Ryan Quinn

Ryan Quinn – Editor

Hawk-eyed and supportive copyeditor with over 15 years of Big Five and indie experience.

Overview

Before you send your book into the world forever, make sure it's as perfect as it can be. That means putting it through a professional copyedit that will eliminate typos and other errors that distract readers. For over fifteen years, I have helped publishers and authors bring their books to the next level. As an author-friendly copyeditor and an expert in the Chicago Manual of Style—the gold standard in publishing—I have applied my copyediting expertise to a vast range of fiction and nonfiction titles for Big Five and indie authors alike.

Services
Fiction
Dystopian Espionage Humor & Comedy Literary Fiction Mystery & Crime Young Adult
Non-Fiction
History Political Science & Current Affairs
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

Deutsch LA

Jan, 2011 — Present

Proofread ad copy, scripts, and pitches for a major ad agency

Self-employed

May, 2010 — Present

Copyeditor with over 15 years of experience in the publishing industry. I work with a diverse range of publishers on both fiction and nonfiction titles.

Phoenix Books

Sep, 2009 — Apr, 2010 (7 months)

Edited and copyedited a diverse list of fiction and nonfiction titles.

Penguin Group USA

May, 2007 — Jun, 2009 (about 2 years)

Portfolio

The Silver Prison

Peter Shokeir

In a war-torn future, a mysterious man has been dug up in the Sahara—somehow alive, buried for who knows how long, wearing an indestructible helmet that cannot be removed. He is a man with strange abilities and an even stranger personality. He is captured and ... read more
Under the Rug

Todd S. Wonkka

At eight years old, Jake Walden is sexually assaulted by his male babysitter. The incident is swept under the rug by Jake’s parents, leaving him confused about the limits of love and loyalty. Jake copes by immersing himself in reading, playing guitar, and writ... read more
Who is to say who holds the moral high ground? A protective man engaged in the criminal underworld, where loyalty is the law? Or an agent of the law who breaks any number of oaths without compunction?Two years before the establishment of the federal Drug Enfor... read more
An expatriate businessman, Gregg Westwood, leaves the Officers’ Club at an American Air Base in Japan unaware about the impression he’s made on two intelligence agents. They sized him up as someone with potential for strategic deployment, and more importantly,... read more
Deep in the wilderness of rural Alaska, people tell the legend of an elusive predator called the Hana K’ilo. Said to hunt from beneath the water's surface, it waits silently to spring out, seize its victims, and drown them in the depths.Harlan Holt is a scient... read more
It’s f#@!ng tax day in post-apocalyptic America!Armed with red ink, and a suitcase full of only the most high powered drugs, Arthur and Rabia return to the savage United Wastes. Their mission? Nothing less than taking down The Colonel’s slave operation.But whe... read more
The Twin Cities

Nicholas Whitcomb

You never know where a good cake can take you.Young alligator Riley is just trying to get his foot-claw in the door of the baking world. But even with the help of his Beast friends—his hyena roommate, a raccoon clockmaker neighbor, a creative equine, his porcu... read more
For fans of Robert Macfarlane or Elizabeth Rush, National Magazine Award winner and The Nation columnist Ben Ehrenreich layers climate science, mythologies, nature writing, and personal experiences into a stunning reckoning of our current moment and our all-to... read more
When Duncan McCallum is asked by Benjamin Franklin to retrieve an astonishing cache of fossils from the Kentucky wilderness, his excitement as a naturalist blinds him to his treacherous path. But as murderers stalk him Duncan discovers that the fossils of this... read more
"A thoughtful perspective on humans' capacity for moral behavior." ―Kirkus Reviews "A comprehensive introduction to religious skepticism." ―Publishers Weekly In What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, Phil Zuckerman... read more
Award-winning constitutional law historian, Lawrence Goldstone examines case-based evidence to reveal the court's longstanding support for white supremacy (often under the guise of "states rights") and how that bias has allowed the court to solidify its positi... read more
“Pink is a keen observer of the culture of minimum-wage jobs and low-rent studio apartments that is the reality of life for all those who don't find a cog space in today’s hyper-capitalist economy.” ―The GuardianIt was maybe the first job I'd ever had where pe... read more
“[Coleman] argues that the algorithms of machine learning ― if they are instilled with human ethics and values ― could bring about a new era of enlightenment.” ―San Francisco Chronicle The Age of Intelligent Machines is upon us, and we are at a reflection poin... read more
"The third panel in Brown’s masterwork triptych on addiction from youth to sixty, Apology to the Young Addict also accomplishes at last a staggeringly rare mercy―on the ghosts of memory, the ravages of disease, the brutal hypocrisies of religion, and finally―m... read more
The electrifying debut memoir of a son of working-class Mexican immigrants who fled a life of labor in fruit-packing plants to run in an Indigenous marathon from Canada to Guatemala, reimagining North America and his place in itGrowing up in Yakima, Washington... read more
Dax Harrison

Tony Valdez

Well, this is a damned mess... Dax was so close to leaving the hero business behind him. He'd done his duty, saved the galaxy a time or two, and made out like a bandit with the movie and merchandise rights. Now, Alliance HQ is forcing him to be the poster boy ... read more
The year is 2010. John Howard can barely stand upright as he stumbles through the streets, his crushing headache a brutal reminder that he’s the only person who knows the fate of humanity: he can see what will happen in the next one thousand years.The year is ... read more
For as long as Kaven can remember, Lantrelia has been at war. Yet its foe is not flesh and blood, but the eternal rage of the god Na’lek. Incarnate in a mighty storm called the Fury, Na’lek’s rage has butchered mankind by sending forth armies of supernatural m... read more
After young Henry Babbitt tragically loses his father, he can’t help but remember the promises of the great adventures they would now never take. Then, on a snowy Christmas Eve, his grandfather reveals that he’s tracked down a series of mysterious century-old ... read more
A dark otherworld exists alongside ours, because the true meaning of our convictions lie in the rhythm of time. What we believe is time, may find its answer in our greatest fears.I am ancient evil. A malignant, vile creature older than humanity. Legion is my n... read more
Mechcraft

Brian Fitzpatrick

A teen singularity hunted by relentless enemies for his shape-shifting nanotech ability.A story that hits like a sucker punch to the face- "a mad, violent rush of a book not for the weak-hearted." Jake London's ideal teen life is thrown into chaos when he disc... read more
I Am Waltz

Matthew D. Dho

In the year 2036, the world is a very controlled place. Robots owned by a single corporation named IRIS have filled the vast majority of jobs. Nearly everyone works for IRIS subsidies. Crime has been all but eliminated, with the exception of actions from anti-... read more
The Helix was created to revolutionize the way we communicate. But even the purest of intentions can spawn terrible evil. This wasn't what Lithia had in mind when she decided to run away from home. Her ship was not meant to carry a fugitive wanted in two galax... read more
The Sleeping Man

Stephen Carignan

The last of the Dreamwalkers seeks answers in the long-lost Compendium, but the greatest mystery lies within his own past. With no memory, no family, and no allies―only the inherited ability to move from the physical realm into the collective unconscious calle... read more
A simple surf trip goes wrong, when three friends decide to make a run at easy money. In the spring of ‘96, Tim Stewart had no idea what he was going to do with his life. To delay the inevitable slide into employment banality, he allows his friends, to talk hi... read more
24 Hours

Carl Strom

What do you do when your celebrity-DJ daughter is kidnapped and you have twenty-four hours until she’s killed? Forget the Swedish police. If you’re the wealthy von Mullers of Stockholm, you call PI Martin Brunner and his mouthy apprentice, Daniel Lakin. As the... read more
What's the point of glory? And what's the best way to slip a jab? Is there linguini with clams in my immediate future?In this literary satire, a gifted female kickboxer deals with a devastating loss and an even worse past by becoming a trans-dimensional domina... read more
The PINNACLE asks, would you give up your emotional freedom to make the world a better place? This is the dilemma facing 21-year-old Anna Black. Whisked out of her normal life on an otherwise typical day, Anna suddenly finds herself in the custody of a mysteri... read more
This is a tale of vengeance.Six months after the death of his mentor, Cole Traske is returning to work as the new leader of his former interplanetary shadow-ops squad, Penumbra. As they head towards their first target, Cole must balance the responsibility of l... read more
HIS HUSBAND, SEBASTIAN, DISAPPEARED TWO YEARS AGO. JUST AS HIS LIFE IS ON THE UP-SWING, EVERYTHING BEGINS TO SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL.As one of the most up-and-coming criminal defense attorneys in St. John's, Newfoundland, Caleb Winters has virtually everything a... read more
★★★★★ "I am a Tom Clancy fan, and this was as good."- GOODREADSA GRIPPING, SUSPENSEFUL THRILLER.Will a manipulator create bloodshed?The stakes are always high for Jack Shaw, a sniper and intelligence operative for the Global Intelligence Agency. But now, follo... read more
During the 1990s, as New York was transformed from a crumbling city into a vibrant metropolis, the New York Mets were anything but vibrant. Beginning in 1999, the team waged a battle to recapture the hearts of New York baseball fans from their crosstown rivals... read more
The Knightmares

G.A. Finocchiaro

Mike Graves and his pals love burgers, banter, and comic books. They don’t have a care in the world until an evil warlord from another dimension threatens to tear those bonds of friendship apart. Now it’s up to Mike and his best pals to stop it.As if college w... read more
When Andrew bought a carved figure from The Peddler, he thought he was doing the old man a favor. When three violent criminals came to give his shop a shakedown, he realized it was the other way around. In this fantasy, horror novelette, a luscious, green park... read more
Existence Augmented is a dystopian, sci-fi novelette and psychological thriller. The world outside is cold, hostile, and virtually lifeless. Human existence depends on sophisticated, technological living compounds. The people who don’t have them, once driven t... read more
The Depths

Kirk Kjeldsen

"A gut-punch of a thriller, wickedly paced and beautifully rendered." - Peter Swanson, author of Her Every Fear and The Kind Worth KillingFrom the author of Tomorrow City and Land of Hidden Fires comes a thriller about a strained expat couple that gets taken h... read more
Criminals: Love Stories

Valerie Trueblood

Valerie Trueblood is, simply put, one of the finest story writers who is currently working in the American language, as prize committees acknowledge. In this, her beautifully made third collection, each of the fifteen stories asks two defining questions: What ... read more
The Theoretical Foot

M. F. K. Fisher

When her long-time agent and friend Robert Lescher died in 2012, the manuscript of M.F.K. Fisher’s unpublished first novel was discovered packed tidily away in one of Lescher’s signature red boxes.Following on the success of Serve It Forth and written when she... read more
A twelve-year-old boy, middle son in a wealthy, politically and culturally prominent San Francisco family, watches his city disappear in the earthquake and fires of 1906. His father him that nothing has been lost that cannot be swiftly and easily replaced. He ... read more
The work of John Jodzio has already made waves across the literary community. Some readers noticed his nimble blending of humor with painful truths reminded them of George Saunders. His creativity and fresh voice reminded others of Wells Tower's Everything Rav... read more
This remarkable book joins the company of “self-work,” deep acts of memory that serve to illuminate the present by shining the clear light of careful regard on the past. The book finds company in the work of D J Waldie’s Holy Land, Didion’s Slouching Towards B... read more
Sandeep Sanghavi, the mixed-race son of an Indian businesswoman and a famous American astronomer lives a nomadic albeit mundane life traveling the country with his mother's hotel consulting firm. His life becomes more interesting when various lost objects sudd... read more
Could a nightmare be used as a murder weapon? That’s the provocative question confronting Gurney in the thrilling new installment in this series of international bestsellers. The former NYPD star homicide detective is called upon to solve a baffling puzzle: Fo... read more
Born in Missouri more than a century ago and raised in a Pentecostal orphanage, the creature now calling himself Gelson Verber has changed his name countless times. He’s part-werewolf, and makes his living hunting certain kinds of bad men—criminals, rapists, t... read more
Most of us have experienced what it’s like to know what someone is going to say right before they say it. Or perhaps you have been shocked by the irrefutable phenomena of coincidence, when your life intersects with another’s in the most unlikely way. In grippi... read more
Munch

John Dory

A vegetarian bartender from Brooklyn races against a pair of mysterious Vatican operatives for a recently deceased, 300-pound Italian opera singer in a fish tank full of brandy in this hilarious send-up of a society eating itself.Welcome to Munch, an undergrou... read more
A young lawyer in Los Angeles is called back to his family's farm in rural Australia and plunged into a complex struggle between past and present, town and country, and the secrets that haunt them all.When he learns of his mother’s ailing health, Daniel Rawson... read more
Noy Holland is one of America’s great writers, and each of her previous collections has been greeted with wide acclaim. Critics have praised her exquisite prose, her exuberant characters, and the exhilarating tension of her tales.Following the wonderful recept... read more
A daring collection on the human body by an award-winning poet turned essayistAnna Journey’s lyrical and layered arrangement of essays dazzles with her reflections on our shifting selves—the many “skins” we inhabit in a life. An Arrangement of Skin is by turns... read more
"Rarely has a marriage so come alive in a work of fiction. . . So intense, beautifully written, shining with 'felt life,' it is truly gripping—riveting." —Joyce Carol OatesAbigail McCormick and Ray Stark are both poets, married nearly twenty-five years in what... read more
"A true-crime story centering on a South Texas lawman who became a law unto himself . . . Of interest to students of Texas history as well as aspiring law enforcement officers, who should read it as an example of how not to conduct themselves." —Kirkus Reviews... read more
The US ambassador to China is killed in a suspicious plane crash just days after a news article links Chinese spies to US business interests. The American intelligence community is left scrambling to investigate possible connections between the crash and a ser... read more
Every Kind of Wanting explores the complex intersection of three unique families and their bustling efforts to have a "Community Baby." Miguel could not be more different from his partner Chad, a happy-go-lucky real estate mogul from Chicago’s wealthy North Sh... read more
Grace: A Novel

Natashia Deon

Named a New York Times 2016 Best Book of the Year by critic Jennifer Senior. For a slave in the 1840s South, life on the run can be just as dangerous as life under a sadistic Massa. That’s what fifteen-year-old Naomi learns after she escapes the brutal confine... read more
The Fall

Ryan Quinn

Award Winning Finalist in the 'Fiction: Gay & Lesbian' category of the 2013 International Book AwardsThe new school year at Florence University, nestled in the Pennsylvania countryside, dawns bright with the possibilities that only a fresh start can bring. For... read more
End of Secrets

Ryan Quinn

Though her specialty is foreign cyberterrorism, CIA agent Kera Mersal finds herself plunged into a bizarre domestic case. Singers, writers, and artists are disappearing, leaving no trace in a world where everyone leaves a digital footprint. Posing as a journal... read more
Loving Mailer

Carole Mallory

Carole Mallory's life has been filled with colorful people, events and sexual encounters. As one of the original supermodels, she graced the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Esquire and as an actress she appeared in films such as The Stepford Wives and Lookin... read more
The Theoretical Foot

M. F. K. Fisher

When Robert Lescher died in 2012 an unpublished manuscript of M.F.K. Fisher’s was discovered neatly packed in the one of the literary agent’s signature red boxes. Inspired by Fisher’s affair with Dillwyn Parrish -- who was to become her second husband -- The T... read more
A woman sits in prayerful meditation, waiting to offer her first confession in more than thirty years. She holds a small book on her lap, one that she’s made, and tells herself again the Bible stories it contains, the ones she has written anew, for herself, ea... read more
Our Town: A Novel

Kevin Jack McEnroe

Our Town is the debut of a striking literary voice, one that captures the disillusion at the fringes of Hollywood as seen through a haze of drugs, alcohol, abuse, and fallen aspirations. An unseen narrator guides us through the dark fairy tale of Dorothy White... read more
No Stopping Train is the magnum opus and final novel of the late writer Les Plesko, a powerful, swirling novel of memory and violence set during the Hungarian Revolution.The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt following World War I... read more
Seeking to escape the monotony he had come to endure in his job as assistant District Attorney in San Francisco, Philip Kearney needed a change. His solution came one day in a casual email from a friend: “UN has opening here for an international prosecutor doi... read more
Luke Slade, a young Congressional aide, begins this business trip to China like all other international travel he’s endured with “Lyin’ Leo”: buried under a slew of diplomatic runarounds, non-functioning cell phones, and humiliation from the Congressman at eve... read more
51 dates. 50 weeks. That was the social experiment Kristen McGuiness—single, living in LA, and entering her thirties newly sober—embarked upon. McGuiness thought facing her struggle with alcoholism would be the hardest part, with love coming easily afterwards.... read more
Clyde Twitty could use a break, a helping hand. He's a young man lost - in his finances, in his family - and stuck deep within the fast-settling muck of a dwindling rural Missouri town that has, in every way, given up hope. The hand that reaches down, pulls hi... read more
The Gumshoe and the Shrink is a tale of political intrigue—a detective story and medical mystery set against the backdrop of the closest and most storied presidential election in American history. It’s the never-before-told account of how the craziest private ... read more
Heidegger’s Glasses opens during the end of World War II in a failing Germany coming apart at the seams. The Third Reich’s strong reliance on the occult and its obsession with the astral plane has led to the formation of an underground compound of scribes—tran... read more
Calf: A Novel

Andrea Kleine

The year was 1981. The US was entering a deep recession, Russia was our enemy, and John Hinckley, Jr.’s assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan shocked the nation. It was also the year author Andrea Kleine learned her close childhood friend had been v... read more
Award-winning author James Brown gained a cult following after chronicling his turbulent childhood and spiraling drug addiction in The Los Angeles Diaries. This River picks up where Brown left off in his first memoir, describing his tenuous relationship with s... read more
Conceived as a challenge to long-standing conventional wisdom, Creating the Future is a work of social history/cultural criticism that examines the premise that the progress of art in Los Angeles ceased during the 1970s—after the decline of the Ferus Gallery, ... read more
The video stores are dying. But most of you don’t care. You’ve got your Netflix and your Redbox and your DVR, so why deal with VHS tapes or scratched DVDs? Why deal with the grumpy guy at the worn-down independent video store?Well that grumpy guy is Waring Wax... read more
Lili St. Cyr was, in the words of legendary reporter Mike Wallace, the “highest paid stripteaser in America.” Wallace was so fascinated by Lili that out of all the presidents and celebrities he interviewed over a long career, towards the end of his life, she w... read more
Cementville

Paulette Livers

Cementville has a breathtaking set up: 1969. A small Kentucky town, known only for its excellent bourbon and passable cement, direct from the factory that gives the town its name. The favored local sons of Cementville’s most prominent families all joined the N... read more
The act of reproduction, and all of its variants, have been practiced in roughly the same ways since the beginning, but our ideas about the meaning and consequences ¬of sex are in constant flux. At any given point in time, some forms of sex have been encourage... read more
Hop Alley: A Novel

Scott Phillips

Cottonwood (2004) was a huge step forward for the burgeoning king of noir Scott Phillips, and his dark and gritty take on the western earned him starred reviews and praise from crime masters Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos. That novel featured the Kansas... read more
In his classic works of true crime, Harry MacLean examined the dark side of America and its fascination with violence. In The Joy of Killing, he builds upon this expert knowledge to create a page-turning literary thriller — an exciting combination of love stor... read more
Our planet is approaching a critical environmental juncture. Across the globe we continue to deplete the five pools of carbon – soil, wood, coal, oil, and natural gas – at an unsustainable rate. We’ve burned up half the planet’s known reserves of oil – one tri... read more
The People's Advocate is the autobiography of American Constitutional Trial Attorney Daniel Sheehan. Sheehan traces his personal journey from his working-class roots through Harvard Law School and his initial career in private practice. His early disenchantmen... read more

Ryan has 82 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Troy B.

Troy B.

Jul, 2024

Ryan is an excellent editor who helped me improve my novel in every way. He was very professional and his impeccable insights were very valuable to me. I am grateful for his contributions, attention to detail, and editing support. His comments, changes, and suggestions made my story better. I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs an editor!
Bill G.

Bill G.

May, 2024

Provided precise, detailed, and thorough edit of my first manuscript. Provided exhaustive copy and line edits and also identified inconsistencies, timeline questions and other issues only a thorough analysis could deliver. I'd strongly recommend Ryan.
Omar O.

Omar O.

Apr, 2024

Ryan is a knowledgeable copy editor who gave me a thorough proofreading of my manuscript. I enjoyed working with him.
Timothy F.

Timothy F.

Apr, 2024

This was my second time asking Ryan for assistance, and once again, I was very pleased with his copy-edit of my manuscript. Ryan completed the edit on time (a little bit early, actually) and did so with thoroughness and expertise. Thanks to Ryan!
Lynette L.

Lynette L.

Apr, 2024

I’m old school and found it difficult working completely on line with no direct contact with the contractor. However Rayan was very helpful and responsive.

Sign up to read more reviews

Create a free Reedsy account to connect with Ryan and thousands of other publishing professionals on Reedsy.

Professionals similar to Ryan

Get a range of offers by requesting quotes from multiple professionals.

Jenny Page

Jenny P.

Hello! I’ve worked on bestsellers by Elton John, Candice Carty-Williams, Erica James and Louise Pentland. Love crime and women's fiction.

London, UK

100% reply rate

View profile
Alison Kuznets

Alison K.

Editor experienced in non-fiction across humanities and sciences. Developmental and detailed editing to polish your work to its best.

Aberystwyth, UK

100% reply rate

View profile
Paul Higgins

Paul H.

I have a PhD in philosophy and two decades of experience in copy-editing humanities manuscripts for university presses!

Vancouver, WA, USA

100% reply rate

View profile