Your Words, Only Better

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s an advertisement about halfway down the right-hand column on this page. It’s promoting the copy-editing services of Charles Smyth, a longtime Seattle friend of mine and an expert wordsmith.

I encouraged Charlie to take out this ad, because I know that a considerable number of people who read The Rap Sheet on a regular basis are authors. And since publishing companies no longer offer the expert copy-editing services they once did, responsibility for ensuring the quality of one’s work has fallen increasingly on the authors themselves. (People who take the e-book route are even more dependent on freelance copy-editing assistance.) Finding superior copy editors--those with the skills you require and the snobbishness you could do without--can be difficult.

I’ve known Charlie for--wow!--more than 20 years now, and I have hired him as a copy editor for several magazines under my supervision. He’s not only meticulous about making sure that written work is edited on time and without errors, but he’s extremely conscientious about maintaining an author’s style and tone.

If happen to be in the market for professional copy-editing services, I can recommend Charles Smyth without hesitation. Contact him at wordsmyth44@qwestoffice.net.