What I Do

At any stage of writing, I’m happy to be in touch with you, look at your writing, and assess with you the most likely outcomes of working together. I’m devoted to editing as a process to help writers deepen, clarify and polish what they intend to say. Mostly, this means working with you on concepts, structure, usage, or style. I don’t do final proofreading, indexing, or fact checking. My academic and scholarly editing is in the arena of social sciences and the humanities.

Like all good editors, I truly enjoy working with writers across the full spectrum of genres and experience. Also, we can work as closely or as independently as a specific endeavor requires. All methods aim to clarify your writing, and to heighten confidence in your own voice, point of view, and style.

Here are the specifics:

  • If you’re at the beginning of a new project, we will talk about themes, structures, intentions, development, and aspirations. These editorial consultations might be time-limited, with the goal of getting you launched, or they might lead to an ongoing editing relationship as your project progresses. We can figure out together where to start, and then evaluate the span of the editing process.

  • If you’ve completed one or several drafts of your writing—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—I offer developmental editing, to help you sharpen the design or organization of your manuscript. Or we could work more closely with your material, chapter by chapter or line by line, suggesting either significant or minor revisions. This would be in the category of substantive or content editing, with the goal of completing your writing project for publication or distribution. Here, too, we can figure out the initial period of work together, and then re-evaluate.

  • If you’re writing for nonprofit groups, I will help edit your materials—fundraising letters, newsletters, grants, or documents—to heighten their readability and impact. Clear, lively, and accurate materials will enliven your current supporters, gain new ones, and create passion for the mission of your group.

  • If you’re looking to transpose a dissertation, or an academic article or book into a work with more popular appeal, I will help make your writing more accessible to a general audience. Often, ideas fail to enter the public conversation because language is too mired in jargon or abstractions. Without diluting your concepts and conclusions, we would focus the editing process to create material compelling to a wide readership.

“Laura Zimmerman’s good eye, kind tone, and in-depth knowledge of the vagaries of English grammar are superb. I recommend her most highly to any of my colleagues who might require (or need) editorial assistance.”
—J. Scott Rutan, Ph.D.
“Laura Zimmerman gave me invaluable assistance on my last two novels, patiently helping me figure out the right structure and style for each one, then combing through each chapter to test for coherence. I can’t imagine what I would have done without her advice and support She is one of the most intelligent, careful, perceptive readers I’ve ever met.”
—Suzanne Berne

Past Projects