Hire the Best Copy Editors in Illinois

I am the award-winning author of the young adult novels SAY NO TO THE BRO and GENA/FINN. I am also a professional copywriter and editor with more than ten years' experience. An eye for detail and a wealth of experience are just the beginning of what I will bring to your project. I work with your schedule and deadlines and ensure a prompt turnaround. You will find me agreeable and easy to work with.

Your manuscript deserves more than a quick polish. It deserves an expert in ghostwriting, copy editing, and proofreading who understands story, structure, and reader experience from beginning to end. I help authors turn rough ideas into compelling books through professional ghostwriting, copy editing, and proofreading, ensuring every manuscript is clear, engaging, and ready for publication. Whether you're working on a novel, ebook, romance story, or nonfiction book, I bring strong creative writing and fiction writing expertise to every project. From big-picture improvements to final polish, I provide developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading tailored to your goals. My process ensures your writing flows naturally, your message is clear, and your manuscript connects with readers. For authors who need full support, my ghostwriting services cover ebook writing, book writing, short story writing, and storytelling across fiction and nonfiction. I focus on delivering high-quality writing that feels authentic, structured, and market-ready. 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻: - 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴) - 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 - 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 My expertise in ghostwriting, copy editing, and proofreading ensures your manuscript is not only well-written but professionally refined and ready for readers. If you're preparing for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or any self-publishing platform, I help position your book or ebook for success through precise copy editing and proofreading and engaging ghostwriting where needed. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇: • Ghostwriting • Fiction Writing & Creative Writing • Ebook Writing & Book Writing • Developmental Editing • Line Editing • Copy Editing • Proofreading • Content Writing • Beta Reading Clients value my work for clarity, consistency, and a collaborative process that makes ghostwriting, copy editing, and proofreading smooth and stress-free. I take time to understand your goals, audience, and vision before working on your writing. If you need a professional who can handle ghostwriting, copy editing, and proofreading with precision while elevating your creative writing, fiction writing, novel, or ebook, I’m ready to help. 𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠, 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝-𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠. Ghostwriting | Creative Writing | Fiction Writing | Writing | Content Writing | Copywriting | Storytelling | Fiction | Novel | Book Writing | Short Story Writing | Romance | Drama | Ebook | Ebook Writing | Ebook Design | Kindle Direct Publishing | Book | Editing & Proofreading | Proofreading | Developmental Editing | Line Editing | Copy Editing | Beta Reading | Manuscript Editing | Nonfiction | Financial Writing | Legal Writing | Science Writing | Education | English | Marketing Strategy | Market Research

Thank you for taking the time to check out my profile! I recently got back on UpWork and I am eager to get new projects started. Please note I closed some very old projects so the "most recent" reviews showing are all no feedback. You have to look beyond those to find ones with appropriate reviews. I am very excited to provide my freelance editing on UpWork. I have a wide range of experience with beta reading, editing and proofreading of documents, novels, novellas, business reports and the like. I have over 5 years of freelance experience. I am open to all kinds of projects and learning new ways to gain experience in proofreading and line editing. I have a wide range of life experience skills from traveling, dragon boat racing, knitting, crochet, and dog mom. I have incredible work ethic, and I cannot leave a project finished without making it the best possible. My whole life I have loved books! I have a personal library of over 1000 novels and texts. No, I have not read them all, but I love supporting authors I love. One day would like to own my very own bookstore! It is a big dream and that is why I am on UpWork. I want to gain as much experience working with books as I can in any type of way. I would like to eventually edit books as my main source of income and move away from the 9-5 life. I have excellent skills with Word documents, PowerPoint, and Excel. I am looking for new projects that I can use to build my resume and work experience in the proofreading and editing world.

I've been at this writing game for a long, long time--over 40 years, to be exact. I've won national writing contests, published books with small presses, been the "go-to" editor for fast-turnaround "quick books" at a major publisher, and, of course, helped dozens of individual writers to become better authors. I'm the pickiest of the picky, a crackerjack speller, and The Grammarian About Whom Your Mother Warned You. I also wear a second hat: I've been a performing musician for most of my life--singing, primarily. I have a Bachelor of Music degree, have played the piano since I was 8, and am still involved in musicmaking today. My major was theory, but my first love Is voice, and I am continually fascinated by music history. What a combo, huh? 😁 So...if you want the best TLC your book can get--especially if music is also a part of your life as well--you truly can't do any better. The (Singing) Book Magician is here!

💡 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗠𝗲 I’m a UI/UX and website designer with a passion for building sleek, high-converting digital experiences. I’ve designed and managed platforms that have scaled 6x in profit and sold for millions, partnering with both Fortune 500 companies and agile startups to help them craft beautiful, intuitive web and mobile products. I specialize in supporting tech companies that are ready to refresh their branding, modernize their platforms, or create standout SaaS products that users love. 🎯 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 & 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 • UI/UX Design for SaaS and Web Apps • Website Redesigns & Landing Page Design • Webflow Site Design & Collaboration • Dashboard and Admin UI Design • Product Management & Iteration Support • Graphic Design for Web, Social & Decks • UX Audits, Research & MVP Planning • Brand-First Visual Identity Execution 📌 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 With a background that spans early-stage startups and corporate giants, I’ve helped clients across the tech industry transform underperforming websites and products into polished, scalable platforms. I bring hands-on experience managing design systems, collaborating across dev and product teams, and supporting long-term product success through strategic design thinking. Past projects include: • Leading UI/UX for SaaS apps that scaled revenue 6x • Designing Webflow sites for VC-backed startups • Rebranding and redesigning B2B platforms to improve conversions • Ongoing product design support as a fractional in-house team ✅ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲 • I merge creative design with business insight to support growth • I adapt quickly and collaborate closely with teams of any size • You get agency-level polish with the flexibility of a solo expert • I offer a full-service experience: UI/UX, websites, graphics, and product support • I focus on clarity, usability, and clean design that converts

From 2007 to 2017 I was the owner of the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, which published 40 books for total distribution of over 20,000 copies. Along the way, CCLaP's books won or were finalists for a half-dozen awards, including the Pushcart Prize, the Lambda Award for LGBTQ literature, and the Independent Publisher Book Award; and the center itself was named one of the 10 best indie presses in the United States by both BookRiot and Poets & Writers magazine. Now I bring that same award-winning deep experience to your own self-published or small-press manuscript, helping you hone it with a fine knife into the best book it can possibly be. I currently offer three services as a freelancer, the first and main one being editing. I provide not only developmental editing (helping you identify “big picture” problems regarding the story, characters, dialogue, information logic, and more) but also copy editing (including a close-in technical pass for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage, also sometimes known as “line editing” or “content editing”) and post-production proofreading (where I review not only the text but also all the book parts, such as headers and footers, the title page and synopsis, etc.). I charge half a cent per word for proofreading, 1 cent per word for either developmental or copy editing, or a bundled discount of 1.5 cents per word for all three. Secondly, I offer graphic design of your book’s interior pages. If you have specific ideas beforehand of what you’d like included, I’m happy to incorporate those wishes; or otherwise we work in an iterative process, where I present you multiple options as far as layout style and typeface choices, and over several back-and-forth discussions we whittle things down to a design you love. For books of less than 500 pages/100,000 words with no tables, I charge a flat $300 for the entire process, plus provide EPUB and Kindle ebook versions for free; please drop me a line if you have a bigger or more complicated book. (My apologies, but I do not offer cover design as a freelance service.) And thirdly, I offer help as a story coach, which you can think of as a creative writing college course but with only one student, you. I meet up with you at whatever frequency works best, review the latest work, give you pointers on where to go next, help you brainstorm ideas, and serve as an accountability partner during mental blocks. You determine exactly what kind of help would work best for you, and the maximum amount of hours I should work per week, at a rate of $30 per hour. See my portfolio section at the bottom of the page for a broad selection of testimonials from authors I've worked with as a freelancer, and praise my books have garnered over the years from such publications as Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, the Chicago Tribune, HTMLGIANT, and more. Proud member of: American Copy Editors Society Romance Writers of America (fellow RWA members get a discount; write for more) Chicago-North Romance Writers ANTI-AI PLEDGE: I promise that all work I complete for clients has been, and will always be, accomplished using only my human brain and ten human fingers, never using AI bots, Grammarly, or other software options.