Ellen Wettersten

Ellen Wettersten – Editor

I am an editor with decades of experience developing books for the education market. My special interest is editing children's books.

Overview

Every writer has a unique story to tell. Since a story belongs to the author, I believe that my job as editor is to help develop it or make it better rather than to change it into a different story. To provide a Developmental Edit or Copy Edit, I annotate a Word or PDF manuscript file and then summarize my comments and ideas in messages. To proofread, I annotate the manuscript. Throughout a collaboration, I encourage back-and-forth communication with the writer. My goal is a manuscript the writer feels is ready for publication.

For most of my career, I was an editor with a major textbook publisher. As a freelance writer and editor since 2001, I have worked for a variety of publishers and product developers, including Amplify, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, Zaner-Bloser, and Nieman, Inc. I have done fifty-eight folktale retellings, many now available as audiobooks on Google Play. Tutoring at-risk students and participating in a community Literacy Buddy program have given me insights into young readers' interests and reading levels. The former teacher in me enjoys sharing with authors what my editing experience has taught me about grammar, language usage, and good writing.

Since I have always loved books and storytelling, Reedsy collaborations provide an opportunity to use my publishing experience to help writers create books that tell entertaining, meaningful stories. Whether your manuscript is fiction or nonfiction, consider contacting me.
Services
Fiction
Anthologies Literary Fiction Middle Grade Picture Books Short Story Themes & Motifs
Non-Fiction
Children’s Non-Fiction Education & Reference
Languages
English (US)
Certifications
  • B.A in English from Northwestern University
  • M.Ed. in Elementary Education from University of Illinois

Work experience

Self-employed

Feb, 2001 — Present

My editing work includes student texts, teacher materials, reference books, and digital products for grades K through high school. My freelance writing includes folktale retellings for children; nonfiction about science, the environment, and history for middle school students; and fiction about the real-life problems of students in the elementary grades.

Scott, Foresman and Company

Jun, 1972 — Feb, 2001 (over 28 years)

As an editor, I led teams in developing text products. In addition to working with authors to choose selections, I organized anthologies for middle school students and readers for the elementary grades, edited author manuscript, proofread, and monitored texts through the final production stages.

• Reading student texts and teacher editions
• Literature anthologies
• Language arts texts and teacher editions
• Thesauruses and Thorndike Barnhart dictionaries

Ellen has 14 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Kathryn H.

Kathryn H.

Mar, 2024

This is my second time collaborating with Ellen. As expected, it has been an absolute pleasure. Not only did she help with editing my story, but she also provided interesting ideas and feedback. My children’s picture-book story now sounds more fun to read and I’m very happy with the result. Thank you Ellen!
Ellen W.
Thank you, Kathryn. From my perspective, the collaboration was a perfect example of how a writer and editor should work together. I appreciated your responsiveness to my comments and our regular co...
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Cynthia M.

Cynthia M.

Feb, 2024

It was a pure pleasure collaborating with Ellen on this project which is very close to my heart. Her experience speaks volumes in the way in which she carried out the editing process, providing clear and succinct explanations/reasons for her invaluable suggestions. She was very understanding about the reasons for 'delays' on my part. Nevertheless, her responsiveness to my messages was almost in...
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Ellen W.
Thank you, Cynthia. You are truly talented, and collaborating with you was a marvelous experience. Through our regular correspondence, I felt that we were on the same page, so to speak. The manuscr...
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Laure S.

Laure S.

Feb, 2024

Ellen was delightful to work with. She was instrumental in where my story was going. I would work with her again in a heart beat.
Ellen W.
It was a pleasure to work with Laure. Her story from the point of view of a leaf that makes a trip stuck to the windshield of a car is delightful. Our collaboration went well because Laure responde...
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Dionne T.

Dionne T.

Dec, 2023

Ellen is truly a professional full of knowledge and insight. I felt understood and supported on my writing journey. She is an excellent developmental editor and responds quickly to messages which was important to me, as a delayed responds can take away my momentum. I am already planning on working with her again, that's how good she is!
Ellen W.
Thank you, Dionne, for the review. I love your creativity in storytelling and very much enjoyed collaborating with you. Working together again on your new projects would be a pleasure. Dionne's p...
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Kathryn H.

Kathryn H.

May, 2023

Collaborating with Ellen on my project has been such a delight! Ellen’s editing skills are top notch and she’s taught me a lot along the way, even providing helpful documents. She’s highly passionate about what she does, and I could tell she was excited about the outcome of my story. Her enthusiasm is contagious. I am very proud of what we have achieved together with my story. I look forward to...
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Ellen W.
Thank you, Kathryn. Collaborating with you on your delightful tale was a joy, and I look forward to working with you again. I highly recommend "The Master Horse Quest," Kathryn's early reader pictu...
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