Susan Hughes - Editor
Texas, USA
Experienced Freelancer~Fiction~Nonfiction~Multi-Genre~Poetry~Op-Ed Pieces~TV Pilot Proposals~Social Media Marketing of Your Work Included
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Overview
I'm a freelance editor with a BA in English Literature and 30 years of experience as an educator. I use my writing, editing, and teaching skills to guide indie authors through their manuscripts with a firm but friendly approach and a double dose of humor.
I've edited a variety of fiction and nonfiction works, including pre-submission op-ed pieces for publication in The Huffington Post and Fox News Latino, poetry, novels, short stories, and scripts for TV pilot proposals . I also provide contract editing work for the College and Career Readiness Department at Fort Bend ISD in Sugar Land, Texas.
Endorsements
"Susan is a consummate professional, her work is always on time and she is a pleasure to work with. More importantly, her eye for editorial nuance to make a piece of writing pop with meaning is unmatched."
Charles, P. Garcia
CEO ALPFA National
"Susan takes good writers and makes them great writers.
Susan came to me highly recommended by a very particular writer. I can see why, from the start, her professionalism was fantastic. We started with one piece which she edited beautifully. The publication then requested that it be cut in half. I wouldn’t have known where to start and with a full day of work ahead of me, there was no way for me to meet the deadline. Susan turned around a beautiful edit in half an hour. My second piece was submitted for publication prior to editing, again, a tight deadline was at issue. It was not picked up. Susan edited it, I re-submitted and the piece was published that day.
Throughout the process, Susan anticipated my concerns, answering them with informative and thorough responses. Easy to work with? You bet! She’s also a media pro who helps to promote the published work. I look forward to a long and productive working relationship with Susan. "
Jill Carpenter
Managing Director, Decision Calculus Associates
"It gives me great pleasure to write this testimonial for Susan Hughes. I have always been a little skeptical of what an editor brings to the table, thinking that perhaps they were mere “blue penners” looking for the errant solecism. Boy did Susan prove me wrong! Of course she caught the grammatical and stylistic faux pas: the overused comma, the misplaced apostrophe, the stylistic redundancies, etc. But more than that, she helped with the logic, the pacing, and tone of my work, in the process improving the end product tremendously. For too long I have thought that writers must be islands unto themselves, that they, and they alone, were responsible for what made it onto the page. In working with Susan I have come to realize that creating the works we can be proud of truly takes a “village.” Make sure that Susan is one of your close neighbors!"
Mark Schroeder
Co-Founder/Partner at FindMyAudience
Award-winning author, lecturer, and software designer
"I'm very pleased with Susan's work on my first novel, COUNTERACT. I had a critique done about a year and a half ago, and while that straightened out some early problems and pushed my manuscript along, it was really Susan who gave the manuscript the polish it needed to gain the attention of publishers.
Within a month of receiving Susan's edit, I sent the manuscript out again (I'd been rejected close to 100 times) and within six weeks had five publishers express interest in the book. Two of the ones that lost out made a point of asking me to submit to them again, and one even offered to write an advance review of the book and post it on her blog to promote the book.
COUNTERACT is due out in the fall of 2014, and I sent the sequel to Susan before I submitted it to my publisher. I don't have to. My contract with my publisher says the subsequent volumes in the series may be submitted for consideration in first draft form, but to me using Susan at this point is not an option.
She took my writing to a new level. I did a much better first draft of the sequel because of what I learned from working with her."
Tracy Lawson
Author
"Susan Hughes is a highly qualified editor who thrives where many editors fail that is at establishing an honest and open author/editor relationship. Working with Susan on my first story has been a great experience, and I can’t imagine my story without her professional touch. I will continue to work with her on my novel series and any other future projects."
David Denham III
Author
Languages
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Christian (Non-Fiction)
Education & Reference
Politics & Current Affairs
Self-help & Self-improvement
Travel
Fiction
Children's Picture Books
Crime & Mystery
Fantasy
Humor & Comedy
Romance
Science Fiction
Thriller
Young Adult & Teen
Work experience
Freelance Editor
MyIndependentEditor
January, 2011
–
Present
(over 7 years)
My freelance editing business moved from a part-time job in 2011 to a thriving career in 2012
Portfolio (9 selected works)
Counteract (The Resistance Series Book 1)
Tracy Lawson
Two strangers-their destinies entwined-must work together to thwart a terrorist the country never suspected. The Office of Civilian Safety and Defense has guarded the public against the rampant threat of terrorism for the last fifteen years with the full backing of the US government. Their carefully crafted list of Civilian Restrictions means no concerts or sporting events, no travel, no socia... read more
Collapse
Richard Stephenson
America is falling, ready to join the Roman Empire as a distant memory in the annals of history. The year is 2027. Tired and desperate, the American people are deep in the middle of The Second Great Depression. The Florida coastline is in ruins from the most powerful hurricane on record; a second just like it is bearing down on the state of Texas. For the first time in history, the Middle East... read more
Resistance (New America-Book Two) (Volume 2)
Richard Stephenson
BOOK TWO in the New America Series. Eighteen months after the Collapse of 2027, the former United States is divided. On one side is the evil and tyrannical Unified American Empire, controlled by President Simon Sterling, the man responsible for the death of the last legitimate president, Malcolm Powers. On the other side, President Howard Beck controls the Pacific States of America, the last h... read more
REHO: A Science Fiction Novel
D. L. Denham
Reho, a young, survival-hardened man, searches for redemption in the Blastlands of Usona. Haunted by his past, he must uncover the truth about his origins while thrown headfirst into a war that will not only alter his future, but the future of all humankind.“REHO is an Instant Post-Apocalyptic Classic.” Nicholas Sansbury Smith, best-selling author of the ORBS Series
Proactive Legacy: My Family's Battle with Cancer and Brca2
Michelle Maxwell
A Journey of Courage to Save Her Own Life... Many people were surprised and amazed when Angelina Jolie went public with the news that she had chosen to undergo a double mastectomy because genetic testing revealed that she had the BRCA gene mutation that put her at high risk for breast cancer. Because she is a famous actress and activist, more people than ever before became aware of the dangers... read more
NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom
Fiza Pathan
2016 New Apple Summer eBook Awards- Solo "Medalist Winner" in the General Fiction category2014 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, Best Book in the category of Novella.2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards-Finalist2015 Readers' Favorite International Book Award- Honorable MentionThis story is about Nirmala the Mud Blossom, who had the misfortune to be born a female in Mumbai. Rejected and thrown... read more
So This Is Love - Collected Poems
Fiza Pathan
There are many facets to love. It can be all-embracing, passionate, fulfilling, platonic. And when this love is shattered, it gives rise to anguish, hate, anger, jealously, and melancholy. There are times when such powerful emotions must be expressed, for to keep them bottled up inside can render one senseless and unbalanced. What better way to find release than through the age-old medium of p... read more
Jungleland
Alton Bock
Danny's estranged father has just died and his pregnant wife has left him for another man. Pained by regret, he goes to a concert where he meets a mysterious woman. She tells him to close his eyes and focus on the words.When he does, he's instantly 18 again and headed for his family's summer vacation home at the shore, where his dysfunctional family and a twisted version of the past betray his... read more
Red Denver, one of several successful communities in Usona, post-Blast America, has thrived because of OldWorld machinery and a strong community government. With his past behind him, Reho has made a new life for himself in Red Denver. Until Soapy, a local crime boss, starts a chain of events that leads to a climatic final face-off between Reho and one of the genetically-modified warbeasts desi... read more
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