“ I wish I'd met Anya years ago! She took a decent, award-winning manuscript that still lacked spark, and with a few broad suggestions turned it into a tightly paced novel getting rave reviews. I have not met an editor this talented in her ability to switch from seeing the forest, to viewing the trees, to studying the veins on the leaves—nothing escapes her notice! I also appreciate how flexible she is in the author/editor story decisions, the insightful and patient feedback, and how she becomes a true collaborator, making my work as polished and professional as if it were her own.
“ Jennifer has what we in the publishing biz call a 'good eye.' I am continually amazed at her catches, and my books are always very much improved as a result. Her work is also wonderfully consistent. I've come back to her again and again on projects and I look forward to working with her many more times in the future.
“ Being involved in creating a first novel is a daunting task to say the least. Anya and Jennifer’s expertise in editing and proofreading is extraordinary. They were able to allay my fears in the process while giving me honest and useful feedback to move my project along. I highly recommend Touchstone Editing. They are professional as well as personable, and you will be pleased working with them.
— Linda Kotowicz
“ While Anya is great with commas, periods, and the other grammatical pitfalls of writing, her skill of viewing a story from a macro level is unparalleled. She is able to evaluate a story from a high level and determine what needs to be added or removed. She can mold a pretty good story into something ten times better. … Anya is exceptionally talented and gifted and a total pro. Her no-nonsense approach will help your story flourish and help you as a writer grow. I canNOT recommend her highly enough!
“ I keep coming back to Jennifer. From the very first, her editing has improved not just my stories, but also my storytelling technique. She can see and describe whatever a story is missing…and that's how she taught me to do better endings. I've contracted her for multiple projects now and would recommend her to friends.
“ I'm so thankful to Anya of Touchstone Editing. Her work is exemplary. She has a strong grasp of grammar and an understanding of historical and cultural nuances, researches etymology and idioms for unfamiliar words and phrases, has an eye for turns of phrases and wording, sees patterns and themes in the writing, and is a pleasure to work with, both professional and personable. I hope she'll always have a place for me in her editing schedule, because she's the best!
“ Absolutely thrilled with the extensive editing I received from Jen at Touchstone. I'd spent so long with this novel that I wasn't able to catch many of the errors Jen was able to find with her incredible attention to detail! Would absolutely recommend this company to anyone looking to get a professional editing job prior to submitting their work to agents/publishers etc. You will not find more qualified editors than these folks!
“ Anya has a thorough knowledge of plot development, character arc, and story structure. She is very professional, and I am impressed by her quick turnaround times. Though my manuscript was garnering partial requests from agents, my work was being rejected, and I was growing discouraged. After Anya edited my first fifty pages, an agent requested the full manuscript for the first time. Subsequently, I signed with Red Adept Publishing to publish my debut novel,
Blaming the Wind. Anya has helped me see my writing through a new lens and grow as a writer.
“ Two things make Jennifer stand out for me. One, she was very detailed in her feedback about what was good and what needed work. I sent her a manuscript that I knew needed help, but I couldn't pinpoint why or where. Her specificity and ability to identify why something wasn't working was so helpful. All of her suggestions are actionable, which made editing less daunting. The thoroughness of her feedback gave me confidence. Second, she was genuinely nice and collaborative. I can't highlight that enough. She was warm, enthusiastic and flexible. After swimming with your story for months by yourself, having a cheerleader like Jennifer in your corner was the best. She came highly recommended to me, and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an editor.
“ Anya is an amazing editor! She's done content edits for both me and my husband (as well as line/copy edits for my husband), and I have the pleasure of working collaboratively with her on Rhewbix Cube projects. If there is a problem in your manuscript, Anya will find it. She's detail oriented but also sees the big picture. I highly recommend Anya!
“ I've had the pleasure of working with Jennifer for a full manuscript critique, and I highly recommend her work. She responds to emails very quickly, and her work is thorough. The edit letter she delivered to me was detailed and extremely helpful. She really paid close attention even to the little details in my story. I would love another opportunity to work with her again! She will help make your work shine!
— Kelly Barina
“ Working with Anya at Touchstone Editing has been awesome! She provided spot-on line editing, as well as plot and character insights that strengthened my story. Her questions made me dig deeper into the character motivations, which added emotional depth. Highly recommend Anya!
“ Over the last 10 years I've had multiple opportunities to work with Anya. She has this incredible talent of turning your ugly, limping, babbling baby into a flawless, relevant, sharp, and strong kid that you are so proud of. She's 100% reliable and offers great advice. It's always a pleasure to work with her.
“ Jennifer corrected a 300-slide presentation for a project. She used her eagle eye to find every single mistake and correct it or even improve the sentence to make our meaning clearer. We were all really happy with her work, and the document is still being used 3 years later. She answered quickly and worked fast (we were in a hurry) and was instrumental in the success of this fundamental document.
— Axel Norbelly
“ I'm extremely fortunate to have worked with Anya Kagan on two of my books, and continue to be astounded by her attention to detail and dedication at every level of developmental editing. She truly goes above and beyond for clients, and always provides thoughtful feedback and suggestions. Anya always has clients' best interests at heart, and there is nobody else I'd rather trust with my work.
“ Anya was a tough but fair editor for my debut novel. What I appreciated the most was that she provided not only thorough and detailed explanations of everything I needed to change/address and why, but also suggestions for making the story tighter and better. She approached it like a surgeon. Anya also made an effort to spare my feelings—edits can be tough, especially for first time novelists! In my case I'm pretty thick skinned—I was so thrilled to get every piece of constructive criticism. It was all so spot on and so necessary and my book is so much better for the insights she provided.
“ I'm a professional copy editor, but while writing an academic paper I realized that even editors sometimes need a little help. I knew there were some sections that needed work, but I wasn't sure how to fix them. Jen promptly read the paper, spotted the problem areas and offered suggestions on how to fix them, and helped bring clarity and focus to the entire paper. Her edits were spot on. I highly recommend Jen's editing services.
“ While having someone with a keen eye for typos, spelling, and grammar is invaluable, what I appreciate most are the insights Anya brings to character and motivation.
“ I loved working with Touchstone Editing. My book is still in the early stages, and Jennifer's clear and concise feedback helped me decide where I need to focus my revising next.
— Amber Harris
“ Anya did an amazing job on my manuscript. She was able to look at my storyline as a whole and help me determine what information was missing, extra, and where I needed more work. Instead of just saying "you are telling, not showing," she provided examples of where I did this and suggestions on how to improve. I highly recommend her developmental editing services!
“ Anya was extremely prompt and organized about responding to my initial request and scheduling edits. I received emails during the process, and edits were delivered on time, as promised. The work itself was insightful and helpful in honing voice for each character and for streamlining plot.
“ Anya Kagan's developmental editing was thorough and insightful. She encouraged and guided me to a stronger story.
“ I knew my first page was failing me, so I contacted Anya. … Not only was she prompt but she was spot on. The turnaround time was awesome and the feedback was amazing! I highly recommend Anya.
