Endorsements
Grad Student | Butt | Gollin | Neher | Schafer | Swanson
(more to come. . . .)
Plekker | Tyndale House Editors | DeKalb County Historical-Genealogical Society
Praise for Edwin Zehner of Zehner Editing and Consulting
Over the years, Edwin has at times played the role of an informal advisor for me on academic matters. His suggestions on my thesis and other academic matters have been helpful. I find he has the ability to listen and then sift through extraneous elements to arrive at suggestions that address core needs in effective ways.
The endorser has since finished his M.A. thesis in Anthropology, has achieved an additional M.A. in another field, and is now working in a key support position at a major research university.
"OK, listen up all you bad academic writers out there! Ed Zehner will take your mushy sentences, half-baked ideas, overly long run-on sentences (such as this one), and turn your work into taut, compelling prose that book and journal editors will love. I gave Ed an article that had gone through a favorable peer-review process, but wasn't accepted by the editor at a prestigious social science journal. I edited the piece, and then sent it to Ed. Ed so improved the article I confess I hardly recognized my own brilliance. The journal editor accepted the revised submission and said it was "a good read"! Here's what the reviewer for the second round said (e.g. after Ed got his hands on it): "this version of the article is much improved; it is editorially tighter, with a clearly focused and well-constructed argument . . . . The article is superbly written." What better endorsement can there be than that?
"So...if you really want your piece accepted and this is an important journal for you to publish in, I'd strongly recommend using Ed's services. His prices are reasonable, he does a lot of work on every page, and it will improve by a huge margin your chances of having the paper accepted."
Leslie Butt, Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria, British Columbia.
Edited her article, '"Lipstick Girls' and 'Fallen Women': AIDS and Conspiratorial Thinking in Papua New Guinea," Cultural Anthropology, Volume 20, Number 3 (August 2005). Provided a hand edit and compositional suggestions, which the author built on when preparing her re-submission. Not only was the article accepted, but it was the focus of the cover of that particular issue.
Also edited an earlier piece by Butt titled "An epidemic of runaway wives: Discourses by Dani men on sex and marriage in Highlands Irian Jaya, Indonesia," Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Volume 15, Number 1 (2001).
"Ed made a significant contribution to improving the quality of all the chapters in our multi-author volume. His gifts are considerable -- not just in editing words on paper but also in shepherding authors through a process of reorganizing their thoughts. As a result, both the wording and the analyses are much sharper."
Karin L. Gollin, editor, After the Romance: Communities and Environmental Governance in the Philippines (Ateneo de Manila University Press, forthcoming)
"Edwin is a superb writer and editor. He recently edited two of my books on Southeast Asia. His work was thorough, and the books are much the better for the immense amount of effort he provided as editor. I would not hesitate to ask for his help again."
Clark D. Neher, Presidential Teaching Professor, Northern Illinois University (retired). Former Chair of the Department of Political Science and former Director of the Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Northern Illinois University.
Author of Southeast Asia: Crossroads of the World (Southeast Asia Publications, Northern Illinois University, 2000), Southeast Asia in the New International Era (Westview Press, 2002), Asia in the New Millennium (College Pub, 2004), and numerous other books and articles.
"Edwin Zehner is a fine editor. A few years back he edited an article I wrote for Crossroads when he was editor of this journal. He did a fine job. The article, 'The Collective and the Individual in Two Post-War Vietnamese Novels,' was long in draft form and needed some editing, I knew, to sharpen its focus. I'm an English teacher–a writing teacher, no less–but I profited from Edwin's suggestions. They improved my article by helping me get my message across. I enjoyed the process of working with him on this article.”
John C. Shafer, Professor of English, Humboldt State University.
Author of Vietnamese Perspectives on the War in Vietnam: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English (Yale University Press, 1997), “Phan Nhat Nam and the Battle of An Loc,” Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (1999), “The Collective and the Individual in Two Post-War Vietnamese Novels," Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (2000), translator of portions of An Loc: The Unquiet East, by Phan Nhat Nam, Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (1999), and author and co-author of numerous other works.
"In the course of writing my doctoral dissertation with the University of Melbourne, I asked Ed Zehner to read an early draft of several chapters. His comments and corrections were extremely helpful, especially in rewording my presentation and in correcting the form of the dissertation. His professional skills as an experienced editor saved me a great deal of time and materially contributed to my dissertation as a final product. I wholeheartedly recommend Ed's service to anyone seeking assistance in preparing scholarly work."
Note: Swanson has also posted an endorsement on his website, where he says that he "found [Zehner's] comments very helpful, esp. in terms of organizing arguments and maintaining their consistency. He also picks up on nitty-gritty details that help give a work a more professional tone." Click here to read the full announcement.
Herb Swanson, Director, Office of History, Church of Christ in Thailand. Founder of the Archives of the Church of Christ in Thailand. Proprietor of www.herbswanson.com, a compendium of resources supporting the study of Thai church history.
Author of Khrischak Muang Nua: A Study in Northern Thai Church History (Bangkok: Chuan Printing Press, 1984), Towards a Clean Church: A Case Study in 19th Century Thai Church History (Office of History, Church of Christ in Thailand, 1991), Prawatsat kan aphiban khritsajak Sapha Khritsajak nai Prathet Thai [History of Church Administration of the Church of Christ in Thailand] (Office of History, Church of Christ in Thailand, 1995), and numerous other books, articles, and research reports in Thai and English.
Praise for Marcia Wilson of Advantage Editorial Services
“I want to take a moment to thank you for [your] suggestions. You made the manuscript into a book. So often I felt a vast improvement over what I had written, and thank you for your sensitivity.”
Dr. Robert Plekker, Joint Heirs Publishers
Endorsements of Tyndale House Editors
The following quotes come from different editors at the same publishing house:
- “Your eye for detail and your broader suggestions were both extremely helpful.”
- “The person who typeset the manuscript told me that this was one of the cleanest she’s seen in a long time!”
- “I appreciate your attentive and thorough work.”
- “I appreciate your consistently great work.”
- “I know I can count on you doing a thorough job in a timely manner.”
- “I appreciate your accuracy and reliability.”
Editors at Tyndale House Publishers
Endorsement of DeKalb County Historical-Genealogical Society
Marcia Wilson has been contracted as the Editor of our quarterly magazine
Cornsilk since Spring 2002. She has implemented a number of innovations of
arrangement and content since that time, with the result that many readers
have expressed appreciation.
Our Society collaborated with other historical societies and museums in DeKalb County to publish DeKalb County Historical Resources Guide, a pamphlet of 24 pages of information about Historical Societies, Museums, and Libraries in the County. Marcia’s editorial work on this project was essential for its success.
At present she is Project Director for our forthcoming book about country schools in DeKalb County. The book is being written by a committee of 18 people under her editorial supervision.
Henry S. Leonard, President, DeKalb County Historical-Genealogical Society
Professor Emeritus, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Northern Illinois University