Publishers Marketplace: Kathryn Jackson Fallon

Experienced writer and editor, former Time Magazine journalist with an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Columbia University, at your service.

Services offered:

Book Doctoring
Developmental Editing
Substantive Editing
Editorial Letter (Manuscript Critique)
Line editing
Ghost Writing
Press Releases
Copywriting

Singular expertise working with financial, business and economic text. Expert proficiency working with non-native speakers of English.

I edit with the writer’s style in mind and have an instinct for uncovering inaccuracies, inconsistencies, continuity issues or potential legal ramifications. Extensive experience interviewing — and working on stories about — noted figures in business, design, fashion, politics, entertainment, lifestyle, music and other fields. Skilled at working with any style — literary, accessible literary, upmarket, commercial, advertising, creative.

Adept at using Track Changes in Word, PowerPoint, InCopy, WordPress, Google Docs, Photoshop and other formats and editing tools. Familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style, AP, AMA, APA, New York Times, and others.

I am professional, considerate, imperturbable and I never miss deadlines.

Current or recent projects include writing highly descriptive copy for an independent business that caters to universities and other prestigious organizations; editing a 500-page upmarket literary fiction book about to be submitted as a commercial novel to mainstream publishers by a leading international literary agent; re-writing and editing a weekly financial column by an economist; Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race, which involved deep research as well as substantive editing; and a lengthy financial how-to book written by investment guru Sheldon Jacobs published by Wiley Books.

Recommendations:

“I also appreciate the many contributions made by Kathryn Fallon, the Editor’s Editor, whose careful research and thoughtful editing were invaluable. With our Rock Star Book Team—one of the finest teams I have ever been a part of—I felt like the skipper of a winning boat.”
-- Dennis N.T. Perkins, author Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race

“I highly recommend Kathryn Fallon for a wide variety of editorial jobs.
In spring 2011, I hired Kathryn to edit a book I was writing. Good editors are hard to come by. They need to make corrections and improve copy without losing the author’s intent. This Kathryn did with great skill.
Over the years I have employed a number of editors. (I have published 23 books.) I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that Kathryn was the best of all these people. She will deliver for any organization smart enough to hire her.”
-- Sheldon Jacobs
Former Editor and Publisher, The No-Load Fund Investor newsletter (the highest-rated Mutual Funds advisor in the nation for ten straight years)

“I am very happy to recommend Kathryn Fallon. She edits my weekly economic reports and occasionally my economic papers. Her editing is accurate and she also makes constructive suggestions for improving my reports. She is really a perfect editor especially for non-native speakers of English and busy writers. Even though I have a demanding writing schedule, she has never complained and has always edited on time and she has never missed a deadline. I totally trust her professional editing ability as well as her work attitude. I am always eager to see her edited versions of my reports."
-- Dr. Yuzo Kumasaka
Chief Economist

"During my years at Time magazine, I and the other Senior Editors were singularly impressed with Kathryn Fallon’s intelligence, creativity and work ethic. She was responsible for researching, reporting and writing numerous Time pieces in Business, Nation, Science and the Arts, as well as widely reprinted covers and feature articles. Over the years I have recommended her to numerous colleagues and they have always been impressed. Kathryn seems to me ideal for your needs."
--- Stefan Kanfer, Former Senior Editor, Time; Author, Lecturer and Visiting Professor

My editing philosophy:

"Editing should be...a counseling rather than a collaborating task. 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?' and avoid 'How can I show him how I would write it, if it were my piece?'"
--- James Thurber

"There is a difference between a book of two hundred pages from the very beginning, and a book of two hundred pages which is the result of an original eight hundred pages. The six hundred are there. Only you don't see them."
---Elie Wiesel

Rates upon request