HOW IT STARTED

I began editing while pursuing my BA in Philosophy back in 2009. During my studies and after graduation, I worked on every sort of text you can imagine! From novels to short stories, screenplays, theatre scripts, academic articles, undergraduate and graduate written assignments (term papers, dissertations), university application materials (personal essays, CVs, resumés, research proposals), art exhibition blurbs, petitions, and legal paperwork. You name it, I probably reviewed it!

HOW IT WENT

Eventually, I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to be mentored by the world-renowned Art Historian and celebrated contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Sir John Richardson. Under his supervision, I learned to apply meticulous line and copy edits, received structural training, and gained valuable insight into the publishing industry. After the (one-year) internship, I went on to earn my MA in Philosophy, where I used what I’d learned from the internship to spearhead a team of writers at the WIPJ, an academic journal dedicated to promoting the work of women and gender minorities in philosophy.

HOW IT’S GOING

Over time, I’ve discovered two things about myself: first, that I prefer substantive editing (developmental and line editing) to mechanical editing (copyediting and proofreading), and second, that I enjoy working with fiction more than I enjoy working with nonfiction. In light of this, I’ve decided to specialise—retiring my nonfiction and mechanical service offerings in favour of exclusively providing substantive edits for works of fiction.

WHAT’S NEXT

To ensure my edits are of the highest quality, I’ve completed:

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Developmental Editing of Fiction I (Beginner) certificate.

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Developmental Editing of Fiction II (Intermediate) certificate.

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Developmental Editing of Fiction III (Advanced) certificate.

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Editing Romance certificate.

• The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading’s (CIEP) Art of Querying certificate.

• Louise Harnby’s (Chair of The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, CIEP) Start Crime Fiction Editing certificate.

• Liminal Pages’ Tea and Commas: The Foundations of Line and Copy-Editing Fiction certificate. (This course is officially recognised by The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, CIEP.)

• Liminal Pages’ Coffee and Clauses: The Art of Line and Copy-Editing Fiction certificate. (This course is officially recognised by The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, CIEP.)

• New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts’ Modern Screenwriting certificate.

I’ve also attended:

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Innovative Writing, Innovative Editing: Offering Feedback on Work that Takes Risks webinar.

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Understanding and Explaining Your Editing Decisions webinar.

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Editorial Tools to Counter Sexism and Transphobia webinar.

• The Editorial Freelancers Association’s (EFA) Coaching Authors on Narrative Distance and Point of View webinar.

• How to Hook an Agent: Queries and Beyond! webinar presented by Katie Shea Boutillier and hosted by Writer’s Digest.

• Things I Wish I Knew Before I Debuted webinar presented by Kailee Pedersen and hosted by Writer’s Digest.

• Writing the Taboo webinar presented by Richard Thomas and hosted by Writer’s Digest.

• Rude, Bold and Brazen: How Attitude Builds Strong Characters webinar presented by Jordan Rosenfeld and hosted by Writer’s Digest.

• The Physiology of Fear webinar presented by Tim Waggoner at the 5th Annual Horror Writing Virtual Conference hosted by Writer’s Digest.

My academic qualifications:

• BA (Magna cum laude) Philosophy from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia. Dissertation in Aesthetics: on embodied and disembodied cognitive models in the writing of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Réne Descartes.

• MA Philosophy from The New School for Social Research, New York City, USA. Dissertation in Ethics: an examination of the anarchic, anti-authoritarian ethical proposals of Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault.

Additionally, I’m currently enrolled in:

• To be updated!

Moving forward, I intend to continue updating my skills with certificate courses from the EFA, the CIEP and various universities. My dream is to work with hundreds of talented authors from all over the world!

LET’S WORK TOGETHER!

If you’re a writer or a publisher, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at noumenonedits@gmail.com or via the form on this website!