I’ve been a professional academic copy editor for seven years. I started editing professionally in 2007, with the prepress house Publication Services, Inc., of Champaign, Illinois. For the next four years, I managed an array of freelancers working simultaneously on many diverse projects, each one having its own goals and stipulations. As I did, my reputation for precise, timely work and my knack for working well with others under pressure earned me a reputation as one of the company’s most productive and valued editors. I spent much of my time providing comprehensive edit review and feedback for professional freelancers, but I also regularly stepped in to edit entire books myself, especially for time-critical projects and when I needed to give personal attention to an author for whom English was not a first language. Accordingly, I’ve learned to work well in a broad range of styles, including Chicago, APA, AP, and AMA, and I’ve learned how to provide a guiding hand to a writer even when the going is rough. I’ve handled editing not only for traditional book publishers, but also for government agencies, trade magazines, and course developers at state universities. But, whether working for Publication Services or self-employed as an academic editor—indeed, all the way back to my college days—I’ve never missed a deadline. From my point of view, part of getting things done right has always been getting things done on time. At Publication Services, keeping production running smoothly meant managing freelancers well, dealing with authors’ and publishers’ expectations, and simultaneously attending to demands of both quality and budget. What’s more, when the editing manager retired and requested that I take over his day-to-day duties, it meant handling conflicts between individual editors and freelancers, typesetters, or artists. My ability to work with others has always helped me boost both quality and productivity. In my time at