Kristie L. Reilly

Writer & Editor

Editors who can improve a text without hacking it to pieces may just be the quietest heroes in publishing.

Developmental Editing

I can help you conceptualize, draft, and successfully complete your manuscript. Find out more about my work with authors.

Consulting

Need editorial feedback, pitching strategies, ideas for publications to target, or to find a happy home for a book—proposal included? Let’s reach your publishing goals.

Writing

I specialize in making weighty and technical topics—science, politics, social justice, philosophy, medicine, public health—accessible and compelling.

Recent projects

How do we listen to silence?

 

Congratulations to Berenice Malka Fisher, whose moving, meditative Unhappy Silences was recently published by Political Animal Press. It was a joy to help Fisher, NYU professor emerita, shepherd this discipline-defying book from developmental edit through book proposal to publication.

Therapy and politics

A client recently published on Psych Central after developmental editing and coaching with me believes therapy shouldn’t leave politics out of the picture, as the field is wont to do.

He writes: “How do we cope when we ourselves are feeling dehumanized from many directions? How do we act as supportive allies to others facing it? Psychotherapists urgently need a more public discussion about the role they can play in suggesting answers.”

Explore his thought-provoking piece.

It’s been a delight working with you. You’re so thorough, yet respectful of the author’s voice—authors are always pleased with the editing you’ve done.
—Editor, MIT Press

Grounding Social Sciences in Cognitive Sciences, an 850-page volume from MIT Press, explored applications of neuroscience to diverse fields including anthropology, sociology, politics, religion, and philosophy. I project edited the manuscript.

“REALLY good editing,” commented contributor Dr. Kristin Monroe, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at UC Irvine’s School of Social Sciences, regarding my work on her chapter exploring the philosophy of identity.

“Kristie Reilly did a wonderful job with copyediting—the book benefited immensely from her input.” —Lee Wengraf, author, Extracting Profit: Imperialism, Neoliberalism, and the New Scramble for Africa (acknowledgements, p. vii), Haymarket Books

Until I wrote the text for my first photography book, I was unaware of the valuable service a copyeditor provides. Your editing skills, your extensive knowledge of punctuation styles, along with an unerring ability to ask the right questions, greatly enhanced the quality and clarity of my work. Thank you!
—Emily Grimes, author of On My Mother’s Side

Who is your audience? A good editor will help you speak directly to them.

“Many thanks for all your help. I’m so happy to share this experience with like-minded professionals. Your feedback and sage wisdom were invaluable.” —Colleen Burns, Restore Body Balance, with Cambridge Editors

The tendency of the writer-editor to collaborate is natural, but he should say to himself, How can I help this writer to say it better in his own style?

—James Thurber

Read more about my work.

“Drafts—our kids are learning the first draft means nothing. You’re going to do seven, 10 drafts. That’s writing, it’s not failure, it’s not the teacher not liking you because it’s all marked up in red. When you get to be a good writer, you mark your own stuff in red, and you rewrite, and you rewrite, and you rewrite. That’s what writing is.” —Michelle Obama

Excellent editing refuses to call attention to itself.

Developmental, structural, copy, or line editing? It’s important to be clear with your editor which levels you’re seeking so that you get the help you need rather than needless work you don’t. Here’s a brief run-down of the types.

Get in touch: communicate.

  • MIT Press

  • Haymarket Books logo
  • YourCareEverywhere

The Style Guide

Even Ernest Hemingway had help from Gertrude Stein.

Get in touch: send an email.

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