I haven’t been shy about the fact that 2024 was the best year of my professional career as an editor. But freelancers are always looking toward the next thing. We’re always hungry. I’ve already got three manuscripts hard scheduled for early next year, and several soft ones that I’m waiting for confirmation on. That being […]

Last December I made a post about all the books I read for fun throughout the year. The total count was eight, and I said something to the extent of “I hope to top that next year.” That didn’t end up happening. In fact, I barely managed to exceed half of that number, ending up

You know how we often use hyphens in multiple-word descriptions? I actually just used one in that last sentence. Many writers use a hyphen even if the description follows the noun it’s describing, though the Chicago Manual of Style tells us this is usually unnecessary even when such compounds are hyphenated in Merriam-Webster. Here’s an

It’s Thanksgiving this week for us in the US, so I wanted to give thanks to all of you. This has by far been my best year since becoming an editor. I’ve worked on more manuscripts than ever before, been more financially successful, and most importantly connected with the most people. Whether they be clients,

I’m happy to announce that the book I recently finished editing has just been published. It is called “Open Road Mysteries” and was written by Scott Bradley. What I enjoyed most about this title is Scott’s optimistic view on AI, which I found extremely refreshing in the current landscape we find ourselves in where many

Last month I had the great honor of working with a local author for the first time. Every client I’ve ever had has been a considerable distance from me, and it feels great to have worked with Emma Lynn Ellis, who lives in the same town as I do. The book is called Deadly Vicious

If anyone’s looking for a fiction editor, I know a guy. (It’s me; I’m the guy.) My name’s Timothy and I’m an editor with a special focus on fiction, with fantasy being my favorite genre to work on. I freelance for several presses including Kirkus, Felony & Mayhem Press, DartFrog Books, Epic Publishing, and Vine

Do you understand the difference in these two sentences? Sam and Celeste’s problems are not my concern. Sam’s and Celeste’s problems are not my concern. In the first sentence, Sam and Celeste share problems. In the second sentence, Sam and Celeste each have their own problems. A single apostrophe signifies shared possession, whereas individual apostrophes

My favorite manuscript I’ve worked on this year has finally been published. It’s called Erdinkus, a humorous fantasy novel by author Matthew Luke. Erdinkus is book one of a trilogy, all three of which I copyedited earlier this year, and I’m so happy that the first installment is finally available on Amazon. I say it

Something I’ve learned as an editor is to try to only take editing breaks when I reach a new chapter or section. This is because if I stop in a random place, I may forget small details about what’s happening in a particular scene. Here’s an example. A scene in a manuscript I’m currently editing