Damian Tarnopolsky

I am an award-winning writer with two decades of editorial experience, offering well-honed and encouraging commentary on fiction and non-fiction manuscripts. My specialties are substantive and stylistic editing, i.e. both “big picture” shape and structure issues, and granular, sentence-level questions. Recently I’ve been working with writers of memoir, thrillers, scholarly works in art history and psychology, and experimental fiction. 

Many of my clients have completed a manuscript in draft and feel ready for a second look, advice on how to perfect it, and guidance on potential publishing steps. Others have the beginning of an idea and a few notes and are looking for advice on how to go on. Sometimes they’re stuck in the middle and need guidance to reset the project and get it moving again. Wherever you find yourself, and whether you’re working on your first book or your fifth, I can help.

Along with my freelance editorial background, my knowledge of the publishing landscape –from working at Random House of Canada, to publishing several books of my own with large and small presses, to helping clients self-publish– helps me guide authors through the ups and downs of the publication process. I have gained particular experience working with physicians and health practitioners on their articles and books through my teaching and mentorship at the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab. My academic background (Toronto PhD, Oxford MPhil) gives me a strong platform to assist researchers with scholarly work, grant applications, book proposals, and the like. 

I look forward to hearing from you, and helping you with your work.