Editing
At Bookforum, I’ve edited Jesse Barron, Moira Donegan, Johanna Fateman, Molly Fischer, Sheila Heti, Jamie Hood, Lauren Oyler, Charlotte Shane, Jeff Sharlet, Rachel Syme, Jennifer Wilson, Audrey Wollen, and Hannah Zeavin, among many other authors.
The examples here come from my work at Bookforum, but my editing services are open to freelance writers, essayists, and authors at any stage. Put my decades of experience to work on your draft.
Radical Attention
Moira Donegan on pioneering therapist Judith Herman’s studies of trauma and justice. From the Summer 2023 issue of Bookforum.
Corps Values
A biography of George Balanchine shows the fragile contingency of genius. Siobhan Phillips in the DEC/JAN/FEB 2023 issue of Bookforum.
Sticky Fictions
Tarpley Hitt on Kerry Howley’s nuanced portraits of whistleblowers and other deep-state dissidents. From Bookforum.com.
Good as Hell
Johanna Fateman on the intoxicating gloom of Philippa Gregory’s historical fiction. From the SUMMER 2020 issue of Bookforum.
She Drew the Hallelujah
Rawiya Kameir on Daphne A. Brooks’s revelatory history of Black women artists. From the JUNE/JULY/AUG 2021 issue of Bookforum.
Psycho Killer, qu’est-ce que c’est?
Elizabeth Schambelan on the world of Robert Durst and The Jinx. From the JUNE/JULY/AUG 2016 issue of Bookforum.
A Heart Is Not a Nation
Confronting the age of hate in America. Jeff Sharlet in the DEC/JAN/FEB 2021 issue of Bookforum.
Weight of the Earth
In 2018, I co-edited the book Weight of the Earth: The Tape Journals of David Wojnarowicz, published by Semiotext(e). It was reviewed in BOMB and Hyperallergic, excerpted for an Artforum cover story, and recommended by Dev Hynes of the band Blood Orange.
LOOP Magazine, Issue 1
I was the associate editor for artist and musician Jason Moran’s Loop magazine, Issue 1.
Editing: Pricing
You’ ll get the draft back in Google Docs or Microsoft Word with two levels of feedback: linelevel suggestions in the margins (word choice, sentence rhythm, voice) and big-picture comments (structure, argument, pacing). I recommend a separate coaching session afterward to go through the edits together (standard coaching rate, $140).
Initial read
Total estimate provided after this stage
$0.02
per word
Line edit
Range determined by manuscript needs
$0.04–0.06
per word
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A 10,000-word manuscript: $200 initial read, then $400–$600 line edit.
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Read fee due upfront; line-edit fee due on delivery. Turnaround is two to four weeks for most manuscripts, confirmed when I send the estimate.