Wilcox Editing Services

I became a copyeditor when I realized the language skills I value require constant maintenance. Delving into syntactic minutia, comparing the advice of various style guides, and looking up words allowed me to continually hone my fundamentals. After copyediting awhile, I discovered not everyone shares my love of detail, and even those writers who do can use a second pair of eyes. What started as an employment experiment became a business niche.

I earned my way through graduate school working for Alaska Quarterly Review, where I copyedited renowned literary poets and writers including Grace Paley, Marie Sheppard Williams, Nancy Lord, and Dorianne Laux. Over time and through training in my MFA program, I learned to work with authors on content as well as language mechanics. Working as a freelancer, I have incorporated a lifelong love of speculative fiction into my career, taking on writers of science fiction and fantasy whenever possible. Recently, I have expanded my offerings to help authors with agent queries, cover letters, synopses, and marketing.

A symbiotic relationship persists between my writing and editing. When I am not aiding clients, I continue to write and publish my own work. Remaining engaged with the artistic process ensures familiarity with the challenges of writing and anchors me in a space of compassion. Being a writer and poet also affords an avenue of expression all my own, so I might avoid the age-old editorial pitfall of trying to express myself through my clients’ work. In turn, editing brings to my writing life an internalized sense of rules and conventions, the better to bend them with.