Developmental editor and copy editor

What Are Editors For?

Editors mine for your draft’s theme, for your paper’s thesis, your poetry collection’s soul. We chisel around what’s there, and show you what we can see. Then, we begin the process of sloughing off the slag in favor of economic rock. It’s messy. It’s worth it.

Molly is an experienced developmental editor and copy editor primarily for academic monographs, as well as creative nonfiction, novels, essays, collections, and chapbooks.

Her PhD (2009) is in early modern philosophy with a concentration in philosophy of nature and environmental ethics. She completed the Editing Certificate Program at The University of Chicago in 2019, and is a member of the American Medical Writers Association.

Need an editor? Fill out the contact form to find out more about Molly’s process and freelance rates.

View Resume

  • "I was fortunate to find Molly Sturdevant on a website for writers. I contacted her and she responded immediately. I wrote about several painful topics from my childhood, and Molly was sensitive, kind, and understanding. Working with Molly was a wonderful learning experience, she not only made editorial suggestions but helped me to stay focused and to complete the manuscript. Molly saw the bigger picture as far as my story was concerned; she knew that I wanted to get published, so her suggestions for improvements were from both an editor's and a reader's point of view. I highly recommend Molly Sturdevant, she is an excellent editor."

    — EAM, memoirist

  • "We would like to highly recommend Molly Sturdevant as a copy editor. We (a group of co-authors) asked her to copy edit a paper that we were revising and resubmitting to an academic journal. We all felt that she helped to streamline the paper and improve the readability. Molly did a great job raising questions, when there were points in the paper that were unclear, Lastly, we also appreciated her quick turnaround."

    – Kathy Rehbein, Business School Professor

  • "I was completely stuck in my writing before I started working with Molly. My writing had bits and pieces of a memoir, but it lacked a coherent narrative throughout all the stories I had gathered over the years. It was painful to see so much of my work just sitting there, gathering dust because I didn’t know what to do with it. When I hired Molly to edit for me, I was embarrassed to have her see my work because I didn’t feel like it was “ready” for anyone to see. Molly helped me to overcome that embarrassment and provided helpful suggestions along the way. My writing really came together after that. I am so thankful for Molly and all her help! I highly recommend Molly. Please don’t be like me and wait until you are “ready” to hire her."

    — Debra Payne, Ph.D., MSW

  • "Molly Sturdevant is the dream editor materializing. I am not a native speaker and before Molly edited my plethora of different texts- from cover letters searching for jobs to papers and articles- my spouse helped out. He is not a professional editor, however, and I was mostly unhappy with his changes, feeling that the final result was not my own voice. I shall add that every cover letter Molly edited turned out into a job interview. Molly is also very quick and fun to work with. I am so very happy that I have found such a professional gem."

    — Andrea Althoff, PhD