TESTIMONIALS
Alana edited an entire manuscript for me, and it was an absolute delight to work with her. The last phase of completing a manuscript can be very stressful, but working with Alana has significantly mitigated pre-submission stress for me. She did her best to flexibly accommodate my schedule and
to improve my text while respecting my writing style and voice.
Alana is one of the hardest working individuals I have ever met, and the professional standards she sets for herself are truly admirable. She is very knowledgeable about various formats (MLA, Chicago, etc.), shifting conventions of inclusive word use, grammar, and punctuation.
Moreover, she did a terrific job with pointing out repetitions and suggesting alternatives that improved the readability and accessibility of my manuscript. I also found immensely helpful Alana’s comments that explained why she recommended certain edits,
especially when these corrected recurring problems.
Alana is not just exceptionally competent, but also uniquely kind and patient. As I told her, I wish I could write faster, so that I could work with her more.
I wholeheartedly recommend Alana to any author. She is an editor who brings perfectionism to any kind of text and editing assignment she works on.
—Gabriella Lukacs, PhD
I have nothing but superlatives for Alana’s copyediting: she is extraordinarily thorough, precise, and sensitive to language and voice. We recently worked together for the first time on an academic book manuscript about the history of landscape. She has a well-honed process for handling silent changes, tracked changes, and comments or suggestions to clarify and strengthen the prose—and we discussed those parameters in advance—which leaves the author in control, and makes everything straightforward and clear. She also provided a custom style sheet for the volume that was a tutorial in itself, and one I will make use of going forward.
My press required a variation on a standard style, which she handled with aplomb, and she catches errors in many languages. A delight of a colleague, Alana is flexible about scheduling, works quickly, and is very communicative and responsive. Her time estimates were right on target. Finishing a book can be a solitary and stressful process; it was a great asset to have such a crackerjack and cheerful collaborator for the final stages.
I will be contacting Alana for future projects, without a doubt.
—Yvonne Elet, PhD
I heard reports from scholars and writers I know about highly satisfactory experiences with Regent Square Editing, so I contacted Alana Dunn for help with a sprawling project that was desperately in need of a solid going-over by a good copyeditor. I was struck immediately by her timely responses, her keen eye for detail, and her thorough expertise in a range of European languages (a must, in a project that draws on sources in English, French, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and Portuguese). What I didn’t expect were the extras: Alana’s tact, good will, and unflagging patience, not to mention her equally unflagging cheer.
In the final throes of preparing the manuscript,
I felt like I had a true blue companion in the trenches.
When I sent the book out to publishers, editors commented on the polished and professional state of the manuscript. I plan to bring future projects to Regent Square Editing, and I highly recommend Alana Dunn to fellow writers.
—Leah Middlebrook, PhD
As anyone who has done it will affirm, the work of researching and writing a dissertation is not a sprint; it is a marathon. It is a grueling endeavor, as much academic as it is psychological. Working with Alana was like having a running buddy for the last mile of my dissertation marathon.
Two months before defending my dissertation, I hired Alana to do ETD formatting and copyediting for me while I finalized the project's structure and content. I'm so glad I did. Alana was attentive to my editing needs and project timeline, she asked questions I wouldn't have thought to consider, she had an eye for detail (in a way that I do not), her communication was prompt and clear, and she did her work quickly. In addition to all of this, Alana's disposition toward encouragement and collaboration was a much-appreciated morale booster in the final stretch of my dissertation project.
—Emily Bryan, PhD
Alana is a wonderful copyeditor. She read my academic book manuscript with care and precision. She has a keen eye for those small errors that are so difficult to find. And she has a talent for getting inside the text itself.
Indeed, what I appreciated most about working with Alana was her editorial touch: she posed thoughtful questions and built a dialogue with me about my text. She was always respectful of what was on the page already, but at the same time, she wasn’t afraid to politely push me to account for my language. My book is certainly better for her efforts, and I look forward to working with her again.
Something else I want to note:
Alana is a kind person. She’s prompt and clear in her communication. She knows the trials and tribulations of navigating university bureaucracies. When I had to explore the red tape surrounding my research funding, Alana was nothing but patient, understanding, and helpful. This is part of what made my experience so enjoyable. If you’re looking for a copyeditor, then I cannot recommend Alana enough.
—Steven Cody, PhD
I had a fantastic experience working with Alana. I sought her help toward the end of my dissertation writing and editing process. From our first correspondence, Alana was thoughtful, accommodating, and flexible with her time. She constructed a detailed style sheet with all of my vocabulary and word preferences, and she saved me countless hours by ensuring the formatting across all of my footnotes was correct and consistent throughout all of my separately written chapters.
She went above and beyond with both big picture concerns (such as language consistency throughout the entire project) and with small elements (such as looking up foreign language words and the names of archives to confirm all spelling was correct). In fact, neither I nor my dissertation committee could find a single typo or spelling error in the entirety of my document. I truly felt her investment in the success of my project.
Writing a dissertation is often a difficult—and occasionally lonely—process for a graduate student. Alana’s encouragement and support when a passage was particularly compelling or well written helped me push forward, and our agreed timeline for sending her chapters kept me accountable. Far after our work together came to an end, she remembered the date of my dissertation defense and emailed me to wish me good luck. I would absolutely recommend Alana and I will be reaching out to her again for future projects!
—Sara Berkowitz, PhD
I cannot recommend Alana highly enough. We worked together on a large academic volume in the humanities, whose final shape she helped realize through her expertise, precision, and patience. Alana’s knowledge of language is boundless, and I was especially impressed that she navigated the subtleties of the discipline’s jargon with mastery and finesse (she even caught misspellings in foreign languages!). Equally important, she has an incredible sense of rhetoric and style.
In her notes, she often raised thoughtful questions or comments that strengthened the meaning of the text, all the while exercising sensitivity toward the author’s intention and voice. She is extraordinarily talented at her work, and she undertakes her duties with remarkable efficiency, flexibility, and good humor. Communication was always prompt, clear, and cheerful, and she maintained unflagging positivity throughout. Suffice it to say, her abilities extend to both academic and creative writing: Alana is thorough, meticulous, and a great pleasure in collaboration. I look forward to working with her again on future projects.
—Tracy Cosgriff, PhD
As Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
I write letters of recommendation, newsletters, teaching reviews, reports, prefaces, stories, essays; the list, I’m afraid, goes on. The constant is that Alana is there for all of them. I think she wears a magic pair of glasses, because she sees things I cannot. I think of her as a partner on my writing projects: until she sees it, it’s not done. And so quick and efficient! What a pleasure it is to work with her.
—Daniel Wallace,
Distinguished Professor of English, author of Extraordinary Adventures, The Watermelon King, and Big Fish
I recently worked with Alana Dunn on an academic book manuscript. Alana is an extraordinary copyeditor. She is extremely meticulous, discerning, and has an astounding eye for detail. At the same time, Alana never imposes her own language choices on the text. Instead, she works with the author to bring forth the most accurate writing and verbal expression, all the while remaining faithful to the original style and ideas of the text. Beyond this, Alana is highly professional, efficient, and communicative. It was an absolute delight to work with Alana, and I will most certainly seek her help again in the future.
—Olivia Landry, PhD
I got in touch with Alana because I needed a reliable copyeditor for a research article and a review, both intended for high-quality academic publishing venues. She responded immediately and suggested a suitable time frame that accommodated my schedule. She is an incredibly fast and efficient worker and returned the edited pieces to me in no time (she even worked on a holiday weekend!). As a copyeditor, she is extremely thorough and careful, and she offered excellent suggestions about wording and phrasing that were helpful to me as a nonnative speaker of English. I was struck on both occasions by how quickly she read herself into the subject matter and terminology of the pieces, and how she was able to help me improve both the details and the overall consistency of my work. I highly recommend her for any kind of academic copyediting.
—Christina Hoenig, PhD
Colleagues in my lab and I have worked with Alana since May 2022. She has helped us edit several articles submitted to top peer-reviewed journals, some of which have been published. Alana always impresses us with her knowledge, skills, very quick turn-around time, and high-quality work. We have very much enjoyed working with her.
—Zhipeng Lu, PhD
I loved working with Alana! She was incredibly responsive, meticulous, and efficient. Got my manuscript back to me days before the estimated turn around.
—Catherine Do Tan, PhD
I really appreciate working with Alana to edit my manuscripts prior to submitting them to top peer-reviewed journals in the business field. She is efficient and timely while greatly improving the overall readability of my manuscripts. Thank you for your valuable services!
—Stephanie Fernhaber, PhD
I had a wonderful experience with Regent Square Editing (RSE). I received RSE as a recommendation from a professor since I was writing a thesis on a very difficult and controversial topic. I wanted to make sure my presentation, content, works cited and structure would not only frame for a strong thesis but eventually serve as content for a book I intend to publish on abuse. Alana not only provided insight and feedback, she asked probing questions
to ensure the language and content were aligned. I gave her an almost unreasonable time frame for turnaround, yet she delivered her edits before the date she'd estimated. I would work with Alana for my next work and also highly recommend her for fellow colleagues and writers.
—Tamara Kersey, MA, MDiv, MACL
I had the pleasure of working with Alana while finalizing my dissertation manuscript for submission and publication. Initially, I had asked Alana for help in editing my dissertation chapters prior to my defense, but unexpected changes in my schedule altered our plans. Alana was incredibly kind and understanding about these sudden changes and was even up for the challenging task of editing a five-chapter dissertation in four weeks’ time. She was collaborative and clear when it came to setting deadlines, detail oriented in her comments and edits, and excellent at incorporating my institution’s formatting requirements. With Alana’s help, my dissertation submission process felt like a breeze and was submitted ahead of schedule. I was very happy with the end product. Thanks, Alana!
—Cynthia Ramirez, PhD, MPH
I am writing to express my gratitude for the excellent work Alana has provided me with in the past. Her quick and efficient service, as well as her reasonable pricing, have truly exceeded my expectations. It is always a pleasure to work with a professional like Alana, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work together again in the future. Thank you once again for your exceptional service.
—Mengqi Li, PhD student
I am a graduate student, and it was wonderful to work with Alana to complete my thesis. Not only has she been blazing fast with returning edits, she has been communicative, precise, and so friendly. Alana struck a great balance between making judgment calls and asking for clarification.
My whole writing energy changed when I recruited her in the final phase of my project, and she helped me establish accountability for myself. Having an editor like Alana helps with the overall anxiety of producing a major piece of writing because she was a safety net to catch my mistakes. Many thanks! Can’t wait to start my next writing project with her.
—Zainab T., MArch
Over the years, our projects have consisted of poetry and prose, ranging from highly compressed stories to sprawling poems, with only one real constant: we're usually running behind deadline.
Alana Dunn has consistently provided copyediting and proofreading services that are timely, affordable, and most importantly, accurate. She has that uncanny attention to detail that allows her to find inconsistencies across an entire document or that extra space lurking in the unlikeliest place. Alana reads not only to ensure that the "rules" are being met, but to ensure that our authors are communicating their intentions clearly. I think every one of our readers is, without knowing it, grateful to Alana.
—Ross White, executive director,
Bull City Press
The best copyeditors don't just look for simple mistakes. The best copyeditors question every page, every line, every word, for clarity, concision, and truth. Alana Dunn is just such a copyeditor: professional and prompt in her communications and reliable when it comes to deadlines. She offers more than just a quick proofread. Through her deep understanding of the text, she assists the author in his or her intent, working not only to make sure everything is punctuated as it should be, but that the manuscript as a whole is consistent and meets her exacting standards of excellence.
—L. C. Fiore,
author of The Last Great American Magic, winner of the 2017 Novel of the Year award from Underground Book Reviews