Academic Editing

bright-eyed fox

I’ve been where you are.

Now, with an award-winning monograph, a slew of published articles, and experience as an editor and peer reviewer, I help other academics reach their writing goals.

I offer developmental editing, copyediting, APA/Chicago-style formatting, and coaching to writers in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

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., assistant professor

  • 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., Ph.D. candidate

Prices for Academic Editing

Prices for academic editing are based on word count and complexity of editing.

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. Usually, prices range from $0.04 to $0.08 per word.

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

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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, formatting, 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.

  • I specialize in Chicago (notes-and-bibliography and author-date formats) 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.

Subscribe now for instant access to the first installment of my new academia-themed word substitution game!

Feral fox with caption "fun with academic prose! #1: who said critical theory had to be serious???"

Use it as a teaching tool for what to do (and not do!) when writing humanities abstracts—or just have a laugh with your friends!