online writer or editor

A powerful free writing tool from Reedsy Write and export a beautifully professionally typeset book

Write and typeset a beautiful book.

The Reedsy Book Editor - A powerful book production tool.

A beautiful production tool that takes care of the formatting and conversion, before you have even finished writing.

Simply, beautifully

With a professional

Export to PDF & ePub

“But I’m happy with MS word.” – is not an excuse

Do your book a favor and use a tool built for book production, a simpler way to write.

A beautiful interface built for distraction-free writing. Our formatting toolbar makes it easy to apply styles as you write. When it comes to typesetting, consistency is key. Learn more about how to format your book here .

Collaborative editing

Say goodbye to managing chapter revisions with your editor and co-authors by email. Work together on your manuscript in real-time, tracking changes, editing prose and making comments. (Coming soon)

Distribution ready

Exported files are ready for instant distribution to ebookstores, distributors and POD services such as Smashwords, IngramSpark, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple iBooks and Kobo Writing Life.

Professional assistance

Finished your draft and looking for an editor? Luckily, we have a marketplace for that! Bring in expert assistance, and work with them directly on your manuscript. Effortlessly.

Powerful features that will transform the author-editor relationship

Track changes

These advanced features are coming soon! For more information, check out our FAQ

Professional themes, perfect for ebooks and print

Authors and publishers no longer need to rely on expensive typesetting processes. Now you can produce a beautiful book in seconds, for free!

Select a theme to preview

Print and distribute with Blurb

Prepare your manuscript with Reedsy, then print and distribute to the world with Blurb

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Create your free Reedsy account to browse hundreds of professional profiles.

Reinvent productivity with Copilot for Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Editor

Write with style and confidence

Write more clearly and concisely, anywhere you write, with help from Microsoft Editor.

Use the free Microsoft Editor grammar and spelling checker now to see how it works.

Get intelligent writing assistance

Write with confidence across documents, email, and the web. With features that help strengthen your spelling, grammar, and style, Microsoft Editor is your intelligent writing assistant.

Grammar and spell check

Catch misspellings and check for grammar, capitalization, and punctuation errors.

Go beyond the basics

Check for clarity, conciseness, and formality with the premium features . In-app learning tips provide background and suggestions on things such as vocabulary and punctuation. 2

Write clearly and concisely wherever you write most

Check your spelling and grammar and polish your writing style across social media, email, and documents. Use Editor in Word, Outlook, Gmail, LinkedIn, and Google docs, among many other applications.

More languages, more options

Communicate in more than 20 languages, including English, Spanish, German, and French, with intelligent grammar, editing, and spelling suggestions. Select up to three languages to spell check at the same time.

Do more with Editor

Create your own dictionary so Editor won’t mark certain words as misspelled.

Check your document for content that’s similar to text online and cite the original source.

Identify phrases that would benefit from simpler wording, switch to active voice instead of passive voice, and avoid jargon.

Highlight issues like sentence fragments, missing words and punctuation, capitalization, and commonly confused words with the online grammar checker.

Edit, grammar, and spelling resources

Read grammar tips and tricks

Use Editor in Word for the web

Read spelling tips and tricks

Improve your writing

Write like a pro with Editor and Microsoft 365

• Enjoy intelligent writing assistance and advanced editing suggestions from Editor. 2
• Create documents that inspire with help from the smart assistance features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. 2
• Save up to 500,000 photos* and files with 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage (*assumes 2 MB file size). 2
• Enjoy an ad-free email and calendar experience with Outlook. 2

Editor is better with Microsoft 365

Stay a step ahead with the latest advanced apps available with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Microsoft Editor for free

Originally starting from Free now starting from Free

Editor basic,  spelling and grammar

Microsoft 365 Personal

Originally starting from $6.99 now starting from $6.99

$6.99 $6.99

(Annual subscription – auto renews)

Editor basic, spelling and grammar

Advanced grammar

Conciseness

Formal language

Punctuation conventions  

Copilot Pro available as an add-on. *

Microsoft 365 Family

Originally starting from $9.99 now starting from $9.99

$9.99 $9.99

Editor basic spelling and grammar

Microsoft 365 Apps for business

Originally starting from $8.25 now starting from $8.25

$8.25 $8.25

(Annual subscription – auto renews) 1

Available for up to 300 employes

Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

1 TB of cloud storage per user

Anytime phone and web support

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

Originally starting from $12.50 now starting from $12.50

$12.50 $12.50

Everything in Microsoft 365 Apps for business, plus:

Web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

Custom business email ([email protected])

Chat, call, and video conference with Microsoft Teams

10+ additional apps for your business needs (Bookings, Planner, Microsoft Forms, and others)

Automatic spam and malware filtering

Webinars with attendee registration and reporting

New: Collaborative workspaces to co-create using Microsoft Loop

New: Video editing and design tools with Clipchamp  

Copilot for Microsoft 365 available as an add-on. **

Frequently asked questions

What devices can i use microsoft editor on.

Currently, Editor is available on desktop devices including macOS and Windows. It is not available on mobile.

Where is Editor available for use?

Editor is currently supported in a variety of user-friendly locations including Google docs, Gmail, Outlook, Word for the web, the Word desktop app, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Outlook, among other places.

How do I get the browser extension?

The free browser extension can be downloaded  here for Edge  and  here for Chrome . It's free to use for spelling and grammar checking but you can get premium features by subscribing to Microsoft 365.

How is Editor a part of Microsoft 365?

If you subscribe to Microsoft 365, you receive premium features for Microsoft Editor wherever you use it, including the downloadable browser extension and Microsoft Word, among other places.

What languages can I have writing assistance in?

Editor supports basic guidance in more than 20 languages and spelling suggestions in more than 80. view the full list here .

Can I purchase Editor premium?

No, but you can subscribe to Microsoft 365 to get the premium version of Editor in combination with many other apps such as premium versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Learn more about Microsoft 365 products

Create impressive documents and improve your writing with built-in intelligent features.

New charts and graphs help you present your data in compelling ways, with formatting, sparklines, and tables to better understand your data.

Create well-designed, impactful slides with the help of Designer and Ideas in PowerPoint.

Connect, organize, and get things done with free personal email and calendar.

One cross-functional notebook for all your notetaking needs.

Easily store, access, and discover your individual and shared work files in Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams, from all your devices. Your offline edits will automatically sync next time you connect.

One app for all your chats, meetups, files, and tasks.

Get started

• [1]  After your paid subscription begins, cancellation policies vary based on your status as a new customer, product, and domain selections on Microsoft.  Learn how to cancel your Microsoft 365 subscription  and cancel it anytime in the Microsoft 365 admin center. When a subscription is canceled, all associated data will be deleted. Learn more about   data retention, deletion, and destruction in Microsoft 365 .
• [2] A Microsoft 365 subscription is required.
• [*] Copilot Pro benefits are currently available on web, Windows, and macOS and iPadOS. A Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription is required to access Copilot in select apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. Excel features are currently in preview in English only. Microsoft 365 Personal or Family and Copilot Pro are not available in the same transaction and must be purchased in two separate transactions.
• [**] Copilot for Microsoft 365 may not be available for all markets and languages. To purchase, enterprise customers must have a license for Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 or Office 365 E3 or E5, and business customers must have a license for Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Business Premium.

Follow Microsoft 365

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

Publish without self-doubt

AI-powered tools and reports to help you write with confidence

“ProWritingAid makes my writing better.”

Learn how ProWritingAid has helped bestselling author Leeanna Morgan edit her 59 published novels.

Do you feel like your writing lets you down?

We know what it’s like to have an amazing story concept but struggle to bring it to life. It’s frustrating when you can’t get your writing to do your ideas justice. 

“ When I started out... it was just me and ProWritingAid against the world basically. ”

Your masterpiece is just a few clicks away

Unlock your potential with our easy-to-use AI writing assistant.

Actionable advice to improve your writing

Make your writing more powerful in seconds. Enhance your sentences instantly by adding sensory details , eliminating weak words, and fixing common mistakes .

Comprehensive story critiques in seconds

Learn your story’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement with the touch of a button. Get custom suggestions for how to enhance your plot, characters, setting, and more.

Suggestions to help keep your readers hooked

Make your story come to life with “show, don’t tell” suggestions. Our sensory reports and pacing improvements will help you identify places to further engage your readers.

Tools for finding inspiration

Beat writer's block for good with tools to help you start or continue writing. With ProWritingAid, the right words are always at your fingertips.

Works wherever you write

We seamlessly integrate across all the apps you use, whether they’re on the desktop or online.

Built by writers, for writers

Our story began with a problem.

In 2012 in London, our founder wanted to write a novel but was struggling with self-doubt. ProWritingAid was his solution to that problem and led to him discovering his passion. Ten years later, ProWritingAid has helped over 2 million people become better storytellers.

We keep your writing safe

As writers ourselves, we know how important the privacy and security of your writing is. That's why we never use your text to train our algorithms and use bank-level security to keep your work safe.

Great writing in three easy steps

1. Sign up for free

Sign up in 30 seconds—no credit card required.

2. Improve your writing

Review our suggestions to improve your story.

3. Publish with confidence

Know that you are sharing your best story with the world.

Written with ProWritingAid

Join the bestselling authors who used ProWritingAid to edit their books.

USA Today bestselling author Leeanna Morgan’s poignant romance about a young widow finding a second chance at love in a small mountain town.

Stone of Fire

J.F. Penn, New York Times bestselling author, delivers a thrilling archaeological adventure filled with danger, conspiracy, and ancient secrets.

A spellbinding tale of magic, romance, and adventure set in a secret school for supernatural beings, from USA Today bestselling author Melle Amade.

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Professional editors. Expert processing

• Get Started
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Online proofreading and copy-editing services

Save 30% of the time you spend on writing

Get started

See sample edit

Meet our founder:

Get to understand our proofreading services.

Online proofreading services

Produce great content regardless of whether you’re writing a book, a business presentation, an academic article or an email. Learn more

Cut 30% off your writing time

Use Wordy to copy-edit, proofread or even rewrite your text quickly and consistently, so you can focus on what you do best. Learn more

56 subject fields covered

Copy-editing services from experts in 56 subject fields – academic, corporate, non-fiction, lifestyle, banking and more. Learn more

First-language editors in all major time zones

Manage jobs in real-time with an expert proofreader and editor in your time zone – from GMT to PDT. Learn more

Built for one file format: yours

Process 11 major file formats – including MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, LaTeX, Google Docs and others. Learn more

Copy-editor NDAs and secure file handling

Work only with copy-editors under a strict non-disclosure agreement and store all your files behind 256-bit security. Learn more

All online proofreading and copy-editing services on Wordy are done by professional, first-language editors based in the UK, US, and Australia. Each job has its own webpage with a messaging system, so that you can get in touch with your editor – and they with you – at any point in the process. This is great for last-minute changes or when signing off on a job. The messaging page stays open for up to three days after the editor has delivered the job, so if you have any questions – ask them!

Especially online proofreading and copy-editing services are all about understanding the context and concept of your text, and adhering to the tone of voice and rules you’ve already laid down when you send through your document. In our humble opinion, it really takes a skilled, intelligent editor to make the best of your text and ready it for publication. We do rely heavily on technology to make job processing and assigning on Wordy as straightforward as possible, but when it comes to online proofreading, it’s all about good old elbow grease. There aren’t any secrets to it; just the accumulated editing experience of more than 2,000 years. Wordy adheres to the professional and ethical standards laid out by the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading in the UK and The American Copy Editors Society in the US.

If you’re representing a company or an educational institution, the chances are that you’re not used to paying per delivery for your proofreading services, but instead receive an invoice once a month for the jobs you’ve actually processed. We can set up an open credit account for you, which will invoice individual users of the account or an account owner. We’re also here to step in as account managers, if you want to set up a copy-editor team to handle all your jobs or upload a house style you’d like us to follow. Do get in touch if you want to know more about our credit accounts for companies and educational institutions.

We provide online proofreading and copy-editing services to clients from all over the world, but as a company we are located in London. That means that tech support and client support are there for you during UK business hours, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT – and as quickly as possible the following business day. In short, we’ll reply to your questions or comments as fast as we can, but do note that headquarters staff need our beauty sleep, too. Proofreaders are, of course, available 24/7.

Several things are taken into account. First, how many words does the document contain? Second, are you requesting just proofreading and editing or additional services, such as rewriting or an express delivery? The cost also increases if you have a house style guide that you want editors to refer to, or if you restrict the availability of your job to a team of editors that you have selected. The best way to get an estimated turnaround time for your document is to upload it for an instant price quote and approximate delivery time .  If the turnaround time and quote are acceptable, you can continue with the purchase and place the order. If not, no further commitment is required.

Most of Wordy’s larger proofreading clients are invoiced for their usage at the end of each month. If an account has multiple users, we can invoice each user separately, or send the invoice to a single point of contact – for example accounts payable. Standard payment terms are 30 days net. We’re happy to help you set up your account, add additional users, upload your house style (if applicable) and set up an editor/proofreader team. In addition, we’ll be happy to sign a service-level agreement (SLA) and/or non-disclosure agreement if necessary. You can read more on the Privacy Policy page , Pricing page , and the editor guides pages for either UK English or US English . To discuss your requirements, please get in touch .

First, we check with you exactly what the problem is. If you have an issue with the quality of the proofreading, editing or rewriting – if you found a number of mistakes, for example – we will remove the editor from the job and forward the text to one of our head editors for a review. If we agree that the text does contain errors, we will ask you if you want a new editor to go through the text again in response to your feedback. We may offer you a full or partial refund based on the number of errors and inconsistencies we find in the edit. Please note that we don’t consider deliveries made later than the approximate delivery time as grounds for a refund. The actual delivery time will depend on the quality of the original text and the file format. To check on progress, you can, of course, always get in touch with your editor via a message on the job page and ask them to let you know when you can expect the job to be completed.

• Editor guide (UK)
• Editor guide (US)
• Editor guide (DE)
• Writer’s workshop
• Word count tool
• Proofreading marks
• Proofreading
• Proofreading online
• Proofreading services
• Copy-editing
• Copy-editing services
• Privacy policy
• Terms of use for clients
• Terms of use for editors
• Non-disclosure agreement

Reach Your Professional Potential

Everyone has tons of work to get through. Some accept the frustration. Others choose Wordtune Generative AI to speed up their tasks.

Try Wordtune for free. No credit card required.

Trusted by professionals in leading companies

Do more, faster

Get to know Wordtune’s GenAI platform

Write with confidence

Perfect your writing with Wordtune Rewrite— from a single word to an entire page

Write like the professional you are with AI recommendations

Unleash your thoughts without worrying about grammar or spelling mistakes

AI writing assistant

Enhance your productivity.

Write faster with AI suggestions — while remaining true to your unique style

Personalize your writing further with statistical facts or even a joke

Say goodbye to endless iterations — gain full control of your GenAI creation process

Create with AI

Create from scratch with ai.

Streamline your work with a variety of templates personalized for you

Create quality content from scratch with the press of a button

Choose from emails, LinkedIn posts, creative headlines and more

Cut reading and watching time in half

Summarize YouTube videos, blog articles, PDFs and more

Consume only the parts you need to know

Save time while staying in the know

Gain full control of your information, docs and more

Create a personalized knowledge base on your own Wordtune library

Use your trusted sources to find the answers you need

Stay in the know with AI Q&A and semantic search

With you, anywhere you work

Whether you're on your desktop, mobile device or using your favorite apps, Wordtune is there for you.

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Microsoft word, chrome extension, google docs, wordtune for ios.

GenAI that’s empowering, not overpowering

Wordtune has become an essential copywriting assistant for my social media team. As a result, we have saved 70% of the time we would have spent brainstorming and editing captions. 

Jonathan Kessler

Social Media Team Lead, Imagen

Wordtune speeds up our entire writing process by 15%. Additionally, it improves the quality of our messages and accurately captures the ‘melody’ of what we want to say in a more fluid language.

Barak Cohen

Learning & OD manager

Wordtune improved my customer satisfaction score (CSAT) by 30%. My goal in support operations is to translate technical language into clear and understandable English — Wordtune helps me achieve just that.

Tomer Ben-Arye

Support Operations Manager

Wordtune speeds up my writing process by 20% every day, saving me several hours of work. In my experience, Wordtune humanizes my content much better than any other AI tool.

Daniel Somers

Wordtune has reduced my email writing time by 30%. It’s a crucial tool for client-facing interactions and has allowed me to write at scale while maintaining the utmost quality.

Michal Livnat

Success Architect

The summarizing feature speeds up my research process by 25%, helping me discern which articles will be useful to read in full and which articles are irrelevant. 

Ariel Sasson

Legal Data Team Leader, Attorney

Managers from our client-facing teams, such as product and support, reported that 80% of employees that use Wordtune found that it enhanced their communication.

Ortal Lozowick

Generative AI you can rely on 

Wordtune doesn’t just give you options, it gives you facts . We check at least 5 sources before deeming a fact credible to use.

Wordtune in numbers

of professionals who trust Wordtune around the world

3.5B AI generations

used by Wordtune users per year

97% improved productivity*

*Users said in a survey after using Wordtune

companies have implemented Wordtune for their employees

Our Chrome extension rating 

supported for smart translation into English

Stand out with Wordtune

Enterprise-level security for all

Wordtune takes privacy and security seriously. Securing your data and adhering to compliance is top of mind.

Unleash your true potential

Slick Write

Check your grammar in seconds.

Slick Write is a powerful, free application that makes it easy to check your writing for grammar errors, potential stylistic mistakes, and other features of interest. Whether you're a blogger, novelist, SEO professional, or student writing an essay for school, Slick Write can help take your writing to the next level. Curious? See why Slick Write is the best. Try the interactive demo , or check your own document . No software download or installation is required.

Why Slick Write?

The grammar checker is lightning fast

Customizable feedback to suit your style

We do not redistribute your documents

Add impact to reports

Improve your grades

Engage your audience

Inspire confidence

English is a difficult language, so using correct grammar and diverse vocabulary will set you apart from the crowd. Using good sentence structure and wording improves your content's impact and readability while building your readers' trust. Slick Write goes beyond spell checking to teach you the habits of effective writers. How does your writing rate?

Improve your resumé

The job market is competitive. Gain an advantage, impress employers, and land more interviews by demonstrating professionalism and superior communication skills on your resumé.

Get the extensions

Using an extension is the easiest way to submit your work to Slick Write. They are available for Chrome and Firefox .

Bust your writer's block, and create new metaphors by playing the word association game . To begin, type a word or phrase in the box below, and hit enter. To quickly find associations for your own text, highlight a word or phrase in it, and use the toolbox popup.

The associator learns contextual word associations from real literature, so it may return offensive results.

Results for:

I know what I'm doing. Disable these hints.

• Submission Limit There is a limit of 200,000 characters, which is approximately 30,000 words. Anything longer should be submitted in smaller chunks, or it will be automatically trimmed.
• No document It looks like you forgot to enter your document. Paste it in and try again.
• Structure This tab shows sentence structure within the context of the document. Hover over a sentence to see its word count. Select a word or phrase, or click a sentence to get more information.
• Quotes This tab shows your quotations highlighted as Slick Write sees them.

More information »

• Sentence type flow Pieces with good flow will make use of all four sentence types, varying them to keep the reader interested.
• Sentence length flow Sentence length is indirectly related to sentence type, and is a good indicator of flow. Flow can be altered by adding, removing, lengthening, shortening, combining, or splitting sentences. Long sentences will be indicated by a red line on the graph. Sentences that flow poorly with their surroundings will be orange, and the source of the problem can often be found in a nearby sentence.
• Word length flow Word length is a minor contributor to overall flow, but even minor variations are signs of good rhythm.
• Passive Voice Index This is a measure of how frequently the passive voice is used. Consider revising your document if it scores over 100.
• Prepositional Phrase Index This is a measure of how frequently prepositional phrases are used. Consider revising your document if it scores over 100.
• Average sentence length Sentence length is a major contributor to the level of education required to read a body of text.
• Sentence length standard deviation This is a measure of the amount of variation in the length of a text's sentences. In texts that have broad appeal, this tends to fall between 50 and 90% of the average sentence length. You can increase this number by making long sentences longer, and short ones shorter.
• Sentence deviation to length ratio This is a measure of the sentence variety, and a major contributor to flow. Most novels score between 0.5 and 0.9, and popular ones often score near the high end of the range. You can increase this number by making long sentences longer, and short ones shorter.
• Just the stats preset Use this preset when you're only interested in the stats tab. Critique and Flow will be hidden.
• Honesty preset This preset checks for common indicators of deception, either by lying or omission, and is based on the findings of this study . Areas with high concentrations of these indicators should be viewed with skepticism. Note that the presence or absence of these indicators does not guarantee that a statement is true or false, and that the study was done on spoken communications, so it might be more applicable to interviews and speeches. As always, use your brain.
• Doubled words A word used twice in a row may be a typo.
• Commonly confused words This will check for the internet's most frequently confused words and notify you if it looks like you misused one. It is experimental and probably the least reliable feature. Consult a dictionary when necessary.
• Sentences starting with the same word A word should not be used to start more than one sentence in a single paragraph.
• Misplaced conjunctions It is considered poor style to place coordinating conjunctions at either end of a sentence. Placing a subordinating conjunction at the end of a sentence is against the rules.

It is said that one day, passive voice will bring weakness to your prose.

More information » Even more information »

• Overwriting Words like "very" and "really" make sentences wordier and weaken your message. These can be deleted in almost all cases without affecting the meaning of the sentence.
• Abstract words Abstract words lack specificity and overusing them can make even simple concepts difficult to understand. There are times when abstract words are desirable or even necessary; it would be difficult to write about math or programming without mentioning variables or functions, but you should use more specific terms whenever possible.
• Wordy and redundant phrases These phrases make your writing more difficult to understand. In most cases, they can be replaced with one or two words, or even deleted.
• Legalese These antiquated, arcane words and phrases will make your writing look like a contract.
• Double negatives Double negatives are almost always poor style.
• Adverbs They aren't bad in small quantities, but consider revising your document if more than 5.5% of its words are adverbs. Adverbs ending in "-ly" are considered the worst offenders.
• Adjectives They aren't bad in small quantities. A few of the words on this list can also function as other parts of speech. You have been warned.
• Contractions In formal writing, the use of contractions is considered a fault.

The boxer decked his opponent.

• Profanity Profanity should not be used in formal writing outside of direct quotations.

The critic's scathing review hit the nail on the head .

• Similes Similes and metaphors should be used sparingly. This option will detect most common types of similes.
• "Said" replacements Some people think that these substitutes for "said" are weak or obnoxious, especially if overused.

Her dress was long , and it touched the floor.

Her long dress touched the floor.

• Gender-specific pronouns Avoid using gender-specific pronouns in formal writing when the subject's gender is unknown.
• Weasel words Like abstract words, weasel words and phrases lack specificity. At best, they convey uncertainty. At worst, they can be used to "weasel out" of telling the truth in a straightforward manner. When checking a document that is speculative by nature, you might want to disable this detector.
• Third person pronouns According to this study , high concentrations of third person pronouns may indicate deception.
• Bias language These words and phrases often show the author's bias.
• Uncommon words Uncommon words will increase the document's reading difficulty.

Hot peppers burn my mouth, but I eat them anyway .

Since burritos taste good , I like to eat them.

• Sentence fragments A sentence must have at least one noun and one verb. Anything that does not is a fragment, and if it occurs outside of dialog, it should probably be rewritten.
• Long sentences Long sentences tend to be more difficult to read, making them good candidates for trimming or splitting. Alternatively, parallelism may be used to improve their readability, though this will not decrease the ARI score.
• Success with Style: Using Writing Style to Predict the Success of Novels
• Grammar Girl For your obscure writing questions
• Basic Prose and Style Mechanics An excellent, concise resource
• Television Tropes & Idioms Tricks of the trade
• Writing Realistic Injuries An invaluable article for anyone who writes action or horror
• Online Etymology Dictionary Learn the history of English words
• Scribophile Discuss the finer points of writing with other novelists
• Suggestions from the official See Sharp Press blog Learn about the mistakes that will keep your novel from being published.
• Smashwords Easy ebook distribution for indie authors
• Duotrope Find and learn about publishers
• CreateSpace
• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
• Creative Writing Prompts and Exercises Spark your creativity
• RhymeZone A popular rhyming dictionary
• Seventh Sanctum Name generators and more
• Apache OpenOffice The best free office software
• Literature & Latte Makers of the popular Scrivener editor

Did you find a bug? Do you want us to add a new feature? We would love to hear about it.

• Website Planet

10 Absolute Best Online Tools for Writers in 2024

• What We Look For in the Best Writing Tools
• Accessible : Ideas can strike anywhere, at any time. As a writer, it’s important that you can capture your ideas while on-the-go, and easily collaborate with others.
• Versatile : Every writer has their own personal style. Our favorite tools can work in a variety of ways, so you can find what works best for you.
• Free or Low-Cost : Regardless of whether you are just starting out or have already established a name for yourself, there’s no need to pay a big price, even for tools that can make a big difference.

#1: Grammarly – Best for Proofreading

Is It Free?

#2: scapple – best for brainstorming.

#3: Evernote – Best for Capturing Ideas

#4: CoSchedule Headline Analyzer – Best for First Impressions

#5: Hemingway App – Best for Improving Your Writing

#6: Readable – Best for Engaging Your Audience

#7: Cliché Finder – Best for Ensuring You’re Understood

#8: Google Docs – Best for Collaboration

#9: StayFocusd App – Best for Staying on Task

Is It free?

#10: noisli – best for boosting productivity.

• The Best Online Tools for Writers

• #1: Grammarly - Best for Proofreading
• #2: Scapple - Best for Brainstorming
• #3: Evernote - Best for Capturing Ideas
• #4: CoSchedule Headline Analyzer - Best for First Impressions
• #5: Hemingway App - Best for Improving Your Writing
• #6: Readable - Best for Engaging Your Audience
• #7: Cliché Finder - Best for Ensuring You’re Understood
• #8: Google Docs - Best for Collaboration
• #9: StayFocusd App - Best for Staying on Task
• #10: Noisli - Best for Boosting Productivity

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11 Best Editing and Proofreading Services in 2024

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

As a writer, it's not always easy to find typos or spelling errors in your own work. 

However, online editing services make error-free writing easy so you can focus on writing, not editing.

Below, we've listed the top 11 best editing and proofreading services for 2024 while considering years of experience, turnaround times, pricing, and quality. 

What Is the Difference Between Editing and Proofreading? 

Many people will hire a proofreader when they are really looking for an editor, and vice versa. However, editing and proofreading have different functions, and you will need one or the other depending on the requirements of your document. 

With editing services , your editor will: 

• Focus on improving the flow of language
• Check the overall readability
• Verify the accuracy of language
• Ensure the content follows a logical order
• Make sure your transitions are clear
• Verify that every paragraph is relevant to the overall argument
• Determine whether the tone fits the audience
• Ensure gendered language is used properly

With proofreading services , your proofreader will: 

• Check for grammatical errors
• Point out mechanical mistakes, such as misspelled words
• Correct missing or incorrect punctuation
• Verify correct and consistent capitalization 
• Fix sentence structure errors, such as run-on sentences or fragments

If you want in-depth feedback and revisions to improve your writing, editing is what you need.

If you need a final check to ensure your document is error free, proofreading is what you need.

What to Look for When Hiring an Editing or Proofreading Service

When hiring an editing or proofreading service, there are a few things to keep in mind!

Editor Qualifications

Experience and education play a large role in selecting the right editor or proofreader. You want to work with someone who is qualified, who has expertise doing the type of editing you're looking for, and who has had satisfied customers in the past. 

Check each service's ratings on review sites to ensure their customer satisfaction levels match what the service promises.

An editing or proofreading sample can give you an excellent idea of what to expect from your editor. Samples may be free or paid and allow you to evaluate the quality of an editing or proofreading service.

Communication

Good communication is also crucial. Will you be able to ask your editor questions during or after the process? 

The goal of any editor is to help you develop your best work, so clear communication throughout the process is key.

You might be wondering what is a fair price to pay for proofreading. Professional proofreading rates vary, and so does quality. To get the best-value proofreading, you will need to find a reputable proofreading company.

Read More: How Much Does Proofreading Cost?

11 Best Editing and Proofreading Services for 2024

1. scribendi.

Since 1997, Scribendi has been providing high-quality editing and proofreading services to students, academics, and authors from around the world. 

An ISO-certified industry leader in editing and proofreading services, Scribendi has a global team of hand-picked editors, many of whom hold master's degrees and PhDs. The onboarding process for new editors at Scribendi is intentionally rigorous so that only the highest-quality editors are selected—around 5% of all applicants. 

With Scribendi, you can expect affordable services and turnarounds in as little as 2 hours. The type of content Scribendi edits ranges from websites and blogs to essays and personal documents, with many other document types in between. Scribendi offers extensive feedback to its clients to help them develop their best work.

On the Scribendi website, you can also find case studies and reviews , along with a breakdown of how Scribendi customizes each service to specific clients. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 2 hours

Number of years in business: 25+

Free sample: Yes, 1,000-word free sample for editing or proofreading

ISO certified: Yes

Account deposit feature: Yes

Competitive Advantages

When it comes to fast turnaround times, affordable services, and professional, high-quality revisions, Scribendi has a competitive advantage over many other editing services.

With 25+ years' experience, their 480+ editors are available to proofread academic essays, novels, business materials, personal documents, or student essays 24/7, 365 days a year. 

Polish Your Writing with Our Book Proofreading Service

2. proof-reading-service.com.

Proof-Reading-Service.com offers high-quality English editing and proofreading services exclusively for professionals in science and academia. 

An England-based company, the proofreaders at Proof-Reading-Service.com are native English speakers with experience in various academic disciplines. Each proofreader on their team is personally selected and holds at least a master's degree, so their academic clients are fully supported.

The types of editing they help with range from journal and scientific editing to PhD thesis and manuscript editing. Since their specialty is in science and academia, this service would be most helpful to professors, lecturers, post-doctoral researchers, and research students.

Proof-Reading-Service.com offers a flat rate per 1,000 words. This rate does not change based on the type of content, so you always know how much proofreading will cost you.  

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: No instant quote

Number of years in business: 16

Free sample: No

ISO certified: No

An affordable option for academics and scientists, Proof-Reading-Services.com offers highly educated editors with expertise in many fields. 

Fiverr is a marketplace for digital services that allows buyers and sellers to work with each other through Fiverr's transactional platform. 

Through Fiverr, many freelance proofreaders offer their services at different rates and turnaround times. Within the platform, editing services can be filtered by budget, delivery time, and content type.

You can also sift through the profiles of freelance editors, read their reviews, and learn about their history with editing and with Fiverr itself. Each editor offers different rates depending on their experience and turnaround time.

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: N/A

Number of years in business: 12

Account deposit feature: Yes (for Fiverr Business users)

With Fiverr, you have the flexibility to choose a specific editor, and many niche options are available. The process is simple and easy, and each transaction is made through the Fiverr platform.

4. True Editors

True Editors offers professional editing services for academics, business owners, authors, and job applicants.

Their editing team is composed of engineers, research scholars, postgraduates, physicians, and even journal peer reviewers. Each editor on the True Editors team receives specialized training in academic editing and must take a language proficiency exam to qualify for their editing team.

To use True Editors' services, you can upload a file or enter your word count and choose your turnaround time. Their pricing varies by word count, and their website provides editing samples so you can get a feel for their editing style. If you're ever unhappy with their work, they also offer a free revision of your document.   

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 4 hours

Number of years in business: 10+

Free sample: 300 words or less for editing

True Editors has editors with specific subject-matter expertise.

5. ProofreadingPal

Operating out of Iowa City, IA, ProofreadingPal is an editing service that utilizes a two-proofreader model. This means that two proofreaders work on every piece of content ordered through their service.

ProofreadingPal offers editing services for students, professionals, and authors, including academic editing for writing styles such as APA, Chicago, MLA, or CSE. Their services are available 24/7, 365 days per year, with turnaround times ranging from 30 minutes to 7 days.

What also makes this service unique is that they accept orders both online and by phone, and their customer service team is available every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT. They offer free sample edits of up to 400 words, and they don't have a minimum word requirement if you'd like to submit a small document for review.  

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 1.5 hours

Free sample: 400 words or less for editing

With ProofreadingPal, you get two proofreaders reviewing every submission instead of one and quick turnaround times. 

6. PaperTrue

PaperTrue started in 2014 as an editing service but has since expanded its services to include essay writing, formatting, and plagiarism checking for students, as well as cover design, typesetting, and online distribution for authors.

Operating with the belief that language shouldn't be a barrier to success, PaperTrue helps a global audience of businesses, authors, and researchers edit their writing so they're able to reach their full potential. To date, they've served over 52,000 clients and have 4.5+ stars on review sites, including Google Reviews and Sitejabber. 

PaperTrue also offers a three-step quality checking process and hand-picked, qualified editors for each document reviewed. With locations in the US, Singapore, the UK, and India, they offer round-the-clock editing services with a turnaround time of 12 hours for documents up to 6,000 words. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 12 hours

Number of years in business: 8

With PaperTrue, you get not only editing and proofreading services but publication services as well, including typesetting, cover design, and online distribution.

Proofed is an editing and formatting service that helps students, businesses, authors, academics, researchers, and other professionals communicate effectively. Its mission is to provide the highest quality proofreading and editing services in the world.

With a diverse group of editors, the team at Proofed offers extensive knowledge on nearly every subject. All editors have undergone Proofreading Academy training, a course developed by Proofed, to ensure the highest standard of editing possible. 

Proofed offers speedy delivery (up to 10,000 edited words within 24 hours), with express and rapid turnaround times that range from 2 to 12 hours for select word counts. Their system supports over 15 different document formats, which makes the submission process easy, and their team offers 24-hour support.

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 2 hours  

Free sample: 500 words for proofreading only

ISO certified: Yes 

Account deposit feature: No

Proofed offers proofreading expertise in many fields, as well as formatting services.

Enago provides 24/7 editing services for the global research community. More than just a team of editors, Enago works with researchers in over 125 countries to help them publish their work in international journals. 

With end-to-end publication support services, such as pre-submission peer review, journal selection, and post-submission review, Enago also offers competitive quality assurance with unlimited edits and a money-back guarantee for manuscripts that are rejected due to language issues.  

Enago's editors all hold a PhD or master's degree, and they have an average of 19.4 years of academic editing experience. Each manuscript is assigned to an editor with similar subject area expertise, assuring high-level accuracy. 

Like ProofreadingPal, Enago also operates on a two-editor model, where all manuscripts are reviewed by no fewer than two native English-speaking editors. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 24 hours

Number of years in business: 17

Enago offers highly educated editors in the fields of science, academia, and business, along with help and support during the academic publication process. 

American Journal Experts (AJE) offers in-depth scientific and academic editing services, in addition to translation and manuscript formatting services, to help researchers publish their best work. Its mission is to improve the exchange of discoveries in the international research community by identifying opportunities to improve the research, publishing, and discovery cycle.  

In addition to providing quality editing services, their team of PhDs supports researchers when they have questions regarding manuscript submission and publishing. AJE also matches each manuscript with an editor who is a subject-matter expert. 

Prices and turnaround times, as well as more in-depth information regarding the details of each type of editing offered (standard, advanced, or premium), can be found on the AJE website. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 48 hours  

Number of years in business: 18

Free sample: Editing of up to 500 words for an abstract

AJE's editors have subject-matter expertise, and the service also offers translation and formatting services. 

10. Editage

Editage partners with researchers to offer advanced and premium editing as well as publication support and translation services. Their goal is to assure the publication success of hopeful researchers, scholars, and students. 

Each document submitted to Editage is assigned to an editor who best matches the content subject matter. Editage even offers the option to select your expert, price, deadline, and style, so researchers have full control of the service they receive. Researchers can also collaborate with their editing expert to ensure the paper follows their vision. 

Editage also has local language support, turnaround times of as little as eight hours, and a two-step revision process for quality. Their team of over 2,000 native English editors has publication expertise and covers over 1,000 subjects.  

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 8 hours

Number of years in business: 20

At Editage, two editors review every submission. They also offer client-to-editor Q&A interaction and translation services.

LetPub offers editorial services for researchers in the scholarly publishing community. In addition to editing, LetPub offers scientific illustration services, plain language summaries, and graphic and video abstracts. 

The LetPub team is composed of experts and senior editors who come from a wide range of disciplines, each one a native English speaker with experience editing both scientific and technical documents. The types of editing included in LetPub's services range from grant and language editing to response letter and scientific editing. 

Because many of LetPub's editors and staff have research backgrounds, they're familiar with the level of effort it takes to write a paper for publication, and they will reedit a paper at no cost if it is rejected for language reasons.

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 48 hours

ISO certified: Yes (for translation services)

Competitive Advantages 

LetPub offers expertise in science for scientists and academics, as well as translation and formatting services. 

Perfect Your Writing with High-Quality Academic Proofreading

There's a lot to consider when choosing an editing service. Save our table as a quick reference for your next document.

As long as you understand the important factors that go into choosing a great editing service, like experience, customer satisfaction, and quality, you'll be well equipped to choose the right one for you.

About the Author

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Achieve Perfect Writing with High-Quality Proofreading

Try our essay proofreading service.

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Value Proofreading: How Much Does Proofreading Cost in 2024?

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The 11 Best Windows Text Editors for Every Use

Finding the best Windows text editor for your needs could be a game-changer.

Quick Links

The best text editors for coding on windows, top windows text editors to simplify note-taking, the best text editors on windows for web designers and developers, the best general use text editors on windows.

Text editors are unsung heroes, allowing us to craft everything from simple notes to complex code precisely and efficiently. If you're a programmer, finding the right text editor for your code can be a game-changer. These are some of the best text editors for Windows you can get.

The tools you use when editing code can make a world of difference, starting with text editors for coding on Windows. These pack must-have features, like syntax highlighting , code folding, and auto-completion.

1. Sublime Text

With features like effortless split panes, intuitive code navigation, and side-by-side definitions, Sublime Text provides everything you need for efficient work.

A key feature is tab multi-select, which makes split views and navigating between files a breeze. You can view definitions from auto-complete popups and jump to references with a click. Multiple selections also allow you to rename variables quickly across a project.

Sublime Text is impressively quick as well, with indexed project files enabling near-instant searches across thousands of files. This sets it apart from other editors, including Visual Studio Code. Paired with its super smooth UI, you'll wonder how you ever coded without it.

While Sublime Text is available indefinitely for free evaluation, you’re encouraged to buy a personal (or business) license. Personal licenses are a one-time fee of $99 and include three years of updates. Not only does this remove the nagging notifications about your unregistered license, but you also get all the premium goodies.

Download : Sublime Text (Subscription required, free trial available)

When it comes to coding, efficiency is key. VS Code truly shines in this area—it’s lightweight while packing serious power under the hood.

IntelliSense auto-complete means your fingers never have to leave the home row. Debug directly in the editor using breakpoints and call stacks. And managing source control is easy with integrated Git support and the ability to stage, commit, and push changes.

However, VS Code’s true power lies in its many extensions . You can add new languages, themes, debuggers, and services to expand functionality significantly. Need Python linting? React IDE features? Serverless deployment to AWS? There's a plug-in for that and more.

VS Code is free and supports dozens of languages through the Marketplace.

Download : VS code (Free)

3. Notepad++

Notepad++ provides features like syntax highlighting, code folding, and basic auto-complete for over 70 languages. Powered by the fast Scintilla editing component, Notepad++ remains lightweight and responsive.

Tabs allow working with multiple files simultaneously, and plugins extend functionality further. Default plugins include spell-checking, HTML validation, text sorting, and quote manipulation. Notepad++ also supports internationalization through translation files for additional languages.

While it lacks more advanced code checking and completion, Notepad++ excels at plain text handling with features like auto-save, string finding, and replacing with regex, line bookmarking, and macros. It recognizes different line endings and can reinterpret encodings on the fly. For basic coding needs, it remains an indispensable free Windows text editor.

Download : Notepad++ (Free)

Whether you're brainstorming code ideas or documenting hacks, your notes are crucial companions. But with so many options, which editor best fuels your flow? Here are a few focused yet feature-packed options.

4. Windows Notepad

As the default text editor pre-installed with Windows, Notepad is easily accessible for taking notes. While basic, it fulfills your basic need to record code snippets, configuration instructions, and other informational text documents.

Windows Notepad allows you to write code or take notes without visual clutter. Its key strengths include instant access, swift loading times, cross-platform compatibility, and the ability to strip any unwanted formatting. It supports multiple encodings to preserve character sets and can handle different line ending types.

Although heavier editors provide more robust options, Notepad is enough to maintain small code documents, documentation, TODO lists, and other light referencing materials during your workflows. Best of all, it's free and comes pre-installed on Windows.

Download : Windows Notepad (Free)

If you live and breathe markdown, Typora is a natural note-taking environment for you. Its seamless live preview removes the need to switch between write and view modes, keeping you fully focused on content. Typora simplifies markdown through intuitive formatting, lists, images, and mathematical syntax support.

You can organize your notes through Typora's customizable file tree, search, and outline panels. Various themes optimize visual comfort during extended writing sessions. You can save your files on cloud services like Dropbox , and an array of export options also exist for sharing your notes.

While a license costs $14.99, you can take advantage of a generous 15-day free trial to experience Typora's full capabilities.

Download : Typora (Requires subscription, but offers a 15-day trial)

6. Code Writer

Code Writer is a capable yet lightweight text editor optimized for Windows environments. Its fluid interface streamlines workflows through features like syntax highlighting across more than 20 file types, multiple document handling, and distraction-free full-screen focus.

Edit, print, search, and seamlessly open any accessible file while zooming and dragging text to your heart’s delight. This free text editor serves as a slick Notepad replacement with coding tools incorporated.

Download : Code Writer (Free)

As a web developer, you need lightweight yet loaded tools to tinker and make your ideas a reality. Here are two often unknown yet hugely capable text editors for your front-end fight.

7. Bluefish

Bluefish seamlessly handles the varied demands of web development. It supports over 20 markup and coding languages via real-time syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and code folding. With Project Support, you can even transition smoothly between tasks.

Bluefish’s powerful search/replace and snippet functionality helps you streamline repetitive jobs. Loose integration with external validation and compilation tools places relevant feedback within the editing context. Online documentation and translation into 17 languages further open the text editor to international users. Best of all, Bluefish is completely free.

Download : Bluefish (Free)

8. Brackets

Are you tired of switching between tabs? Bracket’s interface includes visual tools that eliminate the need to switch while working on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript notes.

Powerful preprocessor support integrates seamlessly into the workflow. But Brackets truly shines through its live browser preview—changes made in code are instantly reflected, closing the loop between writing and seeing results. This tight feedback loop is perfect for quickly iterating on web page mockups or prototypes.

A robust extension ecosystem, including additions like Emmet and Autoprefixer, further enhances the experience. Cross-platform, customizable, and fully immersive in the development process through an intuitive visual editing surface, Bracket remains an excellent free choice.

Download : Bracket (Free)

Most times, when it comes to editing, one size does not fit all. Here are a few powerhouses that’ll fuel your flow—in totally different ways.

Emacs is a highly customizable text editor that also functions as an entire computing platform. As one of the oldest text editors still in active development, Emacs has evolved far beyond basic text editing into a diverse ecosystem of contributed modes, plugins, and enhancements.

You can benefit from its self-documenting nature, built-in tutorials, and coding modes optimized for every language. Notes become code through its powerful Lisp-based macro language. Personal configurations completely reshape Emacs through live customization of nearly every aspect.

With decades of community innovations freely available, Emacs remains the ultimate sandbox for ambitious developers to manage all aspects of their work .

Download : Emacs (Free)

10. Textpad

Sometimes, simple is best. Built on the philosophy of intuitive usability over complex learning curves, Textpad seamlessly handles common workflows programmers encounter when managing notes. It excels as a plug-and-play solution for anyone tired of wrestling with configuration or learning curves just to edit plain text efficiently.

Key features like syntax highlighting, code folding, multiple clipboards, and regular expression search/replace optimize workflows. Reusable snippets across projects streamline repetitive tasks. Extensive language support covers documentation, scripts, code, and more.

This editor is not free, but you can access a free trial to see if it's the right fit for you.

Download : Textpad (Requires subscription, but offers a free trial)

Vim is a venerable yet ever-evolving text editor with roots as the standard Unix tool vi. Its deep extensibility through a powerful plugin system and hundreds of supported file types have sustained Vim as a classic programmers' tool for efficient coding workflows.

Taking advantage of macros, registers, and deep undo allows your text to be efficiently transformed with more functionality and potential. Syntax highlighting and configurable keys in Vim optimize the visual parsing of code snippets. Integrations with build tools and debuggers bring relevant project data into your editing context. A vast online community continually develops extensions that integrate new languages and features.

While initially daunting in its keyboard-centric interface, Vim adapts well to simpler usage through configuration presets. For ambitious programmers, this free text editor cultivates proficiency worth investing in.

Download : Vim (Free)

There are many capable options available, but finding an editor that seamlessly enhances your unique workflow and continuously inspires productivity will prove most valuable in helping you effortlessly bring your ideas to life.

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Opinion | Gannett fired an editor for talking to me

Sarah Leach spoke to Poynter in an attempt to staff up her team. She may have been successful, even if she won't be at Gannett to see it through.

Sarah Leach, an experienced editor overseeing 26 Gannett community papers in four states, was fired via video conference first thing the morning of Monday, April 29. She was accused, she said, of “sharing proprietary information with (a reporter for) a competing media company.”

The reporter in question was me.

Her boss, Silas Lyons, next asked, “How do you respond?” Leach recalled. Then he added, “We have documentary evidence you have been communicating with Poynter.” No performance issues were raised. Since the dismissal was for cause, after 13 years of service, Leach was offered no severance.

Lyons’ bill of indictment was half right. Leach and I met five years ago at a Poynter seminar and have stayed in touch since. She did email me March 29, saying, “Things are a lot worse than people realize, and I’m hoping people are telling you about it. … I can’t speak on the record, but I’ll tell you what I know.” The rest of our interchanges were by phone or through her private email.

Lyons did not say how the company identified her as a source. As best Leach and I can figure, they must have tapped into her office email. “That’s the only way I can think of that they could have known,” she said.

The firing took place while I was still reporting the story, two days before Poynter published it. Leach published her own statement Thursday afternoon.

Back to the facts in a moment. But as both a participant and chronicler, I do have an opinion of what happened.

Outrageous! Gannett is a news company, not a widget factory, though it often does seem to be run like a widget factory. Gannett employs several thousand journalists who go to work every day in pursuit of stories, some of them based on insider tips and information. To pillory a successful and basically loyal editor because she raised an issue mildly embarrassing to the company…? Gannett’s top management extols itself for its commitment to excellent journalism while deploying espionage on its own employees? What a bunch of phonies.

Leach’s take: “They seem to be more interested in controlling their outward image than listening to their own people.”

Lyons declined to comment, as did spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón, who said the company does not discuss personnel matters.

Leach’s tip and my story concerned a ballyhooed initiative to revitalize Gannett’s small community papers like the one Leach had edited for years in Holland, Michigan.

The centerpiece, known internally as I-30, was to hire at least 30 new reporters for outlets that had only one or none who were locally based. However, just as it was getting rolling, the initiative was suspended in November. Then Lyons told 17 editors at the end of March that the “pause” (his wording) would extend through the second quarter.

Meanwhile, chief content officer Kristin Roberts continued to brag about I-30’s success as recently as February, three months into the pause, in an earnings call with analysts and a webcast.

Leach has been promoted several times during the five years I’ve known her. Still based in Holland, she oversaw The Holland Sentinel there and 25 more papers in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. The pause was a bitter pill to her and the editors who reported to her, as they had been scrambling for years to cover multiple outlets with ever-shrinking staff. When the promise of fresh resources was postponed indefinitely, she said, that extended a management nightmare. She hoped that a story on it would goad her superiors into action.

I spoke with Leach minutes after her firing. Though shell-shocked, she already had a firm fix on the situation. “I took a chance, and I got caught,” she told me. “It seemed important to reveal what was going on.”

Leach is a single mom of three. Because of her family situation, she said, she cannot leave Holland for a job elsewhere. The sudden loss of income was alarming.

She turned quickly to patching together work and found immediate encouragement. Two newspapers (including The Detroit News) and a TV station have expressed interest in employing her to cover Western Michigan. “I’m going to be able to pay my mortgage,” she told me this week.

This had been an especially good year for Leach professionally. She chose herself to cover a big local story as a new right-wing group of county commissioners took control and began dismantling the government — starting with the local health department.

The stories were forceful enough that her predecessor as Holland Sentinel editor and another citizen nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize in local reporting. Also, The Washington Post jumped in with long stories , seeing a Middle America case in point of MAGA stalwarts in action at the local level.

With her Post connection, Leach was hired to cover the Michigan leg of a three-city series of Trump rallies May 2. She shared a quadruple byline three days after being fired.

There is one other oddity in the sequence of events. Leach had a conference call, scheduled before I began work on the story, with Michael Anastasi, who oversees all of Gannett’s 200-plus regional papers (USA Today has a separate structure). “I had never had that kind of one-on-one conversation with him,” she said.

As it happened, the call took place the Friday before she was let go. It was a pleasant how-are-you-doing chat, she said, that allowed her to make her pitch for more staffing.

She gleaned from talking to Anastasi and then to former colleagues after she left that while the promised I-30 hires remain on hold, permission to fill several other positions had just been approved.

That was a relief. “It’s not The New York Times.” she said, “but I’ve dedicated most of my career to community journalism — they need to be served too.” Her choice to raise a fuss seems to have achieved at least part of her objective. But Leach won’t be around at Gannett for the next chapters.

Opinion | Gannett fires editor for talking to Poynter, and other media news

Firing a single mother of three who was speaking up for more newsroom resources is a horrible look that deserves scrutiny and criticism.

Donald Trump repeated inaccurate claims on the economy in a local news interview in Pennsylvania

Trump repeated a bevy of inaccurate claims about the economy during an interview with WGAL-TV, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, station

Opinion | Kristi Noem’s media headaches now extend to conservative outlets

The South Dakota governor’s past few days have been so bad that she’s canceling on conservative media. Conservative media might soon cancel on her.

Q&A: HBO Max’s new ‘Girls on the Bus’ set out to show a cool, fun side of journalism

Former New York Times reporter and show co-creator Amy Chozick on how fact inspired fiction, pitfalls she avoided and today’s media environment

Sarah is a class act, a champion for local journalism at a time when local journalism needs all the champions it can find.

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Let’s keep our planet safe.

To the editor:

I’m writing to address the piece by Richard Nolan that was published in the Herald-Star last Sunday.

The EPA carries out laws passed by elected officials. There has long been a cynical effort by greedy polluters to blame the EPA for laws enacted through the normal legislative process. Voters are becoming more informed about climate change. Many of us have had personal experience with illegal dumping, abandoned strip mines and dirty water and air.

You’ll never hear the fossil fuels industry mention the phrase “superfund site” because they would rather you not think about how things turn out when industry gets to monitor itself without constraint. They’d like you to concentrate your hatred around the EPA. And that’s what this is all about, a campaign of hatred and fear in an attempt to get the focus away from the enormous amount of greenhouse gases that are being pumped into the atmosphere.

We can do something about this, but things would go so much better if we all put our efforts into making the future safe and clean for the generations who will live in that future instead of grubbing for money and ignoring what science says about the effects CO2 emissions are having on our planet.

One other issue that gets lost in all the scaremongering and misinformation concerns employment. When jobs are lost due to the transition to clean energy, the workers affected must be compensated without having to jump through a lot of hoops, they must not be made to bear the burden of going from the present dangerous energy policy to a safe future. If we can bail out Wall Street titans like we did 15 years ago, then we can help those who have had their livelihoods taken from them as we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

We have one planet, let’s work cooperatively and unselfishly to make it safe for those who will have to live here.

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