Editing TLC

Re: Letter of reference for JOYCE GILMOUR 

I have known and worked with Joyce Gilmour since the winter months of 2006, when Rain Publishing contracted her to copyedit my first novel, Veracity. Over the next several months, I exchanged countless emails with Ms. Gilmour, constantly being impressed by her sharp eye and keen professionalism. As the years have gone by, and I completed my second novel, as well as a collection of poetry, she has become the sole copyeditor that I trust with my work.

I think that Ms. Gilmour’s greatest strength lies in her dedication to learning and her eagerness to look up and inform herself on the subtlest nuances of the English language, something particularly important for me as a Canadian, where the spelling and grammar isn’t always consistent with that of her homeland in the United States. She adapts to it all effortlessly, catching the slightest of errors and discrepancies with the greatest of ease, and I have no doubt that she would be able to do the same with any in-house parameters or style. 

Often, while working in a professional environment as a copyeditor myself, I run into questions, concerns, or sometimes just niggling doubts that have me contacting Ms. Gilmour for the right answers. She is always there, always willing to research, is impeccably organized, and utterly dedicated in every way to the perfection of the English language.

I am completely confident that she would make a very strong addition to any editing team or publishing house. And while I wish her luck in her future career, I know that I’ll still be in contact with her, and confidently sending her my work, for many years to come.  

Sincerely yours,

Mark Lavorato 

(Author of Veracity)

Re:  Reference Letter for Joyce Gilmour

I am the author of Mirages and Flashbacks: Reflections of a Front-Line Gulf War Marine.  The book was edited by Joyce Gilmour. 

The first thing that impressed me about Mrs. Gilmour was her writer-editor/ team-concept method of editing.  I would email her sections of the manuscript which she downloaded, printed, edited and express-mailed back to me.  She not only made accurate corrections in the text, but added helpful comments, notes and questions in the margins which caused me to think – and led to a bantering of ideas back and forth between us – about how to make some sentences and paragraphs more understandable and concise and make my work a better book as a whole.  I would thereafter make the corrections and send her an email responding to the comments and notes and answering her questions, often submitting to her questions of my own.  She would usually return my emails within a matter of hours and never more than a day or so later. 

The second thing – and equally as important – with which I was impressed was her editing abilities.  She caught even the most miniscule of grammatical and language-usage errors and assisted me with combining paragraphs and rewriting awkward sentences.  She also helped me with big-picture things such as ensuring events were in the right sequence, that disjointed parts were reworked so that they flowed, and that paragraphs and sections would make sense to targeted readers.  She did all of this while working within my writing style and without altering any of the themes of the book.   

I was very pleased with Mrs. Gilmour’s efforts.  I highly recommend her as an editor and I intend to retain her for my future books.

Very Truly Yours,

Philip Lawrence

(Author of Mirages and Flashbacks: Reflections of a Front-Line Gulf War Marine)

Re:  Reference Letter for Joyce Gilmour 

As a local Lexington, Kentucky author who has used the editing services of Mrs. Joyce M. Gilmour, I offer my highest recommendation as to the quality of her work.  To date, I have written two books, Returning Son and The Papaw Diary, and Mrs. Gilmour assisted me with the editing of both.  These books may be found in the worldwide book distribution system, from the U.S.A. to Russia.  They are print-on-demand publications managed by AuthorHouse, the world's largest such system.

As I readied my first book for publication, I employed the publisher's editing services.  I was extremely displeased, discovering it was nothing more than a Word(TM) editing program with no true human interaction with my text.  When I retained the services of Mrs. Gilmour, I saw just how much the programmed editing lacked, and how importanit it was to have someone actually discuss syntax, grammar, style, and even thematic development with me personally.

With over thirty years of teaching experience, I could not have found an editor with better qualifications in grammar and in recognizing clarity or lack therof in the written word.  When Joyce showed me all of the errors undetected by the editor assigned by the publisher, i had her finish the job on my biography, Returning Son that the publisher left undone.  I then hired Mrs. Gilmour as my full-time editor for my children's book, The Papaw Diary.  She is currently editing my third book, another biography.

I hope to retain her for years to come.  Her work is sterling and response time is extremely fast considering the whole-text review she gives to my manuscripts.  In sum, I could not be more pleased with her work.

Sincerely,

Dennis W. Shepherd  (Author and Attorney)

(Author of Returning Son and The Papaw Diary)

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