My name is Brittany Dowdle, and I’m a freelance editor with over ten years’ experience in the publishing industry. Since opening Word Cat Editorial Services in 2011, I’ve edited the work of best-selling traditionally published authors, award-winning indie authors, and best-selling international authors.

Services: The primary services I offer are copyediting, proofreading, and cold reading. I provide manuscript evaluations on a case-by-case basis.

Focus: My preferred fiction genres are SF/F, historical fiction, mystery/cozies, and romance, but I also have substantial experience with nonfiction—from memoir to quirky pop culture to motorcycle history to the economics of the Star Trek universe.

Editing Style: I’m proficient in Chicago style and Merriam-Webster, and I have extensive experience creating and using detailed style sheets (for series, historical fiction, and other complex projects). I understand industry standards and best practices, and I edit to ensure consistency and maintain the author’s voice. In particular, publishing clients appreciate my solution-oriented queries that make it easy for authors to implement revisions. I believe there’s tangible value in creating a positive editing experience for authors, and I enjoy being part of that process. In my experience, the best editing combines balance and deliberation, passion and purpose.

Special Interests:
I’m a founding member of the Editorial Freelancers Association’s Diversity Initiative and helped design the Welcome Program, acting as its codirector in 2019–2020. Having experienced firsthand the challenges of networking as a freelance editor (as well as helping new editors find their community and develop their businesses), I collaborated with fellow editor Linda Ruggeri to write Networking for Freelance Editors and share what we’ve learned with the editing community (www.networkingforeditors.com).

Professional memberships:
• Editorial Freelancers Association
• ACES: The Society for Editing
• PEN (Professional Editors Network)
• Bay Area Editors’ Forum

Education:

• Graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Georgia with a degree in English
• The Author-Editor Clinic: Developmental Editing
• Editorial Freelancers Association: Developmental Editing series (three-course series); Book Mapping for Developmental Editors; Line Editing; etc.
• Independent Study
• Poynter Institute coursework
• Franklin Covey Training: Focus Workshop
• Editorial Internship: Peachtree Publishers (2006)

Clients Include:

• Macmillan
• Kensington
• Girl Friday Productions
• Select corporate clients, including: AGCO, SiteOne
• Independent authors

Let’s talk about how I can help make your latest project ready for its readers.