Erin Brenner | Right Touch Editing

Why Work with Us

Businesses hire Right Touch Editing to write and edit their business documents and content marketing, including business reports, email newsletters, blog posts, white papers, marketing research and analysis, e-books, websites, and more.

Your materials need to please many stakeholders, so we follow your directions to the letter. We’ll even create a style sheet to record all those requirements and keep your copy consistent with the rest of your brand.

Right Touch Editing works to keep your accounting department happy too, offering a range of pricing options, including:

• By the hour
• By the project
• By the project piece (e.g., chapter, article, etc.)
• By monthly retainer

Self-publishing authors hire Right Touch Editing for different reasons. Owner Erin Brenner holds a master’s degree in literature and works with other editors who are equally knowledgeable about literature and book publishing. There’s only one content owner in this relationship, and that’s you. We’ll work with you to help you determine:

• What kind of editing your book needs. If your manuscript needs more structural work before the fine-tuning, we’ll tell you that.
• How to publish your book. Writing your book is just the first step of publishing and selling your book. There are many more decisions and processes to go through before someone actually buys your book. Should you do print or electronic? What kind of cover would attract readers? Is typography really important? (Hint: yes!) Hire us to edit your book, coach you on the business of self-publishing, or to take any other publishing task off your shoulders.
• How to market your book. Ideally your marketing should start while you’re still writing your book. If you haven’t started, though, don’t worry. We can help you develop a marketing plan and start executing that plan right away.

We offer similar flexible pricing structures to our self-publishing authors as we do to our corporate clients. And no matter which pricing structure you choose, we can break up the cost into convenient installments.

About Erin

Erin Brenner is the owner of Right Touch Editing, a boutique editorial agency that specializes in helping small and midsized businesses to be more engaging with their audiences, more persuasive in their marketing, and clearer and more precise in their communications.

Erin is also the author of The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors: How to Take Care of Your Business, Your Clients, and Yourself from Start-Up to Sustainability, a step-by-step guide that helps editors launch a freelance business and grow it to a sustainable level. Erin offers coaching and soon a workbook to help editors on their journey to a business they love.

Erin is the 2024 winner of the Robinson Prize from ACES: The Society of Editing. She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute for Editing and Proofreading and a Full Member of ACES.

Editing Services

Right Touch Editing employs thoroughly trained and vetted editors to meet your publication’s needs. Our editing services include:

• Writing. You want to sound on-brand while retaining your individual voice. We've got you covered. Download Erin's writing portfolio.
• Developmental editing. Manuscripts are developed or evaluated for writing style, content, and organization. When your boss hands you a writing assignment and you’re not sure how to begin, this is the edit you need.
• Line (substantive) editing. Copy is corrected for organization, structure, transitions, redundancy, jargon, sexist language, awkward construction, excessive use of passive voice, wordiness, logic, tone, and more. Often this is done with copyediting.
• Copyediting. Copy is corrected for spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, usage, sentence structure, sentence length, and paragraph length. Our most popular service!
• Fact-checking. Ensure the accuracy of your copy with a fact-check. As an add-on service (usually to copyediting), we’ll check easily verifiable facts, such as names, URLs, and dates. As a standalone service, we’ll dig deeper into the facts of your manuscript, including concepts, quotes, physical descriptions, product claims, and more.
• Proofreading. This is the last review of copy before it’s published. Copy is corrected for typos, spelling, grammar, punctuation, usage, and style.

Not sure what you need? Contact us, and we’ll help you decide what your manuscript needs and give you a price and time quote for getting it done.

Speaking & Training

Help make your team better!

Erin Brenner is a skilled presenter and has given sessions at several editing conferences, including ACES, Editors’ Association of Canada, Editorial Freelancers Association, MagsBC, and CIEP.

She has also given private and public training, ranging from two-hour to full-day sessions, including Copyediting’s popular Freelance Accelerator and online courses for the University of California, San Diego.

Some of the many topics Erin speaks on:

• Persuasive writing. Copywriter. Salesperson. Marketer. Tech writer. Engineer. All of these roles involve writing persuasively for a business audience. Learn proven strategies for making your copy more persuasive.
• Digital marketing for small teams. You have a small staff and less time and money. Learn strategies for using your team’s time and budget wisely to promote your offering.
• Self-editing. You don’t always have the time or budget to hire an editor. In this session, attendees learn how to review their own writing with a critical eye.
• Editing the web. In this session, attendees learn important writing styles associated with web editing, practicing on several live examples.
• Editing marketing copy. In this session, attendees learn what makes marketing copy work and edit several examples during the session.

Erin is available to come to you or present shorter sessions live online. Contact us to book Erin for your next event!

Free Resources

Looking for a little help with writing, editing, or marketing? I've put together these resources just for you:

• Writers and Editors Resources: Download checklists, worksheets, and ebooks to make your work easier!
• The Writing Resource: Improve your writing with these articles!
• Presentation Collection: Download presentations on social media, digital marketing, copyediting, and more!

Premium Resources

• The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors: How to Take Care of Your Business, Your Clients, and Yourself from Start-Up to Sustainability
• Marketing Yourself, 4th edition
• 1001 words for Success: Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms
• Dictionary of Commonly Confused & Misspelled Words(with Steven Berner)
  

Awards & Professional Associations

• 2024 Robinson Prize winner, ACES: The Society for Editing
• Gold Award for Writing in the Collateral Category, New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA)
• Bronze Award for Writing in the Collateral Category, NEDMA
• Advanced Professional Member, CIEP
  
• Full Member, ACES: The Society for Editing

Testimonials

I’ve been working with Erin for two years now and I am just delighted, yes delighted, with the quick responsiveness of her service and high-quality editing skills. Erin’s abilities are a value add to our research!—Kathy Hunter, Director, Knowledge Management, ITSMA

Erin brings the same traits that make her an elite writing professional—doing her homework, digging into the details, and being flexible and responsive—to her approach in running her company at a strategic level. She’s able to make the right decisions because she understands the mechanics of their business at an elemental level, something all business owners should strive to do.—Jesse Jones, Founding Lawyer, Fourscore Business Law

As a first-time author and independent publisher, I needed to find an editor who was not only highly skilled but also enjoyable to work with. Erin accomplished both beautifully! Her advice and recommendations were invaluable to the finished product, always keeping in mind my individual writing style and manner. As the book progressed I knew that my work was in good hands and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. I encourage you to send in your sample chapter for her review and witness firsthand what a great editor she is.—Sharon Helbert, President, Alegcris Press

I attended a recent seminar [Erin] copresented (with Jake Poinier) at the Society for Editing's national conference in Providence, RI, in March 2019. Erin spoke about using data and feedback loops to make wise decisions about pricing in one's editorial business. The talk was well organized and full of practical strategies that would apply in other businesses as well. I love listening to Erin. She delivers with such a calm, professional voice that helps us listeners concentrate on the content.—Patricia Boyd, Independent Business Owner, Steel Pencil Editorial

Erin spoke to the Boston chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association about expanding your freelance business. Her presentation was very professional and clear. She strongly encourages audience participation and has plenty of helpful information. Erin is a business owner with tons of editing experience. She encourages freelancers to step out, develop skills, and expand their business. Her approach is very warm and friendly.—Susan Matheson, Independent Science Writer and Academic Editor

• Editor
• Proofreader

• Business & finance
• Communications
• Education & training
• Reference
• Travel & tourism
• Publishing
• Humanities
• Technology
• Self-help
• Public policy

• Editorial training
• Copywriting
• Content marketing
• Self-publishing
• Business writing