Editorial Services

bright-eyed fox

Academic writers often do not get the support they need.

Crafting accessible prose takes time and energy, and finding supportive and detailed feedback can be difficult in a profession where most people are working at (or beyond) capacity.

I love to help scholars get their messages across with clarity and style. I offer developmental editing and copyediting to writers in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

With extensive experience in academic writing and editing, I can help you submit your best work—and when you need to bounce back after receiving comments from that dreaded “Reviewer #2,” I am here to coach you through the process of licking your wounds and learning from them.

You might be especially interested in working with me if…

  • Your work is in the arts, humanities, or humanities-adjacent social sciences;

  • You are looking for feedback and guidance on the structure and flow of journal articles, book reviews, abstracts, or your academic monograph and/or book proposal;

  • You are motivated to make your writing accessible to readers outside your discipline;

  • You need to cut words and/or tighten up your prose; and/or

  • You would like to blend editing with coaching (on starting and completing projects, time management, writers’ block, overcoming imposter syndrome, etc.).

Testimonials

  • multicolored books

    "Working with Tes has provided much-needed structure to my writing, boosted my confidence, and finally given me the feeling that I could indeed get my book finished."

    F.I.

  • spiral staircase from above

    “Wow. [Our] sessions have been so helpful primarily in reframing my work and getting to the root of the reasons why I feel certain ways while working. They’ve unearthed fears and insecurities I didn’t realize I even had, and they’ve provided me with tangible, actionable steps to improve in the future. I tell [my peers] ‘I'm LOVING it. For me, it’s worth every penny.’ Coaching has completely reframed how I am approaching my dissertation and writing in general.”

    H.S., Ph.D. candidate

Pricing

I strive for clarity in pricing. Therefore, I charge per word for editorial services rather than per hour.

Because every project is different, I ask for a sample of the work to be edited and a total word count to allow me to generate a quote.

I routinely offer bundled developmental and copyediting packages, as well as editorial consulting services for authors who wish to work through textual issues, digest reviewer comments, or brainstorm in real time. Contact me for details and pricing.

colored pencils

logo of fox wearing nerdy glasses

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  • Developmental editing attends to structure, argument, and flow—the big-picture elements of a piece of writing. In the developmental editing process, an editor might make suggestions about rearranging sentences, paragraphs, or sections; inserting or tweaking section headings; and/or clarifying the overall argument and assessing whether the content contributes to the argument. A good developmental editor will help you figure out exactly what’s working in your text—and what’s not.

  • I do not provide developmental editing for anything that’s being submitted for a grade (including M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations), although I am happy to provide copyediting and proofreading for graded work with the permission of your advisor or professor.

    I do, however, adore working with students in more general situations, including offering coaching around the writing process, including overcoming “research inertia” (when you keep doing research to avoid starting to write the dissertation), etc. If you are interested in coaching, please reach out to learn more about my sliding scale for students.

  • Yes, although only in limited circumstances. For example, I will proofread as part of a larger developmental or copyediting project. I also offer proofreading services to W&M and NYU graduate students and faculty in the humanities and social sciences and to graduate students and faculty from any institution in music studies. Contact me to find out whether I have the capacity to take on your project.

  • I am most fluent in Chicago style (notes-and-bibliography and author-date formats). I can also edit in MLA and APA styles. I do not currently edit in AMA or other styles.

  • I am happy to copyedit your materials, but you would likely be better served by a coach who specializes in job searches.

  • Yes! The Feral Freelancer is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia and registered with the IRS. I can provide an itemized invoice either to you or to someone at your institution.

  • My editorial forays began during high school when I served as Poetry Editor and then as Managing Editor of my school’s literary magazine. After college, I took courses in proofreading and copyediting at George Washington University and, as part of my day job, wrote and edited The Nature Conservancy’s internal stewardship newsletter. By the time I finished the courses at GW, I had started chasing Irish tunes in earnest, and did not return to official editing work until I became Reviews Editor for Women & Music in 2014 and Coeditor in Chief of Oxford University Press’s Women, Gender, Sexuality revision of Oxford Music Online (“Grove”) in 2019. In 2020, I published my own monograph, Trad Nation: Gender, Sexuality, and Race in Irish Traditional Music (Wesleyan University Press). I launched The Feral Freelancer in late 2023.

    I am a member of the Editorial Freelancers’ Association and alternate membership years between the American Musicological Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology.