“As an independent author, I’ve published many novels and several shorter works. I tried several editors before finding Shelley, but we’ve done a multitude of my novels together now, and novellas. She is fast, efficient, and has consistently caught more typos and snafus than other editors with whom I’ve worked. I foist all of my work on her now and am even saving up so I can have her edit my earlier manuscripts (the ones other editors worked on!). Thanks for all the help, Shelley!”

“As I was reviewing Shelley’s edits on our latest project together, I wondered if some of her clients fail to appreciate her analytical attention to detail. I hope that I’m wrong and they all realize what she brings to their work. As much as I hate this part of the process, I very much appreciate all Shelley does to make my work the best it can be.”

“I have now self-published thirteen novels which are available at Amazon. I’ve had many people ask me about the whole self-publishing process, the dos and don’ts, etc. And I tell them there is only one huge mistake I made with my first couple of books—I didn’t hire a professional editor to review them before publication.

I mistakenly believed that friends and family members had caught all the typos, plot errors, etc. I was wrong. And you can only make a good first impression on readers once. You can’t say later, oh, sorry about the editing errors. So if you have a manuscript that you want to self-publish, you need to do it right. And that means finding an established, professional editor.
I was fortunate enough to meet and start working with Shelley Holloway over ten years ago, and all I can say is that I wish I’d known her from the start. But as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Shelley and I have now worked together on all my books—including a romance published under a pen name.

I have recently published the first two installments of another fictional espionage series, The Liquid Solution and Cascade of Betrayals. As I write each new book in this series, I take comfort in knowing Shelley will be there to edit the manuscripts as well as format them for Kindle and paperback publication.

She is a one-stop shop that I have relied on for years, and I hope she never retires. She has been a godsend.”

“As an independent author, I knew I needed a good editor to elevate my work. I learned that several authors I admire heap praise upon Shelley Holloway. To my delight, she found some open slots for me and has become my ideal publishing partner.

What makes her a great editor? Let me count the ways. She’s very accommodating to my schedule and turns around work quickly, helping me meet my deadlines. She has sharp eyes for catching typos, awkward phrasing, and repeated words. Sections that are difficult to understand she brings to my attention diplomatically. And she is a genius at finding continuity errors and inconsistencies that I repeatedly miss.

Finally, Shelley is simply a super-nice person and fun to work with. I highly recommend her—as long as she still has time for me!”

“Shelley is an excellent editor with a highly objective, helpful tone. We’ve worked on several books together, and she worked hard on all of them, including coming through for a deadline even though a hurricane tried to get in the way. She’s especially strong at bringing visual and spatial clarity to my scenes and descriptions and finding inconsistencies, as well as simplifying my sometimes intricately worded sentences. She’s also very professional and flexible around scheduling and communicating around the work. I would highly recommend her.”

“I appreciate Shelley Holloway for her legendary grammar skills and likable personality. She skillfully manages the line between an author’s voice and the readability of prose. Some grammar that I broke for the sake of creative license, she fixed convincing me that the changes read more clearly. She reminded me that words should be forged for the masses, not only for the writer’s amusement.”

“Shelley has worked with me on three novels so far, with two more in the pipeline. Her copy edits have always been extremely thorough, and she catches even the tiniest mistakes while also suggesting improvements I never would have come up with on my own. The quality of my books has been vastly improved thanks to her amazing skill, and her turnaround time is always exactly on target. I’ve worked with other editors in the past, but Shelley is the best.”

“Shelley is awesome! Not only does she know all those pesky grammar and punctuation rules, she’s also a pleasure to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, and even learned a few things. This was my first experience working with an editor. I expected her to just pick out my errors, but she actually read the story and pointed out places where the narrative could be clearer. She really helped me make my book shine. Thanks, Shelley!”

“Working with Shelley Holloway on my science fiction-action-romance novel was a pleasure. She’s communicative, organized, detailed, and knows her stuff, all of which are key skills for good editors. She helped smooth out the rocky sections, pointed out problems that needed solving, and made suggestions that definitely improved the flow of my novel. I plan on using her services for all my upcoming books.”

“Working with Shelley Holloway on my urban fantasy was a great experience. She had great insight and asked pointed questions to increase the clarity of the book. I appreciated the fact that she didn’t stop until the book was truly ready. She is fast and thorough, making it easy for me to stick to my publishing schedule and deadlines. Shelley is a true professional. Will definitely work with her again!”

“As a self-published author who has long resisted formal help editing my books, I couldn’t be happier that I finally had my novels edited by Shelley. She found countless grammatical errors, nits, and inconsistencies that I never noticed on my many rereads of the story. On a personal note, Shelley is awesome to work with—she responds quickly to all questions and is a very clear communicator. I was pleasantly surprised by how painless she made the editing process for me. My novel is much stronger thanks to her help, and I will absolutely be working with Shelley on my future projects.”

“Shelley is very professional, turns assignments around quickly, and has a great eye for editing. Coming from an admitted grammar nerd, I know a true pro when I see one!”

“Shelley is fast, thorough, and efficient. She did an excellent job editing my work and I heartily recommend her for any writer seeking an editor.”

“Shelley handled my superhero urban fantasy novel, Human. She is a good editor, able to catch those sneaky grammatical errors that sneak in when the author is distracted. I’m pretty certain commas breed every time you save… but I digress. Additionally, she acts professionally; her communications are clear and courteous, and the work itself is done within the planned timeline.

Where she really shines, though, is in finding and pointing out when a novel is unclear or doesn’t make sense, and then explaining the problem without being cruel or vague or altering your voice. That’s so much better than “This section doesn’t work, but I couldn’t tell you why.”

My book is stronger (and prettier) for her work. Thanks, Shelley.”

“Shelley edited my self-published fantasy novel, and it was astounding the number of things she found after I had already had quite a few eyes on the manuscript. Not only did she catch all those pesky grammatical errors, but she found inconsistencies in descriptions and details from the story that everyone else had missed. Her work is professional, quick, and her ability to spot the slightest error approaches a superpower.”

“The most difficult aspect in self-publishing a novel is finding the right editor. Beneath the Willow is my third novel and Shelley’s work has made the editing effort an enjoyable experience. Her incredible attention to detail while protecting the integrity of my writing style helped me turn my concept into a polished novel. Not only did she put together a quality edit, but she completed the edit in a short amount of time. I look forward to working with Shelley on future projects!”

“When I published the second edition of EXODUS, one year after it first hit the shelves of online retailers, it was with a confidence that I hadn’t experienced the first time around. The first edition, although proofread and polished, was only as good as I could make it on my own. And if there is one thing I’ve since learned, it is that professional editing can make all the difference.

So it was with the intention to make the second edition of EXODUS the best it could possibly be that I approached Shelley, having seen her name highly recommended by authors I respect. I was not disappointed. She gave me exactly what I needed: a keen eye for detail, a bird’s eye view of the story as a whole, and some tough, but needed, criticism. And at the same time, she respected my voice, the choices that make it my story. I am now looking forward to working with her on my future books.”

“Shelley showed me that working with an editor can be really interesting, and even instructive. She was enthusiastic, thorough, and efficient… and the process was more fun than I thought it would be. Shelley even went the extra mile to learn how to format for CreateSpace, since I also publish in paperback!”

“Right from her first reply to my original email, Shelley was approachable, friendly, and open. She explained every part of the editing process clearly and never made me feel like I’d be bothering her by asking a question. Her edits found the grammar mistakes, too-often repeated phrases, and unclear passages that had slipped through the beta reading process. Thanks to her, I can send my book out into the world confident that a misplaced comma or awkward phrase won’t take the reader out of the story. I’ll definitely be coming back to her for the sequel!”

“I have to say without Shelley’s help, I am not sure these books would have ever gotten off the ground. Her insights and expertise have proved to be vital to my growth as an author. The turn around times on edits and her wonderful attitude have made working with her a pleasure. I couldn’t see myself working with anyone else!”

“I’m so happy to have been introduced to Shelley Holloway. Finding a good editor who shares yourvision is difficult. After sending over my manuscript and getting back the first set of revisions, I knew I’d found the right one. Shelley was, and continues to be, professional, punctual, and all around fantastic. She’s been a source of stability in a stressful and exciting publishing process. When the time came to push the publish button though, I knew that Shelley had polished my manuscript up to a bright shine. I was confident that all of my glaring plot holes, inconsistencies in continuity, and typos had been caught and corrected.

Outside of just the editing expertise, Shelley has offered some great tips and insight as I stumbled through other aspects of the publishing process. Thank you so much for all of your support!!!”

“In the indie world, there are a lot of editors out there, but a good editor is hard to find—especially one with a great eye. Shelley Holloway is just such an editor. If you want someone who is professional, knowledgeable, detail-oriented, and can obtain that “fine polish” every indie writer needs at the end of the day, end your search here.

I spent months combing the vast wasteland of the Internet in search of a professional editor. The problem was, everyone called themselves “professional.” After talking to writers who said they were editors (but really just writers editing), and after looking at a series of scary “professional” photos of editors on their “professional” websites (that were riddled with grammatical errors), I threw my hands up and decided to try another route. I started researching editors of established indie authors that I admired. My eye fell on Lindsay Buroker who raved about her editor, Shelley Holloway.

From the beginning, Shelley was straight-forward, accommodating, and ready to get to work. Though the first book of my children’s fantasy series, Parry Pretty and the Eight Realms, won awards, I felt that it needed an editor’s eye to smooth out the kinks. I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about working with an editor. While I was open for suggestions, I was afraid that an editor would try to rewrite my work. On the flip side, I also didn’t want to pay a lot of money for someone to just scan my comma placement, something I could do myself. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Shelley walked me through it all. She made sure that I called the shots, that I led us in the direction I was comfortable with, and she was sure to keep in constant communication with me so that we both were always moving in the same direction with the same understanding.

Not only was Shelley great to work with, she also caught several errors that had slipped under the radar. One error, in particular, several beta readers skimmed right over. Shelley’s hawk eyes found it on the first go-around. Though her turnaround was fast, she took her time to really read through my book, and though Shelley wasn’t cheap, I do believe I got my money’s worth out of her. I would recommend Shelley Holloway to any author.”

“I’ve worked with Shelley on two projects, and she has helped round some awfully sharp edges with an uncommon grace. I’d recommend her to any author looking for critical, accurate, and thorough feedback with a smile.”

“I recently worked with Shelley Holloway on Fates, the fourth installment of my series I Bring the Fire. This was the first time I’ve worked with her, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the experience.

Shelley didn’t just catch missed commas and stray parentheses; she also made me a better writer. Shelley identified phrases and actions that I overused and helped me add more variety to the text. She also assisted in tightening prose, and caught inconsistencies in the story line.

One of the best things about working with Shelley is that she is meticulous in tracking changes and explaining her revisions. She really does work with you. When something wasn’t immediately clear, she didn’t change it and destroy the meaning, she collaborated, and helped me clarify what I meant to say. This was an essential part of keeping my voice consistent—a real worry when finding a new editor so far along in a series.

I think in the end we went through ten rounds of tracked changes. For all those rounds of revisions, it was a very smooth, fast process. Most importantly, my story didn’t lose its essential character or meaning, and I got to keep ‘my voice.’

But she did catch those commas, too.”

“For many years, I had been putting together a constructed universe as the foundation of my many story ideas. It was a very involved hobby, and I felt that writing novels set in that universe was just a dream. However, with the help of Shelley Holloway, that dream has become a reality. Her editing skills are top-notch, and I would recommend her to anyone who is serious about a writing career. She will help you transform your manuscript into a story that is suitable for publication and will be enjoyed by its readers. Working with Shelley has been enjoyable, and I have certainly learned a lot of things from her that I will be applying to my future novels. Thank you, Shelley!”

“I was very excited to work with Shelley after reading all the positive reviews on her website. My book is complete, and I could not be more pleased with the results!

As a new author, I had a few (okay, more than a few) questions concerning grammar and formatting. Shelley was always quick to respond to any question and even sent helpful guides and links. Fast, efficient, and ready to address any concerns, Shelley went above and beyond what I expected from an editor. I’m pretty sure if you googled “awesome editors,” Shelley’s name would be at the top of the list! I highly recommend Shelley to any author in need of a great editor.”

“Shelley made the editing process almost as much fun as writing. Her feedback was specific, insightful, and respectful. She went above and beyond on my copy edit, challenging me to tell my story as well as I could tell it – and in my “voice.” I have found an editor.”

“What can I say about Shelley? First, she is brilliant! I brought her a nightmare edit, not intentionally mind you, and she turned it into a dream.She was always polite and gracious and never hesitated to spend as much time as was needed. She clarified anything I didn’t understand and became my editing mentor. She truly cares about the finished work!

Shelley went above and beyond what anyone in the industry would have done. I am extremely happy with our working relationship. I hope that it continues for a very long time. If everyone in this business was as dedicated as Shelley, oh what a beautiful world this would be. From my heart…thank you.”

Update April 2013:

“It has been one year since Shelley and I started on this adventure. Throughout the entire time, she has continued to give me the support a new author needs. Her patience, humor, and good will have endeared her to me. We have successfully finished Book Two in my series, and when I say “we,” I do mean we. Shelley never left me for a minute. I am so proud and honored to work with her once again. I lift my glass to Shelley, and her hard work. Here’s to you, Shelley!!”

“Many people think that hiring a professional copy editor is too expensive and that one should rather opt just for a proofreader. Those people however have never had the pleasure of working with Shelley Holloway. You might think your manuscript is near perfection but working a few weeks with Shelley will quickly convince you otherwise. If you want to publish a book that seems professional and not amateurish, then Holloway House should be your first stop after finishing your manuscript.”

“I have to thank Shelley for all of her hard work and constant emails to make this book beyondawesome. Her input was invaluable in fixing my verb tense issues and narration problems, and her revisions, comments, and feedback really made a difference in quality. It’s been great working with her, and I’m so looking forward to working with her on future projects. This has been a great experience.”

“Shelley did a great job with my manuscript. She had no problem handling some of my odd file types, and she was mercifully kind to me as I learned how to work with a professional editor. Also, I’ve never seen anyone consistently answer their email that quickly! Shelley is the perfect editor for anyone who wants to work with a cheerful, professional, and disciplined editor. I’m guessing that includes everyone. Hire her.”

“Shelley Holloway patiently coached me through the process of working with a professional editor, which helped me take my novel to its full potential. She went beyond first-rate proofreading and line-editing to provide excellent advice on the characters, plot, and pacing—always with an upbeat attitude. What I most appreciated about working with Shelley was how quickly she responded to queries and requests, sometimes within minutes and rarely more than a day. If you know anything about the publishing industry, that’s incredibly rare. I give her services the highest recommendation.”

“Shelley is a delight to work with. She’s fast, flexible, and was quick to pick up on my writing voice, which can be a challenge when editing humor. Five stars! Highly recommend.”

“Shelley was very patient with two first-time authors who did everything wrong getting their manuscript ready for publication as an ebook. She explained each step, tirelessly rooted out errors and did a first-rate design job on a rapid schedule. She kept her good humor throughout the whole thing. Shelley really is a pleasure to work with.”

“Shelley was my first choice for an editor and what a good choice she was! I’m sure every newbie writer wonders if they really need an editor. I did. When I received my edited manuscript from Shelley, that question was answered with a resounding YES!

She is fast, but thorough at the same time, and she paid close attention to detail. Her prices were more than fair for the amount of hard work involved. Shelley is friendly and pleasant to work with. I also recommend her services for formatting for Kindle and Nook. Once I got the file from her, all that was left for me to do was hit upload. I will definitely be a repeat customer!”

“Shelley was very professional and easy to work with. She even pointed out words that I had been using too often and let me know when an area of the story could use some clarification. As an indie writer, it is very important to ensure my stories are in the best shape possible. To top it all off, her prices are very reasonable and the quality of her service surpasses the cost. I look forward to working with her on my next book.”

“Shelley’s work was exemplary and I will not hesitate to call upon her services again in the future.”

“Thank you for your excellent work. You did a great job, and we appreciate it. NukeWorks will have more work for you in the future.”

“Shelley is great to work with and has incredible attention to detail! We had her on a really tight deadline for a final proof of the book, and she really came through for us. I encourage everyone to use her for all copy editing and proofreading work.”