About Jill

 

 

At Book Expo in Chicago, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson signs Jill’s copy of The Politics of Truth, which he wrote and Jill worked on.

Jill R. Hughes has been active in publishing for 18 years. Her approach is simple and direct, with a reliance on what she considers the five guiding principles of quality editing work: (1) maintaining the author’s voice, (2) improving readability and flow,  (3) checking facts, (4) using a keen eye for detail, and (5) playing the reader’s advocate.

An avowed generalist, Ms. Hughes applies these principles to every project: from a scholarly text to an author’s first novel, from a Web site loaded with technical jargon to a play written entirely in a cockney dialect . . . and everything in between.

Ms. Hughes considers herself among the luckiest of people in that she has a passion for her work. Even when she was a child, she enjoyed playing “teacher” with her red pencil and often tutored her real-life classmates in reading and writing. She also believes that her past pursuits—as a K-12 educator, a marketing professional, and a professional book reviewer—have equipped her well for the profession she now enjoys.

It is the role of the editor to improve the written word wherever possible. To some, that means making grammatical or technical changes that do little to enhance communication. A truly gifted editor enables writing to achieve its purpose with the greatest possible impact. For Jill, that is the editor’s mark.

 

Curious about rates? It’s difficult to quote a project without seeing the actual text to be edited, but if you’d like an idea of typical price ranges for various publishing-related work, please visit the Editorial Freelancers Association web site at http://the-efa.org/res/rates.php.