teach creative writing courses and host professional writer talks at a writing studio I founded in 2016.
Here’s a brief overview of the three types of editing services I offer:
Developmental Editing focuses on the overall structure and content of a manuscript, addressing plot, character development, theme, pacing, and narrative flow. It involves analyzing the story's structure, coherence, and impact and offering suggestions for reorganization, expansion, or reduction of content. The goal is to refine and enhance the core elements of the story to create a strong, cohesive, and engaging narrative.
Copy/Line Editing is a meticulous process that focuses on grammar, punctuation, spelling, syntax, and language consistency. It improves sentence structure, clarity, and readability, addressing issues like redundancy, awkward phrasing, and tone inconsistencies. The aim is to polish the manuscript to a high standard of readability and linguistic precision. If you're happy with your story, plot, and characters and just need an overall polish of the prose, Copy Editing is for you.
Proofreading is the final editing stage. It focuses on identifying and correcting surface-level errors, including typos, misspellings, punctuation mistakes, and formatting inconsistencies. It ensures the manuscript is error-free and professionally presented, providing a final check before publication or submission.
I mostly work on memoirs and urban fantasy, although I'm open to other genres! The books in my portfolio don't include books (mostly urban/fantasy) I've edited that are still in various stages of being published.
*If budget constraints pose a challenge, I am open to collaborating to make our partnership more financially feasible.
Drop me a line, and let's talk!
Services
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Languages
Awards
- Library of Congress Kluge Center Research Fellowship
- Picador Professorship Award for Distinguished Writing
- Nevada Arts Council Grant
- National Endowment for the Arts
Certifications
- MFA in Creative Writing
Work experience
Netflix
University of Leipzig, Germany
Guest Professorship for Literature Award.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Central European University, Critical Romani Studies Journal
My task as a co-editor of the special issue of the Critical Romani Studies Journal is to compile a list of short stories written by authors (many of them also academics) from all over the world. To ensure the highest quality of writing, I'm personally involved in all levels of the editing process, from developmental edits to proofreading. A large number of authors aren't native English speakers. My multilingual and editorial backgrounds allow me to efficiently work on grammar, syntax, semantics, and content assessment with this group of highly accomplished professionals.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Library of Congress
A Kluge Fellowship award recipient.
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Portfolio
Oksana has 32 reviews
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Albert J.
Sep, 2024
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Aug, 2024
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Feb, 2024
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