Joanne Taylor | Fantasy fiction & world mythology editor

✧ Genre Specialisms ✧

From high fantasy to low fantasy, dark to cozy tales, portals to other worlds, mythic adventures, and fairy tale retellings, I love it all. Especially if there are mythological creatures involved! My expertise extends to world mythology and historical fiction, where I help ensure your book is immersive and transporting for your readers, without those blips that you're too close to your own work to see.

✧ Services Offered ✧

Story-level services

Unlock your story’s potential with a developmental edit

A bird’s-eye view of your story’s big-picture elements to analyze character, stakes, plot, setting, tension, and more, depending on the needs of your story and your own goals and requests. Tell me more about developmental editing ↗

Steer your story in the right direction with developmental feedback

Sometimes called a manuscript critique, this is a high-level overview of your story’s big-picture elements to consider character, stakes, plot, and more, depending on the needs of your story and your own goals and requests. I triage and select the most crucial areas for you to work on for the benefit of your readers. Tell me more about developmental feedback ↗

Bite-sized story insights with mini-edit feedback

A mini edit provides developmental feedback on your first 10,000 words. Get bite-sized story insights to apply to the rest of your manuscript. It’s a first impression of what makes your story work so far, focusing on the main strengths and opportunities for improvement. Tell me more about mini-edit feedback ↗

Sentence-level services

Craft a delectable reading experience with a line edit

Prepare your writing for readers with stylistic suggestions to smooth out your sentences so they flow clearly. In this sentence-level edit, I pay careful attention to point-of-view slips, overwriting, effective dialogue, and more while merging with your unique writing style. Tell me more about line editing ↗

Ensure clarity and consistency with a copyedit

Refine your manuscript for a clear and consistent professional finish. A copyedit is a close inspection to catch those mistakes that are hard to spot when you are too close to your own work. Maybe you’re not completely certain about what a dangling modifier is, or you’re sick of putting hyphens in and then taking them back out. I pay meticulous attention to typos, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and consistency. Tell me more about copyediting ↗

Exacting error detection with a proofread

This meticulous review is the last line of defence (or defense, depending on your chosen English) against typos, spelling errors, and grammar gaffes that may have slipped through the cracks in earlier rounds of editing. I’ll give your work the finishing touches it deserves. Tell me more about proofreading ↗

✧ About Joanne ✧

At primary school, I was the kid nestled behind the coats in the cloakroom at playtime, reading Roald Dahl. My journey from curious reader to professional editor is driven by a love for imaginary worlds and characters.

My editing style is meticulous and collaborative because I understand the effort that goes into writing. To me, editing fiction is a flexible process that requires empathy, not the rigid over-application of grammar rules at the expense of the writer’s intended effect. When you know the rules, you can bend or break the right ones intentionally.

With a background in psychology and a decade of teaching sciences and English, I bring a unique blend of analytical and creative approaches to the art of storytelling and editing. As a member of the World History Encyclopedia editorial team, and a voracious reader, I’m immersed in a world of diverse global stories, which enhances my editing craft.

✧ Education & Professional Background ✧

BSc in Psychology: University of York, UK

PGCE in Science: University of Cumbria

Teaching experience

I spent several years teaching English in Sri Lanka and nearly a decade teaching sciences in the UK, including mentoring new teachers. This experience honed my ability to provide clear, constructive feedback and to understand the learning process, both of which are crucial in my editorial work.

World History Encyclopedia (WHE)

As a member of the WHE editorial team, I have been involved in proofreading and editing content read by millions globally. This role allows me to work with a wide range of historical and mythological texts, enhancing my editing skills.

Ink of Ages Fiction Prize

I’m one of the organizers, judges, and lead editor of WHE’s Ink of Ages Fiction Prize, sponsored by Oxford University Press, celebrating historical and mythological short fiction from around the world.

Independent Editor

I edit for independent clients, focusing on fantasy fiction, world mythology, and historical fiction. My background in psychology, education, and global Englishes allows me to offer a unique blend of analytical and empathetic editing, helping authors refine their story-level and sentence-level craft.

✧ Training & Qualifications ✧

Editorial team member at World History Encyclopedia (WHE). This role includes in-house training and ongoing professional development. Oct 21 – present.

Copyediting 3: Progress, a highly regarded course from the CIEP. Pass. Jun 2022.

CIEP Basic Editorial Test. No one knows why it’s called “basic” because it’s quite scary. 85%. Jun 2023.

Professional member of the CIEP since Sep 2023. (Intermediate member of the CIEP from Oct 2022. Entry-level member of the CIEP from Oct 2021.)

Co-coordinator & co-host for the CIEP Cloud Club East monthly networking meetings with Dr Sara Kitaoji. Feb 2023 – present.

I’ve completed multiple courses from providers such as Louise Harnby and FoxPrint Editorial, such as How to Write the Perfect Fiction Editorial Report, Analyze Story Like an Editor, and Mastering POV. For a fuller list of courses and webinars, see my training and qualifications page.

✧ Testimonials ✧

Joanne’s skills as a proofreader and text editor have proved invaluable in ensuring our material, which is read by 3 to 5 million readers each month, is as error-free as is humanly possible. As leader of the editorial team, I have found Joanne’s precision in her work and her communications both within that team and to our readers, a great asset that has significantly improved World History Encyclopedia in the global publishing market. —Mark Cartwright, Publishing Director, World History Encyclopedia

I have worked with Joanne over a series of multiple books. She is a very talented editor. Working with her has been an absolute pleasure and she made it very easy! Joanne had a significant impact on my books and merged with my writing style perfectly. Whoever she is working for next is very lucky. Joanne, you deserve all the success in the world! —Zayden Stone, Mythology author

Joanne got the characters and the story so well, and my take on the genre – all things that make a real difference. I am so pleased with the quality of the report and the level of detail. It is truly precious! Joanne, I loved working with you, and really hope we can work together on the next one too! :)—Lara Byrne, Award-winning historical fiction author

Tell Joanne about my project ↗

• Editor
• Proofreader

• Children & young adult
• Dystopian fiction
• Education & training
• English as a second language
• History
• Literary fiction
• Paranormal
• Science fiction & fantasy
• Speculative fiction

• Book publishers
• Indie authors
• Packagers

• Copywriting
• Content marketing
• Self-publishing
• Writing
• Project management