Publish. Don’t Perish.
With an award-winning editor, the tenure track doesn’t have to be so stressful.
More often than not, no one actually tells you how to write a dissertation, convert it to a book, sustain a writing practice after the first book, publish articles, write book proposals, or write a tenure file. And with all the demands of teaching, service, research, and writing, it can be hard to achieve work-life balance. But with an editor, you can lessen the stress of the tenure track while publishing more, and better, work.
I am Jacob S. Dorman, Ph.D., an academic editor and writing coach at Advantage Editing, and I offer services designed to help academic writers on the tenure track. My expertise is in African American history, religious history, critical race theory, and American Studies, but I can help all sorts of scholars. If you have a manuscript underway, I can strengthen its structure and flow, improve the clarity of its arguments, copyedit, proofread, and even polish each line sentence by sentence. Working with me can help you win tenure, receive fellowships, collect book awards, and attract students. My clients feel less stress and have more time to enjoy life and spend time with loved ones as they achieve those milestones.
A former History and American Studies professor myself with eighteen years on the tenure track, I have published books with Oxford, Beacon, and Penguin. My work has won four book awards, including the Wesley-Logan book prize from the American Historical Association. I have also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies (twice), and the Mellon Foundation (twice). My books have been called “beautifully written” by the AHR, and “masterfully written” by The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, in addition to many other plaudits. I can help you have similar success.
My Approach
My style is supportive and encouraging. I want to help you unlock your gifts, connect with your sense of purpose, hone your craft, become a more efficient writer, and enjoy the incredible privilege of working with ideas and contributing to the storehouse of human knowledge. Although many academic writers struggle, our work is vital! It matters!
I am a fellow writer, not just an editor, so I know what writers need. I like to get down in the trenches with you, and I believe in excellent communication. Unlike most developmental editors, my work product is not a lengthy, beautiful essay about what you could change in your manuscript, sandwiched between two brief conversations. Maybe that works for fiction, but the point is to improve your writing, not to show off mine. Instead, we will have lengthy conversations about your project on a regular basis. My preference is to combine developmental editing—the big picture—with structural editing—the organizational piece. And when I make a suggestion for a change, I will actually make the change, for you to accept or reject. The idea is not to give you an overwhelming set of assignments or to rewrite your project in my voice, but to make your life easier and to hone your own voice and your project’s presentation to be as effective as possible.
While I am conversant with a full range of theory, and have taught graduate-level theory classes, I am a strong believer that complex ideas can be explained in language that is precise and easy to understand. As an expert in qualitative and archival research, I can help craft research plans and evaluate the strength and quality of your research and secondary source analysis, while suggesting literature and ideas that might strengthen your arguments.
In terms of craft, I can help you, stylistically and substantively, present your work more effectively and achieve greater impact. As much as we teach “signposting” an argument to our students, it is amazing how many academic books and articles forget about signposting entirely. It is also important to be very selective in supplying evidence, and to pick both what to highlight and what to leave out; what belongs in the body of the work and what would be better left in footnotes; and how to maintain flow and narrative pulse while avoiding tangents yet providing necessary background.
I am a practitioner of creative nonfiction, and can suggest a host of ways to add literary panache to your writing, whether through anecdotes, character development, similes, thick description, or narrative pulse. I also believe that chronology is usually helpful, but sometimes it is effective to break it to grab a reader’s attention. I help graduate students complete dissertations and shepherd scholars in converting dissertations into books. I can put my experience to work for you by helping to draft and revise fellowship applications. I have had great success in applying for fellowships, with two Mellon Foundation fellowships, one NEH fellowship, and two American Council of Learned Societies fellowships. Fellowship applications are generally quite brief, so they demand highly compressed writing with strong argumentation throughout.
I do not use AI at any stage of the editing process, other than minor changes made by spellcheck. AI is quite amazing in what it can accomplish with information on the Internet, but AI has never read a book since books lie behind a moat of copyright law. It also has a maddening tendency to give bad advice with great self-confidence. As a result, AI has no frame of reference and no ability to evaluate popular nonfiction books, let alone scholarly ones. I bring thirty-four years of experience in higher education, including eighteen years as a tenure-track professor of History, American Studies, and Race and Ethnic Studies. I have imbibed secondary sources and scholarly theories, designed research plans, conducted research in more than twenty-five archives, collected tens of thousands of archival images, analyzed that evidence, conducted oral histories, and published more than 500,000 words. I know what it is like to be a grad student, an assistant professor, and a tenured professor. There is no way that AI can approximate that level of expertise.
The right kind of experience.
I have edited more than one million words and have twenty years of experience working with writers, as well as my own award-winning scholarship. I have done everything from copyediting and proofreading to structural editing and rewrites of entire manuscripts. You won’t find another editor who has published three books, with two more in press, and has won four book awards, including an American Historical Association book award. Altogether, between books and articles, I have published more than half a million words, with both academic and trade presses. I have been an NEH fellow, an ACLS fellow twice, a Mellon fellow twice, and a Jacob Javits fellow once. My writing has been universally praised, and I can help you to achieve similar success. These are some of my reviews.
“beautifully written” – American Historical Review
“a knack for keeping one amused and amazed” – Harper’s
“Dorman does an excellent job of presenting his information in a clear and entertaining manner, making the subject matter so interesting that you can't helped but be pulled into the narrative.” — Qantara.de
“Painstakingly researched and masterfully written” – The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
“splendidly written” – Bill Tuttle, University of Kansas
“deft and riveting…a spectacular book in so many ways.” – Robin D.G. Kelley, UCLA
“richly researched and readable” – Religion Studies Review
“engaging…well-drawn...impressive” – The Journal of Religion
If a manuscript needs a major structural edit and redesign, I’m not afraid to get down and do old-fashioned cutting and pasting!
Flexible editing services for all kinds of nonfiction writing.
Before giving you an exact quote, I will ask for a sample of the work so that I can give you an accurate estimate and recommendation. Again, you can find other editors who are cheaper than me. But the old saying “you get what you pay for” is true. I charge the rates I do because I have direct experience and a proven track record in academic writing. I am an expert writer, not just an editor. I don’t see my job as producing lengthy reviews of your work or limiting the number of times you can reach out to me. When you work with me, you will have my email and phone number, and we will set up as many weekly calls as you like. In addition, I work quickly. If you hire me, I can finish a typical book manuscript in 28 days.
Below are my standard rates and services.
Premium Manuscript Support A full suite of services- (developmental, line, copyediting, proofreading, formatting, and 2-4 monthly conversations) - $6,000 - $18,000+ depending on scope. This is my top-of-the-line offering, the best value, and the most popular. Working with me to efficiently publish your book can help you win tenure, collect awards and fellowships, and attract students. By learning how to be more efficient and effective in your writing, you can enjoy more time with your family and friends and less stress overall. Premium clients receive priority over other clients and frequent communication (email, phone, or text) in addition to regular structured conversations. In addition, you will receive reduced rates on book proposal services if so desired.
Developmental/Structural Editing Developmental editing focuses on the big picture. I can help you clarify your core ideas and audience; restructure your chapters; reiterate and strengthen your arguments; identify what to cut, expand, or move; improve flow, pacing, narrative, and progression; and ensure that the book is ready to win awards. Unlike other developmental editors who write verbose essays about your manuscript but leave all the work of revision to you, I combine developmental and structural editing in one process. I believe the point is not to show off my alleged brilliance but to get down in the trenches with you and help muscle your book into shape. I believe this is the best way to not only improve the overall argument and structure but also find ways to connect and communicate elegantly. As a former professor, I have the training and experience to comment on argument, theoretical frameworks, and qualitative research design. This is not line editing or copyediting— it is making the whole book work. I propose edits directly in the manuscript with track changes and comments, and also produce a detailed, actionable editorial letter. 5 cents a word.
Copyediting This process involves correcting grammar and footnotes according to your chosen style guide, plus a deep engagement with the structure of every sentence. It is work that editors at the best commercial presses once performed, but is more intensive than academic presses can afford. This is not just for English as a Second Language scholars; it can also help native speakers. Copyediting enhances readability and style by smoothing awkward phrasing, optimizing word choice, and making subtle insertions or deletions. This service includes copyediting and emphasizes the author’s voice, ensuring your writing is polished, compelling, and memorable. 6 cents a word.
Dissertation and Book Formatting For graduate students meeting exacting format requirements or authors preparing to self-publish, a properly formatted Microsoft Word document is crucial. Issues like double spaces, extra hard returns, inconsistent paragraph styles, and page breaks can slow the publishing process. Oftentimes, the press handles this stage, but if not, I can handle all formatting in Microsoft Word, making your manuscript publication-ready. 0.7 cents a word.
(When I went through the arduous process of formatting my own dissertation, I produced a radio segment for NPR about the ordeal, which you can listen to here: The Doctoral Degree Paper Chase. You do not have to suffer as I did!)
Proofreading. This is not copyediting; it is the final stage before publication - approving the actual page proof PDFs. It saves you from embarrassing typos that are very difficult for authors to spot because they are too close to the text. No text is ever perfect, but proofreading allows it to be as close to perfection as possible. I am fastidious. No one ever found a typo in my books, which I proofread myself. 1 cent a word.
Book Proposals (structural editing, line editing, copyediting, and formatting). Without a compelling book proposal, even a masterful book manuscript will not see the light of day. As someone who has successfully written and sold five books, I know how to approach both academic and trade presses. I can also coach authors on finding agents to gain access to trade presses. 8 cents a word.
Not sure which type of editing you need?
No problem. Let’s schedule a complimentary call to evaluate how we might work together.
Coaching for every career stage.
What is Coaching?
Unlike editing, which focuses on a single text, coaching helps to strengthen your writing skills and process overall. Writing coaching is a collaborative process designed to help you clarify your ideas, strengthen your voice, and develop strategies to overcome obstacles such as writer’s block and negative self-talk. This is where you learn to go from procrastination to inspiration, anxiety to accomplishment, stressed to relaxed, and dread to joy. Depending on your needs, we can address things like:
· Creating a regular writing practice. The research is clear: slow and steady wins the race. We will work on finding what works for you, without guilt or shaming.
· Goal Setting & Planning – Define clear objectives and create a roadmap for your project, while retaining the flexibility to adapt those markers as your writing lives and grows.
· Voice & Style – Enhance your unique voice while ensuring consistency and flow.
· Feedback & Accountability – Receive constructive guidance and maintain momentum toward completing your work. Investing in coaching is a way of getting yourself to be more serious and more productive, while giving you a sounding board, conversationalist, and mentor in the process.
My approach is supportive, enthusiastic, practical, and tailored to your needs, whether you want short-term guidance on a single project or ongoing coaching for long-term growth.
Offerings:
Book and Writing Coaching:
4 sessions of 1 hour each ($800). 10 sessions of 1 hour each ($1900).
We will work together in person and asynchronously on your writing practice, on your particular feelings about writing, on your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, on research design if applicable, and on eliminating negative habits and negative self-talk while becoming a more successful writer. Throughout, I will introduce you to research-proven techniques to improve academic writing.
Dissertation Coaching Packages:
6 sessions of 1 hour each ($1200) 6 hour-long sessions plus chapter reviews ($2400)
Not all advisors have the time to give their students detailed feedback, let alone coaching along the way. These packages can fill in the gaps and markedly improve dissertation quality and time to completion.
Approaching Agents and Trade Presses:
2 sessions of 1 hour each ($400)
Getting published at an academic press is one thing; locating an agent and breaking into trade presses is something else altogether. This offering is usually paired with book proposal support.
Talk is cheap.
Free, actually.
