Holly Vestad

Have you written a memoir or a creative, hybrid, or narrative nonfiction manuscript? Are you an academic looking to position your work creatively or to the general reader? Have you written a memoir about your career? I offer reader’s reports, proofreading, and developmental, line, and copy edits for all the above and more! 

My editorial approach is backed by a decade of experience. Although I specialize in nonfiction, throughout my career I have helped writers shape manuscripts, articles, essays, and documents in varied stages and among different genres into polished works ready for submission or publication. As a developmental (or structural/substantive) editor, for example, I have woven a series of disconnected creative essays into a memoir with a beginning, middle, and end that was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. I have even helped one writer develop a collection of numerical data into a draft narrative about a city’s historical development.

I have also copy edited a number of texts, including novels, academic monographs, an academic book chapter written in English by a native French speaker, and numerous poetry manuscripts, with edits adhering to different manuals and to varying degrees depending on the context. For instance, I copy edited a poetry manuscript according to Greg Younging’s Elements of Indigenous Style and applied the Chicago Manual of Style with discretion to a poetry manuscript written in African American Vernacular English.

I am the former managing editor at Caitlin Press, where I was responsible for evaluating submissions, diagnosing the needs of manuscripts, editing, proofreading, and much more. I received my BA (majoring in English literature and minoring in print and digital publishing, graduating with distinction) and MA (with a specialization in print culture) from Simon Fraser University. I pursued three years of doctoral research in the English department of McGill University before leaving the program to return to a career in books and editing. I have also held writing workshops in the university setting throughout my graduate career. Today, I can sometimes be found at the McGill Writing Centre, where I coach undergraduate and graduate students on their writing. Otherwise, I edit manuscripts like yours full time. I understand that writing is a vulnerable process, and it is from this position that I make my editorial feedback.

Whether you have a solid rough draft, a collection of disjointed paragraphs you’re hoping to develop into something greater, or just an idea, I can help!

What I offer:

• developmental, structural, or substantive editing of memoir, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, hybrid nonfiction, and academic monographs
• copy editing of nonfiction, fiction, academic texts, poetry, resumes, CVs, documents, grant and university applications, and much more
• manuscript evaluation or reader’s report
• proofreading

Connect:
I’d love to hear about what you’re working on. Send me an email or a message through my website, and we can discuss your project and our potential collaboration.

What it’s like to work with me:

“Holly is the best editor I have worked with.” —Amélie Ward, PhD, filmmaker

“Holly played with my manuscript as though she was fine tuning a precious instrument, and she played it so beautifully, I hope the world will want to listen.”—Susan Blacklin, Water Confidential

“Special thanks to my amazing editor Holly. Holly got into my psyche and preserved the poetry, playful witty wordplay and lyricism that is integral to my identity… I was privileged to work with Holly on the substantive edit, which was one of the most rewarding collaborations I’ve ever experienced with an editor.” —Kagan Goh, Surviving Samsara, shortlisted for the Singapore Literary Prize

“I hired Holly to copyedit my manuscript, and her consummate professionalism, efficiency, and expertise transformed it from draft to finished copy. In addition to her thorough knowledge of style and house form(s), Holly’s careful and insightful reading alerted me to many parts of the manuscript that needed clarity and revision. I am extremely grateful for her work and would hire her again.” —Tabitha Sparks, associate professor of English, Victorian Metafiction

“As I embarked on publishing my first book, I came to understand that a great writer is only as good as their editor. … The editing process… with Holly, developing a professional relationship, feeling heard and understood, has been one of those experiences that allowed me to push myself farther than I believed I could go. … My style, voice, message, and all that was there on the page and inside me, through the magic of an editor’s encouragement and keen eye for word choice, scarcity, detail, and where might be the best place to include a comma, had developed into literature.” —Natalie Virginia Lang, Remnants

“Her editing style is perfect and I highly recommend her to anyone interested in working with someone thoughtful and professional, who also has an outstanding ability to edit at the highest level, and yet insightful enough to protect your voice.” —Colonel Andre E. Salloum, Canadian Armed Forces

View more testimonials on my website or on Reedsy.

Books I have edited that have won awards or were long- or shortlisted:

• Surviving Samsara, Kagan Goh (memoir, developmental edit, 2022), short listed for the Singapore Literature Prize
• Swelling with Pride, anthology (memoir, copyedit, 2020), long listed for American Library Association Over the Rainbow 2020 non-fiction category
• How She Read, Chantal Gibson (poetry, copyedit, 2020), runner-up for the Griffin Poetry Prize; winner of the Pat Lowther Memorial and Dorothy Livesay Poetry prizes; and many others.
• On/Me, Francine Cunningham (poetry, copyedit, 2020), short listed for BC and Yukon Book Prizes; runner-up for Indigenous Voices and City of Vancouver Book awards