Deanna Hoak

I’m a freelance copyeditor specializing in fantasy and science fiction. I excel at ferreting out inconsistencies while maintaining an author’s style and voice, and the authors I copyedit often request me for their subsequent books. In 2007, I became the first copyeditor ever nominated for a World Fantasy Award.

I’ve been in publishing for fifteen years, hold a BA and an MA in English (concentrations in composition and linguistics, respectively), and have handled books ranging from young adult fiction to complex, four-color college textbooks with massive art and photo logs. I’ve worked in almost every genre.

SF/F novels I have copyedited have been finalists for (and have sometimes won) the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, Golden Spur, Locus, Philip K. Dick, John W. Campbell Memorial, British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy awards.

Some of the authors whose books I have copyedited include Toni Anzetti (Ann Tonsor Zeddies), Fiona Avery, Steven Barnes, Stephen Baxter, Michael Blumlein, Keith Brooke, James Clemens, Storm Constantine, Josh Conviser, John Darnton, Tobias Druitt, Jeanne DuPrau, David and Leigh Eddings, David Louis Edelman, Charles Coleman Finlay, Gaelen Foley, Alan Dean Foster, Judith French, Janeane Garofalo, Kathleen O’Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear, Barbara Hambly, Tara K. Harper, Nalo Hopkinson, Greg Keyes, Jay Lake, Scott Lynch, Scott Mackay, Wil McCarthy, Ian McDonald, China Miéville, Michael Moorcock, Kim Newman, Cherie Priest, Chris Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, R. A. Salvatore, Charles Saunders, Martin Sketchley, Dean Wesley Smith, Jenna Solitaire, Wen Spencer, Ben Stiller, Matt Stover, N. Lee Wood, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

I’ve been carving time from my copyediting schedule to do my own writing, as well; I recently completed a fantasy novel and am in the process of revising it.