Topnotch editing for writers, publishers, media companies, nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations
Are you….
A publisher or media company looking for an accomplished editor for books, journals, and other publications, print or digital?
A writer looking for a talented, supportive — and affordable — editor for your book, book proposal, articles, academic papers, website, or other writing projects?
A nonprofit/non-governmental agency seeking an editor for reports, white papers, policy analyses, brochures, and other informational or promotional materials?
I am George de Stefano, founder and principal of GdS Editorial Services. I have 30+ years of experience in media and journalism, academic publishing, corporate communications, and public and private agencies. My services include line editing (language and paragraph-by-paragraph organization of content, and rewriting), copy editing (spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, usage) and developmental editing (structural work, including rewriting, on an existing manuscript or development of a new one).
I also provide manuscript evaluation services, as a first step in a substantive/developmental edit.
My subject matter expertise is broad, encompassing social science, the humanities, popular culture, social and political issues, health and public health. I am not intimidated by technical material.
I edit nonfiction books for major trade and academic publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Hatchette Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, and Perseus.
I also edit for nongovernmental organizations and think tanks.
Since I established GdS Editorial Services in 2013, I have edited:
- Books (nonfiction)
- Book proposals
- Articles (journalism)
- Academic articles
- Essays
- Policy analyses and white papers
- Reports
- Online content
My subject matter expertise includes:
- History (US, Latin American, European, and Middle Eastern)
- Arts and culture
- Pop culture
- Biographies
- Social science
- Politics
- Social issues
- Health and public health
- International relations
- Gender/sexuality studies
- American studies
- Ethnic studies
I work with various style guides, mainly the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) but also MLA, AP, New York Times, as well as UK (Butcher’s/Cambridge). I edit and proofread using Microsoft’s “track changes” function and Adobe Acrobat’s editing tools.
I have a Certificate in Editing from Poynter News University/American Copy Editors Society and am a member of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES), the Professional Editors Network (PEN), the Editorial Freelancers Association(EFA), and the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC).
My editing credits include:
Hatchette Publishing Group
• This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality. Peter Pomerantsev
• “Can We All Get Along?”: Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics. Paula McClain
Perseus Books
• Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest. K.K. Downing with Mark Eglinton
• Latin American Politics and Development. Wiarda and Kline
• The Modern History of Iraq: Fourth Edition. Phebe Marr and Ibrahim al-Marashi
• US Constitutional Law, Vols. 1 and 2. Rossum and Tarr
The Nation Books
• In Days to Come: A New Hope for Israel. Avram Burg
Cambridge Scholars
• Ralph F. Turner, a Criminal Forensic Scientist Pioneer. Frederick L. Honhart
Balone Publishing
- By Any Means Necessary: Veterans Talk Torture in the War on Terror. John Tsukayama
Cambridge University Press
Editor:
• Law and the Economics of Possession. Yun-chien Chang
• Fatherhood and the British Working Class, 1865–1914. Julie-Marie Strange
• French Colonial Soldiers in German Captivity during World War II. Raffael Scheck
• Reading William Blake. Saree Makdisi
• Parliamentary Bills of Rights: The Experiences of New Zealand and United Kingdom. Janet L. Hiebert and James B. Kelly
• The International Law of Disaster Relief. David D. Caron, General Editor
• Choosing in Groups: Analytical Politics Revisited. Michael C. Munger
• Legislator Success in Fragmented Congresses in Argentina: Plurality Cartels, Minority Presidents, and Lawmaking. Ernesto Calvo
• Covering the United States Supreme Court in the Digital Age. Richard Davis
• Philosophy of Microbiology. Maureen A. O’Malley
Proofreader:
• Introduction to Accelerator Dynamics. Stephen Peggs, Todd Satogata
• Ferdinand II, Counter-Reformation Emperor, 1578–1637. Robert Bireley
• Inferences during Reading. Edward J. O’Brien, Anne E. Cook, Robert F. Lorch, Jr.
• European Condominium Law. Van der Merwe
• Making Religion Safe for Democracy. J. Judd Owen
• Global Environmental Constitutionalism. Jim May and Erin Daly
Palgrave Macmillan
• European Bank Restructuring During the Crises. Malgorzata Iwanicz-Drozdowska (Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions)
• Navigational Enterprises in Europe and its Empires, 1730–1850. Richard Dunn and Rebekah Higgitt, eds.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
• Fact sheets, analyses, backgrounders, articles, and essays on political, economic, and security issues throughout the world
Action against Hunger (nongovernmental organization)
• Shifting gender roles in Northern Uganda: An analysis of violence against women in post-conflict areas
United Nations World Food Program
• WFP Scoping Studies: Country Reports (Tajikistan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan Republic)
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
• NYC Vital Signs: Hearing Problems and Headphone Use in New York City; editor
• NYC Vital Signs: Promotion of Tobacco Products in New York City Retailers; editor
• Active Design: Guide for Community Organizations; editor
• HIV, Gay Men and Other MSM: What You Need to Know; writer
• How to Adopt a Shop: A Guide to Working with Your Local Food Retailer; editor
• Living Healthy, 2009-2011 (NYC Health Department Triennial Report); editor
Services

Copy Editing
Spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, usage

Line Editing
Language and paragraph-by-paragraph organization of content and re-writing

Substantive Editing
Structural editing of an existing work or development of a new one

