Services provided

I work on nonfiction for general audiences, providing copyediting, line editing, and proofreading. I also draw on my many years in nonprofits to help NPOs and small businesses share their stories authentically on their websites and in their newsletters.

Examples of nonfiction include scholarly and nonscholarly articles; autobiographical essays or memoirs; theses (with university permission); narrative nonfiction; and blog content. I am skilled at formatting footnotes and bibliographies and will create bibliographies from footnotes. I can also help you create custom GPTs that will do repetitive tasks or writing for you.

I primarily use Chicago Manual of Style or publisher house style but am able to provide light editing in APA style. I am familiar with many CMSs and email marketing apps.

Because many people have historically been underpaid for their work, some companies and organizations now list salaries along with job posts. I extend the practice to this website. I charge by the project, page, word, or hour depending on the work. Rates are roughly $50/hour or 5¢/word for for-profit clients; nonprofit clients and academics may expect $40/hour or 4¢/word. These rates are in alignment with those of the Editorial Freelancers Association. (I am a member.)

I hope that we can discuss pay before we begin working together—just as copyediting is a discussion that we will have as the work continues. Once we are in agreement about terms, I will provide a contract so that there are no surprises.

I offer new clients roughly an hour of work for free, to see if we are a good fit for each other.

Editing

Copyediting

Copyediting involves flagging mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and word choice, as well as correcting the style of footnotes and bibliographies.

Developmental editing

Developmental editing looks at the structure of a work; it precedes other editing. At this time, I do not offer developmental editing.

Line editing

When I line edit, I look for the technical mistakes mentioned above, but I also consider if ideas are presented in the clearest way possible, or if there's a stronger word that would convey the same meaning. I propose possible alternatives to what is written for you to consider.

Proofreading

Proofreading looks typing mistakes like repeated words or missing spaces between words; for layout errors like inconsistent fonts for headings or irregular spacing between paragraphs; and for design oversights like repeated colors in tables.

The process

Yet there is a definite change in the air here. Although Worcester as the “Paris of the ’80s” seemed laughable at the time, there is something real and almost tangible about the potential Renaissance that Worcester is facing. New restaurants, many sourcing locally grown food, are opening up all the time.

~Text by Joyce Mandell

Original content

Yet there is a definite change in the air here. Although it seemed laughable to call Worcester as the “Paris of the ’80s,” seemed laughable at the time, there is something real and almost tangible about the potential rRenaissance that the city is now facing. New restaurants, many sourcing locally grown food, are opening up all the time.

~by Greil Stuart Editing

Proposed edits

The results

“As a writer, I thought your copyediting excellent: precise, minimal, curious.”

~Lawrence Rosenwald, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Wellesley College

  • A HUGE thank you! You have made this piece better and, unlike AI edits, I still feel it is my work. Thank you for showing me how you can outshine an AI bot, connecting both with words and with the person who writes those words. What a gift you have for this!

    ~Joyce Mandell, PhD

  • I am sure now whom I’d ask if I have another article to submit in English. I am so happy to have found you—conscientious (and friendly!) copy editors are a great rarity.

    ~Daria Vakhrushova, MA, Munich University

  • It was a great pleasure to work with Ms. Lefkowitz. She has a sharp eye for details of style, grammar, and content. Her edits, corrections, and suggestions substantially improved my manuscript while preserving my voice. I have nothing but praise for her work and would recommend her wholeheartedly.

    Boris Draznin, MD, PhD

  • I learned more from Rachel Lefkowitz’s review of my writing than I could have imagined. She helped me improve the quality of my work and present a more professional manuscript.

    ~Michele Knapp, MFA

  • You did a fantastic job proofreading our article. We are going build your decisions and proposals into our organization's style sheet. Thank you for your careful work!

    ~Anonymous

  • While the skills of editing can be taught and learned, editorial intuition is a gift, one that Rachel Lefkowitz demonstrated from the outset of her copyediting course at the University of California, Berkeley.

    ~ Anne Hill, Editor, Writer, Teacher

  • Thanks to Rachel Lefkowitz, whose eye for detail facilitated the mammoth task of pulling together the bibliography.

    ~Leila Easa, MFA, and Jennifer Stager, PhD

  • You found just the right level of copyediting for us, and your explanations have taught us how avoid the same mistakes in the future.

    ~Anonymous

  • My thanks to the copy editor for their careful reading of the text and extremely helpful comments and corrections.

    ~Naomi Brenner, PhD, The Ohio State University

  • Thank you for all your attention to detail and for stepping me through this process. I have learned so much from you, and it has been a pleasure to work with you.

    ~L. Pia Shaw, PhD

  • Do you write this many Comments for all your clients? They made me feel as if we were having a conversation about my work.

    ~Penny Thompson

Have a project in mind?

Lets work together