A. L. Copyediting & Proofreading Services

About ALC

My editing trek began after I graduated with an MA in history from the University of Montana in Missoula. I landed a job as an editorial assistant with Westview Press in Boulder, Colorado, a company started in 1975 by Fred Praeger. A scholarly publication, Westview Press was well- known for its work with academia, and there I received a valuable education from a great team of editors. After leaving Westview to head back to Montana, I began my career editing and proofreading travel guides, historical manuscripts, and how-to books on such topics as bass fishing and interior decorating. I did some technical writing, too, for reference and resource manuals. Publishers I have worked with include Gale, Brookings Institution, and Falcon Press.

In Montana, the in-house publishing industry beckoned me again, and I went to work in Missoula at Mountain Press, a small publishing company that specialized in Western history and culture. After leaving, I pursued my freelancing career once more.

Life took me to New Jersey, my childhood home, and I entered into my second vocation, teaching. After seventeen years of teaching history, English, and special education, I have resumed editing and proofreading with skills that did not languish while I taught. I edited a literary journal at the school where I worked and did pro bono work for friends and colleagues. I also edited my students' papers and focused on writing and self-editing skills with them.

I  now edit and proofread full-time, feeding my penchant for the written word and making it coherent, clean, and engaging. For seven years, I have enjoyed editing academic content. I work hard to retain an author's voice and style while providing the correct syntax and preserving an article's integrity. I offer detailed commentary to an author, so they can follow what I am changing and why. Many of the authors I work with are non-native English speakers, and I work hard to maintain the lexicon and tone of their projects. Learning new things brings out my best work, and I have dived into subjects ranging from physics to economics to anthropology. I edit books and chapters, journal articles, Ph.D. theses, and research papers. The degree of editing a project needs often varies from light to heavy to substantive. I carefully evaluate your project to determine the best course forward. Recently, I worked on a journal review for the first time and appreciated learning the process immensely. I proofread pages and all print matter. 

My expertise includes extensive knowledge of the Chicago Manual of Style; APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition; and Word's tracking tool. I edit projects in both UK and US English and thrive on the needed attention to detail and research required by this line of work. Fact-checking, word reduction, and word choice are specialties my clients count on. 

To demonstrate my capabilities, I am happy to edit or proofread a sample provided by the customer. Please email me for a quote and more details at alcopyediting90@gmail.com. 

                                                                                                                                      Anita L Coryell