Meet Your Editor

Who's your dedicated hype-girl?

Hi, I’m Du.

As a neurodivergent (AuADHD) and introverted kid, one of the earliest passions I remember feeling in life was daydreaming and imagining worlds in my head. The second one was the written word.

When I'm not busy poring over CMOS and fangirling over my clients' amazing manuscripts, I'm either reading, writing my book(s), or lounging in the sun at my forest cottage.

I hold a Master's Degree in Art History and Italian Language and Literature, and aside from copyediting, I'm also a literary translator. I've worked three years as a teacher before opening my own business two years ago, so the pedantic linguist-slash-grammarian bit has always been a part of my life.

My perfectionism was more of a curse than a blessing before I realized I could merge that pedantry with my passions. And thus, Quince Editorial was born.

You can rest assured that when I go full hyper-focus mode on your manuscript, you'll receive not only my full support, but edits that smooth your flow, catch what you’ve stopped seeing, and help your story read exactly the way you intended (and a lot of simulated screeching noises in the comments of your Word doc).

I'll be in your corner every step of the way!

How do I approach editing?

I help romance and fantasy authors elevate their writing through precise, detail-focused copyediting.

If you’ve been deep in your manuscript for weeks (or months), you already know how hard it is to spot what’s not working anymore. As a writer myself, I've been there. I know the importance of having fresh eyes on your manuscript after you've rehashed it into oblivion and gouged your eyes out staring at it. Awkward phrasing, repeated words, small inconsistencies... They slip through, and suddenly the flow starts to feel off.

Lucky for you, that's my turf.

Your story is already there—my role is just to make sure the prose supports it. That means I’ll check your manuscript’s grammar, spelling, punctuation, and overall consistency (style, tone, preferences, character details, plot points, timeline). I will flag repetition and suggest alternative words. I’ll be in touch with you throughout the process, and I’ll undoubtedly be your hype girl, too.

Author voice matters. Rhythm and atmosphere matter, too. So every edit I make is done with that in mind: to strengthen your writing without stripping away what makes it yours.

I don’t rewrite or reshape your story. I just give it my all to help you make it clean, immersive, and effortless.

My Editing Process

If you're interested in working with me, please fill out my Google Form!

First of all, I do a free sample edit to see if we'd be a good fit (and for you to see if you like my editing style).
After the sample edit, we’ll either hop on a quick video call or we can simply email to talk a bit about your manuscript and the sample edit, confirm the full word count, confirm the fixed quote, and outline the expected turnaround time.
If you're happy to move forward, I'll send over a contract for you to sign and an invoice for the deposit (20% of the full price) to secure your booking. Once you’ve looked over the contract, confirmed that everything is okay, and the deposit payment is complete, your spot is secured!
And so begins the best part—copyediting! I will do one editorial round of your manuscript (I receive it, I work on it, I send it back) and three editorial passes in that round. I will also be updating you on my progress every Friday.
Once I'm done, I'll send your edited manuscript back to you. You'll receive: your manuscript, fully edited, with Track Changes on so you can see my comments and queries, and a style sheet for your manuscript.
During your review period, I’m happy to answer questions or clarify edits made, but additional editing after author revisions is not included and is a separate service.

DISCLAIMER: I do not use generative AI while editing or writing or any sort of creative process. If you use generative AI in your writing, we probably won't be a good fit.

My Qualifications

I'm a member of the EFA (Editorial Freelancers Association), and I've taken a lot of their courses and webinars on copyediting and grammar. I continue to follow their webinars and educate myself on this every new chance I get.

Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA):

Proofreading and Copyediting with The Chicago Manual of Style (course)

Copyediting: Beginning (course)

Copyediting Fiction: Part 1 (webinar)

Copyediting Fiction: Part 2 (webinar)

Conquering Grammar Gremlins (webinar)

I Didn't Know Macros Could Do That! (webinar)

Sample Edits Are on the House

I’ll ask you for a 1,500–2,000-word sample from somewhere in the middle of your manuscript. I’d love it if you could include some dialogue along with descriptions.

I’ll be using Track Changes and leaving comments (so you can see exactly what I did and the suggestions I left). It'll usually take me two business days to get back to you.

The sample edit doesn’t obligate either of us and it serves as a test to see if we’d be a good fit!

I want a free sample edit!

Fill out the Google Form! It'll help me get more acquainted with your manuscript before we take any further steps.

Google Form