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Let's finish your manuscript. 

Testimonials

"As members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Gila and I have swapped several manuscripts as each other's beta reader. Her comments have been both helpful and supportive. She is a consummate professional, a writer/editor with a heart, delivering her services in a timely and diplomatic manner. I recommend her highly."
Marc KornblattFilmmaker/AuthorFilmmaker/AuthorUSA/Israel

"Gila is a rare creative mentor who focuses on the craft and intention of the work. She encourages her students to push their creative boundaries. I had the pleasure of working with her individually on some of my own creative work, and I felt empowered by her clear guidance and encouragement to focus on the work. It helped me grow as a writer."
Anastasia Wasko
Writer, Editor, & Transpersonal Guide, 
New Orleans, USA

"Gila is great!I gave her my first draft of the first fiction book I ever attempted, for copy editing.She was quick, thorough, flexible, and very generous with her time.And very sensitive to a first-time writer's feelings.Gila went well beyond the mandate, providing me with valuable and thoughtful insights on my manuscript's story and structure.I highly recommend her."
Jeremy Esekow, Raanana, Israel

Do you need a fresh opinion on your work? 

I'm also available as a beta reader for your work and as a sensitivity reader specializing in Jewish books that include Sephardi/Mizrachi characters. 

I've been critiquing work as an online instructor for WOW-women on writer since 2009. Participants are from all over the world and at every stage in the writing process. 

My background living in Israel, South Africa, and Canada, as well as teaching college students who hail from as far away as Russia and Ethiopia, means I have experience relating to a wide variety of writing and writer backgrounds. In addition, I've been critiquing participant work in my online courses since 2009, so short pieces are in my area of expertise, too.

Does your work need editing?

There are two basic levels of editing:

  1. Developmental editing:

    This type of editing is in-depth, big picture critique. It covers main story elements such as plot, setting, character, and pace. There are no hard and fast rules and most developmental editing is based on experience, instinct, and knowledge of target audience.

    What does a development edit of your manuscript involve? You might say goodbye to a character or a couple of characters might merge into one, your setting might reinvent itself, a motif might be added, the current symbolism might go out the window. It's not an edit for the timid or the weak. Remember, you aren't being critiqued; your work is under review.  The goal is to create as successful a manuscript as possible.
  1. Copy editing:

    This type of editing is often called line editing. Faulty logic, repetition, weak verbs, poor word choice, clunky passages, wooden dialogue, all of these elements and more come under fire in a content edit.

Are you a writer with a manuscript that needs editing or a fresh opinion from a Jewish perspective?

Living and teaching writing and editing in Israel since 1994, I come in contact with many Jewish writers of all stripes and I have a strong background in helping Jewish writers reach Jewish audiences across the spectrum. I lean on my knowledge from decades of working up close with Jewish publishers and publications as both a writer and an editor. I have given writing workshops in Israel from Jerusalem to Rananaa  to the Dead Sea since 2006 and I'm a graduate of Bar Ilan's Creative Writing program.

 

 

Editing Testimonials

  • Dedicated, Insightful and Professional

    Thank you so much for your dedicated, insightful and professional guidance and work on this.

    Yosef Packer

  • Happy to be working with you!

    I love, love, love your comments and feedback--thanks so much.
    I just finished rewriting the chapters you edited and I just want to say thanks so much. Your comments are so insightful and so on target. They forced me to really imagine the scene in all its detail and then pick the right details to bring it to life, and ground it at the same time.
    I'm really happy to be working with you!

    Avigail Sharer

  • Packed Pathos into Chapter

    It’s amazing!!! You packed so much pathos into that chapter and gave us such a clear sense both of Shulamit’s personality and the time period.

    Mishpachah Editor

  • Great Job!

    You're amazing. You've done a great job!!!

    Carol Ungar

  • Really Raised the Level

    Thank you so much for your work.
    You really raised the level of the catalog greatly!

    Eliyahu Miller

  • Really Helpful

    Thank you for all your hard work on this. Your comments are really helpful. I have told a couple of people about you as they needed an editor.

    Sue Lachman

  • Thorough, Knowledgeable

    Wow… this is quite some food for thought!
    Thanks, Gila, for being so thorough. You have a lot of knowledge to impart and I was lucky having you on board.

    Esti Teichtal

  • Exactly What We Need

    Love what you've done here, Gila. This is exactly what we need.

    Faigie Zelcer