Words from Freelance Clients
Jen is a masterful editor. She is as talented at offering line edits and tightening language as she is at providing substantive and structural feedback. She also happens to be warm, engaging, efficient, timely, insightful, and wise — in short, a joy to work with. Any writer would be lucky to have Jen's guidance, and any text will be far stronger for it.
— Rachel B. Vogelstein, co-author with Meighan Stone of Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women’s Rights (PublicAffairs, July 2021)
Jen is a highly skilled editor, and her support to our book on Syria was invaluable. We particularly appreciated her flexibility, sharp eye, thoughtful suggestions, and masterful wordsmithing. We were very impressed with the quality of her work and would not hesitate to work with her again.
— Jonathan Whittall, director of the Analysis Department, Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, and co-editor of Everybody’s War: The Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2021)
Working with Jen is magical. I’m not sure there’s any other way to describe it. Her editorial process makes me a better writer — guiding me with probing questions, pushing me to go deeper. Her ability to hone structure while elevating rhythm and narrative is astounding. And her line-by-line comments make my writing clear and succinct, while keeping my voice intact. She is equal parts architect and master craftswoman, taking the same incredible care with a messy first draft at 30,000 feet as she does with each word in a final-polish edit. In addition to her vast skills as writer, reader, thinker, and champion of literary dreams, Jen is a lovely human, and working with her has been a pleasure.
— Sarah Berns, author of "Finding Home in the West — by Smokejumping" (Outside Online, November 2018)
Jen has a jeweler’s eye for structure, style, and story — and a virtuoso’s ear for sound, color, and rhythm. For me, her deft counsel was pivotal as I shaped my story and worked to bring its characters to life. I can’t imagine a writer who wouldn’t be illuminated and energized by Jen’s guidance and clear, elegant critiques.
— John Hall, author of Man of War, a novel-in-progress (2019)
I’ve had the privilege of having Jen as my instructor at the University of Chicago’s Graham School and as a personal editor. Jen has helped me take my writing to the next level, particularly by showing me how to better structure my essays and polish my prose. I published my first essay recently, which would not have occurred but for her guidance and encouragement.
— Anne Glaser, author of “Wow” (Mothers Always Write, December 2018)
It was my great fortune to connect with Jen in the final months before submission of my manuscript, as I was pushing for the book’s publication to coincide with the centennial anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York. Jen’s prompt turnaround and deft, thoughtful edits were invaluable. Plus, she’s a delight.
— Brooke Kroeger, author, The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote (Excelsior Editions/SUNY Press, September 2017)
Jen, with her steady hand and literary mind, has helped elevate my work, highlighting strengths and weaknesses while offering forthright but gentle feedback and possible solutions that match voice, flow, and narrative form. Jen digs into a story’s granular details while framing them within the broad context of a book’s wider arc. Her editing is like a finely threaded safety net, and her contributions have informed my creative process.
— Finbarr O’Reilly, co-author, Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War (Viking/Penguin/Random House, August 2017)
Jen is an absolute pro. She has the ability to work from the aerial view, ensuring all the points you’re making are as punchy and profound as they can be for your particular audience, and to zoom in on the tiniest grammatical and punctuation details. She’s also a tremendously reliable communicator: knowing when deadlines are, checking in to see how things are going, and maintaining a steadfast commitment to perfection before hitting “publish.” She’s not just another set of eyes, she’s another brain — and one that’s superior to many, mine included.
— Jennifer Brandel, co-founder of Hearken and Zebras Unite, founder of Curious City
Jen far exceeded my expectations, going above and beyond to make significant improvements to my novel — not just the expected modifications related to grammar and sentence structure, but also to the strength of the voice and the quality of detail. I was lucky to have Jen to help improve this story. She played a critical role in making it publication-ready, and I would strongly recommend her services to both new and experienced writers.
— Steve Wiley, author, The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan (Lavender Line Press, 2017)
Jen is a gem of an editor: a partner to a writer, rather than a critic. I hired her for a full read-through of a fiction manuscript, and her comments were so valuable, I asked her to do line and style edits for specific parts of the novel as well. What’s supremely helpful is that she shares ideas along with her edits — she’s a “generative” editor, which is hard to find. Working with her, the process of editing becomes energizing and exciting, rather than a hurdle.
— Mollie West, author, organization designer, and leadership coach