Freelancing

I am trained in both skillful writing and insightful editing through professional experience and graduate education. You can read more about me and my background here.


Writing:

If you require an experienced and educated writer for copy, blog posts, articles, features, or larger works, please contact me with details of the task, including estimated word count. You can email me, or you can reach me through Google+ or Twitter.

Previous commissioned pieces include those under "Journalism" and "Interviews" here.


Editing:

I am available for editing texts of any length, including:

Fiction (such as short stories, novellas, and novels)
Non-fiction articles and book-length works
School and university essays
Academic articles and book-length works
Professional documents
Website text
Application letters
Tattoos of your favorite song lyrics (preferably before they're inked)


Editing Services:

Manuscript critiques: A thorough reading of the manuscript for content and overall readability. While I will avoid changing the content of your text, I will provide written feedback (a substantial editorial overview, supplemented by comments and margin notes) with substantive suggestions on how the text can become more effective.

Copy editing: A review of your text for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as well as overall precision, clarity, and consistency. I recommend that your text goes through at least one manuscript critique with me before this stage. Generally, I will mark a document with the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word so that you can view the suggested alterations. (I can also ensure that your text and citations are consistent with MLA formatting, if your text requires it.)

Proofing: A careful examination of a completed or typeset work for punctuation and spelling errors.

Special requests: If your text requires attention that you don't see listed here, please contact me so that we can discuss your needs and see what's possible.

Of course, I can gladly provide professional references from previous clients upon request.

Cost: I can give an estimate once I know the job's requirements and my client's needs.

Please note: I provide these services free of liability. I am not responsible for the content of the texts I edit, and I am not responsible for verifying the requirements and/or restrictions of your publisher, academic institution, employer, or any other body. I do not check facts, verify research, secure permissions, act as an agent, or guarantee publication, grades, or other results unless otherwise explicitly stated in writing.


Selection of Previous and Current Freelance Work:

Approaches to Teaching J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Other Works (MLA's Approaches to Teaching World Literature series): worked with the volume's editor, Dr. Leslie A. Donovan.
     Provided general editing and copy editing of volume proposal. Compiled survey results. Ensured consistency, effectiveness, and clarity of 31 scholarly essays and editor's introductory materials. Reconciled the language of academic and popular Tolkien communities. Formatted manuscript in Microsoft Word. Proofread final manuscript before submission to publisher.

Contract work with the Mythopoeic Press.
     Provided copy editing for academic manuscript in progress. Ensured formatting compliance with MLA guidelines. Converted citations and bibliography to MLA format.

Children of the End, by Brent Mueller.
     Provided manuscript critique for an in-progress fantasy novel manuscript.

Home2Teach.
     Drafted age- and ability-appropriate lesson plans for a six-week online writing course, "Writing the Hero's Journey." Topics covered include elements of storytelling, the steps of the monomyth, use of vivid verbs, effective outlining, dialogue, editing and revision, MLA format, and manuscript presentation.


Other editorial experience:

Managing editor, A Thoroughly Good Blue: New Writing from the Oscar Wilde Centre.
     Coordinated authors, editorial staff, and publicity board. Established textual consistency between fifteen fiction and poetry selections and the foreword. Ensured visual quality of the final anthology. Oversaw distribution of 500 copies throughout Ireland and the UK.

Editor-in-Chief, The Grey Book: Online Journals of Middle-earth.
     Promoted and advertised for undergraduate submissions. Selected essays for clarity and thoroughness. Edited pieces for straightforward and effective communication of concepts. Verified cited sources. Oversaw web publication of two annual issues, volumes two and three.