Taryn O.

Taryn O. โ€“ Editor

Exceptional, attentive Romance and YA copy editor/proofreader with an MA in English lit + 15 years of experience at Harlequin/HarperCollins

Overview

๐€๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐Œ๐ž: Hi, Iโ€™m Taryn, a seasoned copy editor and proofreader with a Master's degree in English literature and specialized training in book publishing. With fifteen years of experience at Harlequin and HarperCollins, I bring meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of genre conventions to every project. My extensive career with a Big Five publishing house has honed my ability to adapt to a wide range of commercial fiction, but my special interests are romance, fantasy, and YA. I combine thorough editing with a collaborative approach, providing constructive feedback that enhances clarity and flow while honoring your unique voice. When you team up with me, you can expect respectful markup, insightful queries, expert fact-checking, and a sharp eye on plot and character consistency.


๐’๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐:


โญ๐‚๐จ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐„๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : A deep clean of your manuscriptโ€”tightening prose, refining language, and ensuring consistency. An essential step for authors serious about elevating their novel from a solid draft to a polished final version. (Includes a personalized style sheet.)


โญ๐๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐ : The last sweep of your work before print or ebookโ€”fixing remaining typos, grammatical errors, and incorrect formatting. Ideal for authors looking for a quality check. This service is your manuscript's last defense against elusive errors before it reaches readers.


๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐‚๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐Œ๐ž? Iโ€™m passionate about enhancing your storytelling and helping you achieve your publishing goals. Whether youโ€™re a debut author or an experienced writer, I offer a personalized approach tailored to your needs. I understand that bringing a manuscript to publication is a huge undertaking, and I'm here to help you navigate the complexities of the editing process. A good editor's job is to be your safety net. Not only am I a part of your team, I'm in your corner!


๐‘๐ž๐š๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐ฎ๐ฌ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ง๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ? Contact me today to discuss how we can make your story shine together!


Services
Fiction
Contemporary Romance Historical Romance Romantic Suspense Young Adult Fantasy
Languages
English (US)
Certifications
  • Post-Graduate Diploma in Book & Magazine Publishing (Centennial College)
  • Master of Arts in English (York University)
  • Honors Bachelor of Arts in English (University of Toronto)

Work experience

Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Nov, 2015 โ€” Present

โ€ข Editorial: Deliver high-quality copyediting services of a large volume of materials, including manuscripts, cover copy, and press releases. Ensure publications are as error-free as possible by checking and correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics; tracking discrepancies and continuity errors; researching and verifying facts; and making clear, concise suggestions for revision.
โ€ข Management: Log and assign English-translation manga comics (2015-2018); marketing/PR documents (2019-2021); and HarperCollins and Carina Press manuscripts (2022-present) to a roster of freelance copyeditors.
โ€ข Communication/Quality Assurance: Evaluate copyedited manuscripts and provide direction and feedback to freelancers. Develop and update house style as needed to maintain consistency, quality, and efficiency.
โ€ข Diversity & Inclusion: Suggest alternatives for or replace biased, harmful language and themes across all documents. Monitor and know what the current dialogues are in DEI, and field queries from freelancers and internal clients.

Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Sep, 2009 โ€” Nov, 2015 (about 6 years)

โ€ข Proofread typeset manuscripts in Adobe InDesign for grammar, spelling, consistency, continuity and adherence to house style/Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary/Chicago Manual of Style.
โ€ข Accurately insert corrections requested by author, editor or freelancer.
โ€ข Correct basic text-flow and formatting issues in InDesign.
โ€ข Ensure the repaginated book is ready to print.
โ€ข Proofread ancillary materials, including covers, front matter, sales catalogues and marketing copy, and verify title, ISBN, author name, price.
โ€ข Query editors concerning inconsistencies and potentially libelous or offensive content.
โ€ข Check printerโ€™s proofs of nonfiction titles and cross-check index entries.
โ€ข Perform quality checks on ePub files and make corrections using BBEdit.

Portfolio

The Year of What If

Phaedra Patrick

Can the future be rewritten?On the verge of her second marriage, Carla Carter knows sheโ€™s finally found the one. She and her fiancรฉ, Tom, met through Logical Love, a dating agency she founded ... read more
Copy Editing
The Love Shack

Lori Foster

Theyโ€™ve been trying to avoid each other.But this town has other ideasโ€ฆ When Berkley Carr opened The Love Shack Animal Haven, she thought sheโ€™d finally put her past behind her. But sometimes sh... read more
Copy Editing
Never Never

Colleen Hoover

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!Never stop...Never forget...Just remember.Colleen Hoover, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us joins forces with Tarryn Fisher,... read more
Copy Editing
The Scarlet Alchemist

Baker, Kylie Lee

Copy Editing
The Guilt Pill: A Novel

Dave, Saumya

Park Row

Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Suddenly This Summer

Mallery, Susan

Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Proofreading
Proofreading
Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Copy Editing
Copy Editing

Taryn has 4 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Aubrey W.

Aubrey W.

May, 2024

It was wonderful to collaborate with Taryn on my first project. She was very professional and has a great eye for detail, offering valuable feedback and quality edits that have improved my work. Taryn was friendly and responsive and delivered the brief on schedule. I look forward to collaborating again!
Taryn O.
Thank you, Aubrey! It was an absolute pleasure working with you and I look forward to doing so again!
Patricia G.

Patricia G.

Jan, 2024

She has been fantastic. I almost didnโ€™t do my copyediting, but at the last minute I decided to, and luckly for me Taryn was available. I can't wait until I can work with her again.
Taryn O.
Thank you, Patricia! Your novel was a lot of fun to work on and I can't wait to see what you do next.
Anna P.

Anna P.

Nov, 2023

Excellent and very fruitful cooperation. Very pleasant communication and everything was done on time. I especially note Taryn's attention to detail.
Taryn O.
Thank you, Anna! It was such a pleasure to work with you, and I am following your career as an author with interest!
Benjamin H.

Benjamin H.

Sep, 2023

Taryn did the proofreading for my book and she was absolutely amazing. She went above and beyond what was expected, provided a sample, delivered awesome and helpful results in a timely manner, was super friendly and communicated frequently. A perfect collaboration. Thank you so much!
Taryn O.
Thank you, Ben! I really appreciate the feedback. It was such a great experience working with you on your novel.

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