You’re an author if…

They live with you. You hear them talking. The characters you’ve invented took on a life. You’ve wept when they cried; you grinned when they laughed. You’ve spent months staring into a monitor and missed your favorite television shows. Finally, you’ve pushed the keyboard away. Your book is done, and now the characters in your head, and you, are clamoring for the story to be told.

Now, you need an editor. Someone that will polish your words to a blinding luster and make your story the absolute best. I’m not a storyteller; I live in a world of words.

I understand your goal to publish. I support your endeavor to create truly noteworthy literature by scrutinizing the “nuts and bolts” basics of your manuscript—as sole creative genius you decide whether to accept or reject any changes. As an objective reviewer I expose grammatical and punctuation errors and scenes that do not contribute to your storyline. No one can edit his or her work. Sometimes you reread what you’ve written and think a five-year-old could do better. You’re too close, you stared at it too long and you know exactly what you meant to say. I can help.

I am a life-long reader; literacy and the written word are my passions. My duties as an executive assistant included creating, editing, and proofreading corporate correspondence; preparing management reports and approving final publisher drafts of documents and directories. Besides proofreading, these tasks required strict attention to content accuracy. In addition to 10+ years of hands-on experience, I took continuing education classes in editing and writing. My detail oriented muse is happiest in the background editing and proofreading. I am rabid about consistency. I strive for excellence.

I have an eclectic taste in literature and will edit any of these categories: historical fiction, erotica, mystery and detective fiction, SF/fantasy and paranormal, YA and women’s fiction. I also read classics, but Euripides isn’t around to accept or reject changes.

I love words. I compile alphabetical homonym lists to unwind. I also take great joy in minutiae, e.g., the correct plural of octopus, whose origin is Greek not Latin, is octopodes or octopuses.

I find a novel of substance with succinct dialogue profoundly satisfying—I’m a sucker for witty repartee. I appreciate three-dimensional characters; multiple points of view, wonderful world building and complex storylines with plot twists.

I will not edit:

  1. Stories that describe a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
  2. Manuscripts promoting or encouraging violence or cruelty of any kind, especially bigotry, genocide and violence against women and children.

Judy Stone, editor/proofreader

“Ankylosaurus! That's what I meant. Do you know how many times I've used stegosaurus? Who checks these things? Judy, that's who.” Autumn Dawn


“Your editing makes me sound so much better than I am. What would I do without you? Probably not publish!” Lacy S Kinsley


“FINALLY! An editor who speaks smexy like me!” Kelsey Charisma, bestselling erotica author.