Absolutely! Before I went freelance, I spent years as an in-house content marketer at HR tech companies, including Greenhouse, where I managed the blog and The Modern Recruiter newsletter. Since then, I’ve written for B2B SaaS companies like Udemy Business, Gem, Culture Amp, Miro, and Productboard.

I also work with experts in the product world, like Teresa Torres and Petra Wille, and I’ve been the go-to content person for the Product at Heart conference for the past four years. I love learning a new subject, and my favorite part of the job is turning complex ideas into something clear and enjoyable to read.

Do you work with in-house teams and their style guides?

Yes! Having been on the in-house side myself, I know how much it helps when a freelancer follows your style guide, brand voice, and processes from the very first draft. Send over whatever you’ve got—style guides, briefs, past posts you love—and I’ll use it as my starting point.

And if you don’t have a style guide yet, that’s okay, too. I’m happy to help you create one (Oxford comma optional, but highly recommended).

If you’re committing to publishing high-quality written content on a regular basis, that’s a good sign that you need an editor. Another way of thinking about it is: Do you want to make your writing clearer or more effective? If so, working with an editor can help you achieve that.

You might be thinking, “Can’t I just use an LLM like ChatGPT or Claude to edit my work?” Sure, you could do that, but here are a few reasons why it makes sense to work with a human editor:

• Human editors provide better results. According to Orbit Media’s 2026 research, companies that use a formal editing process are 1.6 times more likely to report strong results than those that don’t.
• Human editors can keep your voice so your writing still sounds like you. You might notice that a lot of writing these days sounds the same as everything else. That’s because LLMs tend to use the same words and structures over and over and over and… you get the picture. When I’m editing, I encourage writers to share their personal stories, insights, and yes, their personalities in their writing. My goal is to help you sound like yourself; just a little more polished.
• Human editors bring real, lived experience to their work. I have always been a huge reader (because I love being transported to other times, places, and experiences), and that comes into play when I edit. As an editor, I put myself in the reader’s shoes. What are the questions they’re likely to have? Where do they need more detail? My humanity and empathy are what differentiate me from a robot editor.

I’ll answer this question with a question back to you: Would you rather do more of the writing yourself, or would you rather just come up with the ideas and outsource the writing to someone else? 

If you like the work of putting words on the page and you just want someone who can help you with formatting, structure, voice, consistency, storytelling, etc., then you’re looking for an editor. 

If you like coming up with the ideas but you find the process of getting them onto the page to be tedious and unrewarding, you’re looking for a ghostwriter. 

Good news: I’m happy to do both! And if you’re still not sure which one is best for you, we can talk it over and come up with an approach you feel happy with!

I want to self-publish a book. Where do I start?

Congratulations! Writing a book is a major project and many people never get beyond the initial idea of saying they want to do it. Depending on where you are in the process, an editor can step in and help you, even if you’re planning to self-publish. Here are a few of the ways editors can work with self-published authors:

• Developmental editing: When you’re in the early stages of researching, planning, and writing, an editor can do developmental editing, which involves reviewing your work and giving you feedback to help you shape your book’s direction. This might involve things like prompting you to add more detail or rethink the overall structure and narrative. Some editors might also work with you to collect feedback from your readers and incorporate it into the manuscript, as I did with Teresa Torres and the early readers’ club for Continuous Discovery Habits.
• Line editing: When you’ve got a complete draft ready, an editor can perform a round of line editing to make sure it flows well on the individual sentence level, your ideas are clear, and you’ve chosen the right word or phrase.
• Proofreading: If your manuscript has already been through a few rounds of revision or editing, an editor can do a round of proofreading to ensure there are no typos or formatting errors.

I’m happy to work with you on all or some of these types of editing, depending on where you are in the writing process and what type of publishing timeline you have.

The authors I’ve worked with have all chosen a hybrid model, so once our work on the manuscript is complete, they’ve passed it on to an agency who handled formatting, printing, and other aspects of actually getting the book out into the world. This approach gives you control over the book’s content while ensuring you get a final product that looks professional. 

What’s it like to work with me (Melissa) as an editor?

Every collaboration begins with a conversation. Whether you’re working on a single blog post, an email course, or a full-length book, I want to know where your project stands and what kind of feedback would help you most right now—big-picture notes on structure and ideas or a final polish. From there, I share my edits and questions, you review them and check in with me about any questions you might have, and we do another round to make sure every change still sounds like you.

Some of my favorite collaborations are ongoing rather than one-off. I’ve edited dozens (if not hundreds!) of blog posts with Petra Wille, as well as her email course for product leaders, From STRONG to Exceptional, and I’ve worked with Teresa Torres on the Product Talk blog for over a decade.

My clients tell me the process is collaborative and, yes, actually fun. Teresa put it this way: “Over the past few years, I’ve come to rely on Melissa as my editor and voice of reason. Not only does she catch those cringe-worthy typos I can’t believe I missed, but she helps me clarify my thoughts and make sure that I’m creating an enjoyable experience for my readers.”

What does a book editor do?

A book editor helps you say what you mean, as clearly and enjoyably as possible. Depending on where you are, that might mean shaping the structure and flow of your chapters, tightening sentences, checking that your examples land, or hunting down every last typo (I take that part VERY seriously—more on that in a second).

When I edited Teresa Torres’s Continuous Discovery Habits, Teresa held monthly early reader calls to see which examples and research were clear and which needed work. Those calls helped us shape later chapters as we went. And when the editor at 1106 Design evaluated the completed manuscript, they didn’t find a single spelling error in the first 75 pages—a first in the evaluator’s 8+ years!

What’s the difference between developmental editing and proofreading? 

Developmental editing looks at the big picture of a piece and considers whether the overall structure and narrative are working. It might involve suggesting major revisions to the order of sections or chapters or reworking examples to make them more clear.

Proofreading has a much more narrow focus—it’s about ensuring accuracy (e.g. are people’s names spelled correctly?) and consistency in formatting. Generally proofreading does not involve giving feedback on the writing itself; just catching typos, mistakes, or formatting errors.

Absolutely! I see my job as helping clarify and bring your ideas to life. During our initial conversation, we’ll discuss how heavily you’d like me to edit as well as your communication preferences. If you’re concerned about losing your voice, I’ll make sure to use suggestions and comments so you can review every edit and choose whether or not to incorporate it. 

How long does editing take? 

The honest answer is: It depends. The timing can vary depending on how big a project is (obviously a blog post takes considerably less time than something like a book or a course), how many rounds of revision you’d like, and the work that you might need to do in between. For example, once I provide developmental feedback, the ball is in your court to make the changes I’ve suggested. Super motivated people might make those changes within a day or two, but sometimes my clients have other priorities so they might not make those edits for a few weeks. At the outset of any project, I’ll provide you with an estimated timeline for each stage, and as we progress I’ll keep you in the loop so you always know when you can expect to hear from me next.

How much does an editor cost?

I’m sorry to say this is another one of those “it depends” answers. The biggest factors are the length and complexity of your project (a blog post is very different from a book!), how much editing it needs (feedback on structure and ideas takes more time than a final proofread), and your timeline.

That’s why I’ll give you a clear quote after our first conversation, so there are no surprises. If you’re not sure what kind of editing you need, that’s exactly what the first call is for. Let’s talk!