Developmental Editor and Research Consultant

I have over a decade of experience working with scholars, writers, artists, journalists, educators, and heritage professionals, across all career stages and at any step of a project.

My experience as a researcher, editor, and mentor has taught me that the best academic editing and research consulting is achieved through personal conversation, trust, and care — stewarding transformative scholarship rather than simply producing more content.

This is a collaborative partnership designed to protect your time, sustain your momentum, and ensure your work reaches its final, most impactful form. Most collaborations fall into one of two areas, though our partnership could also span across both:

Developmental Editing

  • •Manuscript Evaluationlet me be your first reader, offering high-level structural diagnostic of what's working and what isn't, then strategically planning together what to address first and how, so you can achieve your research aims and publishing goals.
  • •Developmental Reviewan intermediate edit ensuring that you are putting your best foot forward, focusing on the "core-four" (scholarly contribution, argument structure, academic conversation, and writing voice) before you submit a manuscript for review.
  • •Monograph Developmental Editdeep intellectual collaboration focused on the "core four" and any other concerns you may have; for example, transforming a dissertation into a monograph, or (re)starting work on that long overdue new monograph.
  • •Peer Review & Revision Supportguiding you through the demanding labor of rethinking, rewriting, and responding to complex reviewer or press editor feedback, keeping the work moving towards engaging and successful publication while also maintaining your agency over your own research and writing.

Research Consulting

  • •VIP Day (Rapid Project Development)an intensive, single-day collaborative session that provides you a snapshot of where you stand and strategize how best to move forward, allowing you to make informed yet immediate decisions and concrete plans, untangling chaotic ideas or moving a project past a point of vulnerability.
  • •Sabbatical Partnershipan ongoing conversational partnership designed to protect your research leave, launch a new project or solve structural roadblocks, and maintain research and writing momentum while honouring the need for recovery and rest.
  • •Strategic Research Designpartnering at the inception stage to shape a nascent idea or a shifting theoretical frame into a sustainable, cohesive research program, or book proposal.
  • •Keynote Developmenttransforming complex theoretical prose into an engaging and immersive public performance for keynote plenaries, named lecture series, or other high-stakes public speaking opportunities.
  • •Project Scaling & Triagestreamlining multiple concurrent research tracks or scaling up an ongoing project so you can navigate the various stages of the scholarly lifecycle without burnout.

How We Begin

Our collaboration begins with a 30-minute introductory conversation. This allows us to connect directly, share space, and map out the intellectual and practical stakes of your work. It gives me the opportunity to understand what you are looking for in order to devise a tailored working plan (including a clear, flat-fee project quote and timeline), while giving you a sense of how we will work together.

Within a couple of days of our conversation, I will send you this personalized plan so we can officially begin our partnership.

If you are a graduate student or precariously employed academic, absolutely no worries. Just let me know, and I will offer an adjusted rate.

My Approach

Conversation as transformation

My conversational approach isn't a metaphor. Whether at the development, design, or communication stage, a dialogue-based practice means ongoing virtual or in-person meetings that allow more than perfecting a draft. A conversational approach means staying true to your research aims by strategically organizing your ideas and highlighting your distinct voice, ensuring that your project transforms ongoing public and scholarly conversations.

Building trust

By learning about your research aims and the real-life stakes of your work, I meet you exactly where you are at. Together, we build a tailored plan that confidently and tangibly supports your research, writing, and publishing needs. Whether this is your first major publication, a new direction or idea that feels chaotic, or a topic that feels deeply vulnerable, I am here to listen, think alongside you, and talk it through so we can design a process that honors your voice and your timeline.

Care-informed collaboration

My practice is deeply informed by my scholarly expertise, offering me unique insight to the emotional and embodied toll of working with difficult knowledge, grounding my approach in survivor-centred, care-ethics, trauma-informed, and socially-responsible methodologies. Whether this resonates with your lived experience, academic journey, or research topic — I am here to guide and collaborate with care.

"Orly is the gold standard, working with her was a dream. The consulting sessions allowed me to work through my ideas in real time and think through complex structural changes and ethical questions. I loved how interactive it was. Orly deeply read and engaged with my work, and I appreciated having someone to talk through the problems (instead of just sitting alone in a room and thinking). Orly provided extensive and clear editing feedback, she outlined clear action plans with editing priorities and reasonable working timelines. She created a space that was generative, interactive, and creative. I always left our sessions inspired to write!"

Catherine Umolac

Lecturer in English, Lakehead University