Before giving you a quote, I will ask for a sample of the work so that I can give you an accurate estimate and recommendation.

Premium Manuscript Support A full suite of services- (developmental, line, copyediting, proofreading, formatting, and 2-4 monthly conversations) This is my top-of-the-line offering, the best value, and the most popular. 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. As a former professor, I have the training and experience to comment on argument, theoretical frameworks, and qualitative research design.

Copyediting This process involves correcting grammar and footnotes according to your chosen style guide, plus a deep engagement with the structure of every sentence. 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.

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.

(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.

Not sure which type of editing you need?

No problem. Let’s schedule a complimentary call to evaluate how we might work together.

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.

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.