My goal is to help you identify your most exciting ideas and craft the most compelling expression of them for your readers.

I edit non-fiction: academic writing in the humanities and social sciences, personal essays and reviews, grant applications, and more. I have worked from proposal to publication on projects of every size — essays, magazine and journal issues, full-length books — with more than sixty authors across the disciplines, and I bring project management and administration experience to every collaboration.

Whatever stage your project is at, the work begins the same way: you tell me what you're trying to say and to whom, and we find the editorial support that gets you there.

Editing happens in four distinct stages. Every successful project passes through all four, but they are separable enough that you can bring an editor in for just one, and each can be more or less in-depth. Before we start working together, we'll establish the level and scope your project requires, along with shared expectations about deadlines and communication. My practice is guided by Editors Canada's definitions of core skills, professional standards, and rates; I'm typically paid a flat rate of $80/hr (CAD). If a specific budget or research funding guideline applies to your project, get in touch and we'll discuss how my support can fit within those lines.

I use Claude and other AI tools for tasks such as checking citation consistency, cross-referencing style conventions, and recognizing larger patterns in a text. Every substantive editorial judgment remains mine, and client manuscripts are never used to train AI models. If you prefer that your manuscript not interact with AI tools at any stage, please let me know.

Developmental / Structural Editing

If you're still working out what the piece is — what it argues, in what order, and for whom — this is where to begin.

This is the most comprehensive level of editing, which considers the piece as a whole to ensure a coherent, compelling message communicated through clear key concepts and effective argument structure. This stage may drastically reshape your writing, suggesting reorganization and the removal/addition of sections, and offering specific recommendations to improve overall depth and quality.

May involve marginal comments and/or an editorial letter addressing the work as a whole.

Stylistic / Line Editing

If the argument stands but the prose doesn't yet sound like you at your best, you need stylistic editing.

This round goes through your text with a careful ear to develop stylistic elements like voice, flow, and word choice, refine paragraph structure, and catch repetition or inconsistency.

Assumes that questions of concept, argument structure, and overall frame have been settled earlier. The fundamental unit at this stage is the paragraph.

Copy Editing

If the writing is settled and now needs to be made correct and consistent, you need copy editing.

This round focuses on the mechanics of writing: polishing or correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage; editing tables, figures, and lists; applying your publisher's preferred citation style and formatting; and more.

Though it may still address some stylistic elements, copy editing is primarily technical. The fundamental unit at this stage is the sentence.

Proofreading

If the text is final and needs one last pair of eyes, you need proofreading.

The final read, done to catch typos, lingering grammatical mistakes, and basic formatting issues.

Usually done by a second editor once the content is finalized, often after the text has been typeset by the publisher.