DoWriteEditing
Editing - Writing - Proofreading
Projects Large and Small
Why hire me for your fiction and nonfiction editing, proofreading, or writing projects?
I've been editing, proofreading, and writing all my life—high school newspaper staff, editor of statewide church youth newsletter, editor of college paper, work in public relations . . . radio . . . statewide health industry newspaper . . . church newsletters, author of five books (two self-published; one by national publisher; two unpublished—one nonfiction, one a novel), poetry, essays, and stories published in national magazines and excerpted in books, etc., etc.
What can I say? It's what I do!
But, along the way, I've also picked up lots of other experience I may be able to bring to bear on your project. I've worked as a bookkeeper, college instructor, parish minister, choir director, radio announcer, health care education programmer, librarian, bookstore clerk, research assistant, and even in an old-fashioned steno pool. I've worked for businesses small and large, for colleges and universities, for a government-funded agency, for churches and nonprofits.
I also was "president" of my own company (a dubious honor!), when a local historian and I created Vintage Point, LLC, to publish works of regional interest. Vintage Point is no more, but, for seven years, I did everything one has to do to publish one's own books in a local market. (See below for more information on those books and other recent and selected publications of my work.)
That was an educational experience in many ways. My first draft for our first book weighed in at more than 200,000 words. I whittled it down to a svelte 125,000, and we proofread its 240 printed pages at least four times. (Yes, we also hired a copyeditor and had four other experienced writers take a look at the manuscript, too. Even those who themselves write/edit/proofread need fresh sets of eyes!) Now, ten years after publication, we have yet to find a typographical or grammatical error, nor have we heard of anyone else who has. Makes those long hours and tired eyes worthwhile!
I do have some educational background that comes in handy from time to time—a BA and MA, both in economics; a semester of post-BA study at the University of Missouri School of Journalism; and a smattering of additional graduate credits and CEUs in several fields.
But, mostly, I write, pretty much all the time and everything. (Except letters—I'm a terrible correspondent!) I hope we can find a way to put all the above to work for you, to help make your project the very best it can be.
Kathy K. Grow
DoWriteEditing
Recent & Selected Published Works:
* (scheduled) February 12-18, 2012 These Days - Devotions: "Rest for the Weary" (www.ppcbooks.com/thesedays.asp)
* Summer 2011 (Vol. 38, #2) Time of Singing - Poem: "Irrigation" (honorable mention, contest for "Summer Cinquains") (http://www.timeofsinging.com/)
* August 28 - September 3, 2011 These Days - Devotions: "Having Faith in Your Faith"
* Your Shelf Life - Blog Posting (January 20, 2011): "Worth Every Penny: Why Pay for Proofreading and Copyediting?" (http://www.yourshelflife.com/?p=796)
* Winter 2010-2011 (Vol. 37, #3) Time Of Singing - Poem: "Dawn" (third place, contest for six-line, rhymed poems of any theme)
* November/December 2010 Alive Now - Poem: "Angel Song" (http://alivenow.upperroom.org/)
* July/August 2010 Alive Now - Essay: "Maintaining Friendships"
* March/April 2010 Alive Now - Poem: "All Things Work Together"
* November-December 2008 Yankton County Observer - Episodic Children's Story: "The Newest XMAS Elf"
(www.ycobserver.com)
* September/October 2005 Alive Now (Special 200th Issue Retrospective) - Poem (originally published in November/December 1990): "No Words for Me Today"
* Spring 2003 Nebraska History (Vol. 84, #1) - Book Review: Lake McConaughy: A Geographic Portrait, by Robert Richter
(http://www.nebraskahistory.org/)
* YANKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA, IN VINTAGE POSTCARDS (with Lois H. Varvel), Arcadia Publishing (Postcard History Series), 2004 (http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/)
*THE DAY BRIDGER GOT HIS NAME (with Lois H. Varvel), Vintage Point Press, 2002 (DoWriteEditing@gmail.com)
* THE BRIDGE WE BUILT: THE STORY OF YANKTON'S MERIDIAN BRIDGE (with Lois H. Varvel), Vintage Point Press, 2001 - winner of Historic South Dakota Foundation 2002 Preservation Achievement Award for Education/Media (DoWriteEditing@gmail.com)
I've been editing, proofreading, and writing all my life—high school newspaper staff, editor of statewide church youth newsletter, editor of college paper, work in public relations . . . radio . . . statewide health industry newspaper . . . church newsletters, author of five books (two self-published; one by national publisher; two unpublished—one nonfiction, one a novel), poetry, essays, and stories published in national magazines and excerpted in books, etc., etc.
What can I say? It's what I do!
But, along the way, I've also picked up lots of other experience I may be able to bring to bear on your project. I've worked as a bookkeeper, college instructor, parish minister, choir director, radio announcer, health care education programmer, librarian, bookstore clerk, research assistant, and even in an old-fashioned steno pool. I've worked for businesses small and large, for colleges and universities, for a government-funded agency, for churches and nonprofits.
I also was "president" of my own company (a dubious honor!), when a local historian and I created Vintage Point, LLC, to publish works of regional interest. Vintage Point is no more, but, for seven years, I did everything one has to do to publish one's own books in a local market. (See below for more information on those books and other recent and selected publications of my work.)
That was an educational experience in many ways. My first draft for our first book weighed in at more than 200,000 words. I whittled it down to a svelte 125,000, and we proofread its 240 printed pages at least four times. (Yes, we also hired a copyeditor and had four other experienced writers take a look at the manuscript, too. Even those who themselves write/edit/proofread need fresh sets of eyes!) Now, ten years after publication, we have yet to find a typographical or grammatical error, nor have we heard of anyone else who has. Makes those long hours and tired eyes worthwhile!
I do have some educational background that comes in handy from time to time—a BA and MA, both in economics; a semester of post-BA study at the University of Missouri School of Journalism; and a smattering of additional graduate credits and CEUs in several fields.
But, mostly, I write, pretty much all the time and everything. (Except letters—I'm a terrible correspondent!) I hope we can find a way to put all the above to work for you, to help make your project the very best it can be.
Kathy K. Grow
DoWriteEditing
Recent & Selected Published Works:
* (scheduled) February 12-18, 2012 These Days - Devotions: "Rest for the Weary" (www.ppcbooks.com/thesedays.asp)
* Summer 2011 (Vol. 38, #2) Time of Singing - Poem: "Irrigation" (honorable mention, contest for "Summer Cinquains") (http://www.timeofsinging.com/)
* August 28 - September 3, 2011 These Days - Devotions: "Having Faith in Your Faith"
* Your Shelf Life - Blog Posting (January 20, 2011): "Worth Every Penny: Why Pay for Proofreading and Copyediting?" (http://www.yourshelflife.com/?p=796)
* Winter 2010-2011 (Vol. 37, #3) Time Of Singing - Poem: "Dawn" (third place, contest for six-line, rhymed poems of any theme)
* November/December 2010 Alive Now - Poem: "Angel Song" (http://alivenow.upperroom.org/)
* July/August 2010 Alive Now - Essay: "Maintaining Friendships"
* March/April 2010 Alive Now - Poem: "All Things Work Together"
* November-December 2008 Yankton County Observer - Episodic Children's Story: "The Newest XMAS Elf"
(www.ycobserver.com)
* September/October 2005 Alive Now (Special 200th Issue Retrospective) - Poem (originally published in November/December 1990): "No Words for Me Today"
* Spring 2003 Nebraska History (Vol. 84, #1) - Book Review: Lake McConaughy: A Geographic Portrait, by Robert Richter
(http://www.nebraskahistory.org/)
* YANKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA, IN VINTAGE POSTCARDS (with Lois H. Varvel), Arcadia Publishing (Postcard History Series), 2004 (http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/)
*THE DAY BRIDGER GOT HIS NAME (with Lois H. Varvel), Vintage Point Press, 2002 (DoWriteEditing@gmail.com)
* THE BRIDGE WE BUILT: THE STORY OF YANKTON'S MERIDIAN BRIDGE (with Lois H. Varvel), Vintage Point Press, 2001 - winner of Historic South Dakota Foundation 2002 Preservation Achievement Award for Education/Media (DoWriteEditing@gmail.com)