Max Gordon

EDITING

Attention fiction writers: I enjoy and excel at all forms of line editing (also called substantive editing), but I'm passionate about line editing fiction—about helping authors shape and polish their diamonds in the rough until they shine without interfering with the writers' natural brilliance. Maxwell Perkins is my hero and touchstone.

Need an excellent editor for nonfiction? I have extensive experience in a full range of fields, from academic to marketing to technical manuscripts, from squibs to full-length books. My preferred bible is the Chicago Manual of Style, but I am fluent in most other usage styles. 

WRITING

Whether I start with a blank screen or with a dog-eared stack of someone else's rough-draft efforts, and whether I'm writing, editing, researching, proofing, or reviewing, I'm in my element. All my work is original, engaging, carefully researched, and well written. I've earned my living as a freelancer for decades. On freelance work sites you'll find that I consistently earn top ratings, glowing employer referrals, and numerous repeat customers.

From attention-grabbing headlines to feature articles to full-length books, I’ve written and edited millions of words, but these are my strengths*:

• performing CPR on lifeless manuscripts

• being given ANY topic, a target word count, and free rein to create something that will capture and hold a reader's interest (no small feat in these days when "readers" seem to be an endangered species)

• manuscript analysis/critique (my specialty is fiction)

Click HERE for current résumé

*After my own fiction and nonfiction writing projects, of course…