Geoffrey Sperl

Editor and Writer

Detroit, MI

Since graduate school, I have been writing and editing journals, books, web copy, articles, knowledge base entries, white papers, newsletters, and grant proposals across multiple industries. Over time, I've worked with small- to medium-sized businesses, freelance fiction and non-fiction authors, web designers, graphic designers, technical writers, university/college students, faculty, administrators & staff, sports coaches, professional coaches, architects, ministers, and others. Drop me a line and let me know how I can help you!

If you're looking for information on my IT support and project management work, please see my LinkedIn page.

Philosophy

Some people mistake an editor for a proofreader. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to proofread your work—but that's not editing. Editing is for making your work better.

In 1657, Blaise Pascal wrote in a letter "I only made this one longer because I didn't have time to make it shorter," and he was right—taking time to craft the text will help its message. Everyone's writing can always use a critical eye in order to make it tighter and more compelling. I don’t edit just to make a piece shorter—I do it to make the narrative work. Furthermore, I don't always cut—sometimes I ask for more writing. The key is always to make the narrative work.

My focus is academic work, most of which will never see the light of day outside of a faculty member's office, but I am always happy to take on something new and different. Aside from various dissertations, I'm currently working with a poet on a short chapbook and an Instagram influencer on a nutrition and fitness book!

My drive as an editor is to help you create a compelling, strong piece that more than delivers on its purpose.

Projects

Since I started heavily advertising my editing and writing services in 2018, I've worked on 12 dissertations and theses, 5 research papers, 4 memoirs, 3 academic journal articles, 3 workbooks, 4 grants and proposals, 2 art books, 1 usability study, 1 book of poetry, numerous blog and social media posts for a local convention, and web copy for two graphic designers. Not everything gets published, nor can all of it be made open for public consumption, but here is a selected list of pieces I've had a hand in over the years:

Editor, Vegan with Nour, by Nour Danno (forthcoming)

Editor, "Looking Back and Away: Jaime Barrios’s Film Club (1968)" (in Discourse, Volume 42, Number 3), by Jessica Gordon-Burroughs

Editor, Magento Hosting: Best Practices for Optimum Performance, by Brad Boegler

Editor, Wayne Literary Review, 1995-1997

Editor, Detroit Writer's Voice Monthly Literary Newsletter, 1996-1997

Proofreader, Creative Process in Architecture, by Don Paul Young

Proofreader, Fweivel: The Day Will Come, by Russell Frazier

Proofreader, Bye Bye DDR, by Eugene Chadbourne

Proofreader, Peacocks and Beans, by Valerie Tekavec

Author, "Establishing and delivering training for the Zimbra collaboration suite"

Author (with Kristi Evans Lenz), "The proper care and feeding of your help desk"

Author, "Taming the help desk"

Education

Wayne State University

Master of Arts, English

Wayne State University

Bachelor of Arts, English

Awards

  • Thumbtack Top Pro, 2019, 2020
  • 3 st Place ACM Communication Award, Computing Services Web Site, 2005
  • 2 nd Place ACM Communication Award, Software CDs, 2004
  • 1 st Place Plant Ant Pre-Lollapalooza Poetry Slam, 1994

Contact

For encrypted email, my public key is available on OpenPGP, and my fingerprint is: 

730F E9D6 49EB 4AFC 56C6 7717 74CA F3D7 FB3B A1DD