You think thoughts. I clean 'em up.
Copyediting, substantive editing, proofreading, and indexing for authors and scholars
If you write in English, you are working in the language of opportunity. But %&*#ing English, am I right?! Even for a highly educated, highly accomplished native speaker, the old maxim applies: Everyone needs an editor.
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I’m an AP-trained copy editor who’s expanded into structural and developmental editing, academic editing, proofreading, and indexing. What does that mean for you? It means I can help your project be the best it can be. As an ex-journalist, I especially enjoy helping nonfiction authors craft a compelling argument.
Here's a sampling of what I have done for clients:
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Helped a former US Government official update a book manuscript he'd been working on for many years so he could finally tell his side of the story.​
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Rewrote the references in a professor's paper about 1970s architecture so she could submit it to a professional journal.
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Showed a retired prison psychologist how to keep his memoir's story moving forward without any loss of academic credibility.​
Contact me at ericmhubler@gmail.com for a free introductory call and sample edit. I’m full-time freelance so when I accept a gig, it's literally the most important thing on my calendar.
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I have a bachelor's in semiotics from Brown University, a master's in nonprofit management from Regis University, and continuing education in editing from Simon Fraser University. I'm a member of ACES, Editors Canada, and the Apostrophe Protection Society.
Services
Copyediting. Adhering to an agreed-on dictionary and style guide. For example, if we're using Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition and The Chicago Manual of Style, Eighteenth Edition, then I’ll ensure that spelling, punctuation, and all the decisions about word choice collectively known as "style" follow those two books.
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Other commonly used style guides are published by The Associated Press, the American Psychological Association, and the Government of Australia. And/or, you may have a corporate style guide you need to follow.
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Developmental editing. A broad term for helping your ideas shine. Different editors slice and dice this different ways or use different terms, but the bottom line is, does the work say what you want it to say, in the way you want it said?
Proofreading. Like copyediting, proofreading is an opportunity to catch errors and enhance clarity before the work reaches readers. The key difference is that copyediting happens before layout and proofreading, after. Thus, they could happen months apart. They take about the same amount of time.
Indexing. After editing, after layout, after proofreading – when the work is really locked down – you may want an index to help readers locate content efficiently. An index can also be an enlightening way for you, yourself, to understand how you organize information.​
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Process
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We talk (or email or text or whatever you’re comfortable with).
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You tell me what services you think you need.
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You send me a sample.
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I use the sample to confirm if the services you think you need are actually the services you need, and create a detailed proposal, including cost and time to completion.
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If you accept the proposal, you can bank on getting your draft back on or before that completion date.
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If you have remaining questions, ask!
PS: Your work is safe with me. I will handle it in strict confidence and never, ever get AI involved.
Cost
Sorry to be vague, but every project is unique, so every proposal is too. If you just want to be sure the commas are in the right places and move on with your life, that’s going to be quicker and cheaper than if you’re trapped in the weeds and need me to liberate you with a verbal machete.
Think low three figures for a paper that's in pretty good shape to mid four figures for a footnote-heavy scholarly book that stubbornly refuses to finish itself.
All quotes are in USD. I accept Venmo, CashApp, and international wire transfers, and payment is due when I begin work unless we agree to a payment plan.
What's "an edit" anyway?
Track changes, marginal notes, simple markup, show comments, make superscript, insert table, apply style … We editors live this stuff every day, but authors shouldn’t have to. Send me an excerpt that includes some of the issues you think need attention, and I’ll send you a free sample edit that demystifies what the work product will look like.
Microsoft Word is preferred but Adobe PDF, Apple Pages, or a content management system also are perfectly valid options.