I specialize in making smart writers sound smarter, especially those whose first language is not English.
Types of Texts:
- Academic
- Social Sciences & Humanities
- Area Studies (Middle East/West Asia & North Africa)
- Literary
- Nonfiction (History, Biography, Memoir, Essay)
- Fiction (Historical Fiction; Fantasy & Folklore; Women authors, characters, intended audiences)
I have edited documents such as:
- Academic book manuscripts for publication at presses such as Cambridge University Press, Edinburgh University Press, Syracuse University Press, University of California Press, University of Minnesota Press, and University of Toronto Press
- Academic articles for publication in journals such as: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Journal of Arabic Literature, International Journal for Middle East Studies, and The Journal of North African Studies
- Dissertations for students at universities such as: UCLA, UT Austin, and the University of Pennsylvania
- Novels and Autobiographies for publication at publishers such as Georgetown University Press, HBKU Press
- Articles for think tanks and research centers
- Correspondence related to publications (letters, book proposals, responses to reviewers)
For Publishers and Organizations | I provide: Copyediting, Proofreading, and Reports (readers’ reports, translation evaluations). Editing Resume, Samples, and References available upon request. General CV here.
For Authors and Individuals | I provide customized editing. Sometimes, this is very focused on transliteration and issues that arise with Arabic, whether in content or formatting. For most authors, it is a combination of Proofreading (capitalization, punctuation, spelling), Copyediting/Line Editing (word usage, grammar, flow), and Substantive Editing (structure, organization, coherence). For more on levels of editing, see my blog post here. I provide the following:
- Reviewing grammar, spelling, usually US conventions according to Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster
- Maintaining consistency in format, font, style, and terminology
- Reading for language, word choice, and sentence construction
- Checking paragraph transitions and overall clarity and smoothness
- For those whose first language is not English, I am a target language specialist familiar with the field of academic writing, especially in the Humanities & Social Sciences.
- I can help with research and fact-checking.
I suggest changes with the “Comment” function. If the change is localized in the document and not likely to cause debate, then I make the change myself with the “Track Changes” function.
For References, I typically work with Notes and Bibliography and check formatting. I do not usually do citation checking (looking up each reference to make sure it exists and has been cited correctly), although I can provide this on request.
I adjust my rate according to the services rendered. Finally, I am discreet. I do not share anything that I read in a client’s writing with other people until it is published or publicized by the client.
My editing clients have included: Academic Language Experts, Georgetown University Press, HBKU Press, Six Red Marbles, Syracuse University Press, University of Toronto Press, and members of the faculty at: Brown University, University of North Carolina, The University of Rhode Island, The University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of Virginia, Ithaca College, the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, King Faisal University, and l’Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM).
Testimonials from editing clients:
Selected covers of books I have worked on
“A successful collaboration allows the author to feel sustained and liberated by knowing that she doesn’t have to bear the burden of creation, development, and refinement alone.”
Paul McCarthy, “Developmental Editing,” in Editors on Editing
- CV | for professional history
- Teaching Portfolio | for teaching philosophy, competencies, and documents