Praise for Barbara Brabec's
Editing Skills
NOTE: Barbara no longer edits book manuscripts, but these testimonials from satisfied authors attest to her editing skills, which are essential when critiquing a manuscript. They also illustrate the kind of concern she gives to her clients.
"Every author needs an editor for help with many thingsâgrammar, punctuation, spelling, and good sense. Barbara Brabec skillfully delivers accuracy in all these areas while preserving the author's voice, not an easy task. Her vast experience in business warned us about potential minefields in our content, saving us from trouble down the road. I highly recommend her keen editing services." - James Dillehay, publisher and co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Direct Selling, with Jay Conrad Levinson and Marcella Vonn Harting (Kindle book)
 "Barbara Brabec is an expert editor, a heartfelt true friend as well as a person with vast medical knowledge as she continually knew how to keep my blood pressure in check during the editing of my memoir, Of Shadows and Footprints. All kidding aside, my book never would have come to fruition without her compassionately directed advice. She always allowed my voice to be prevalent, even when the Texas slang was dripping off the page. Hands down, I will always count on Barbaraâs expertise going forward; that is, if she has the courage to work with me again." - Joe Bell, author of Shadows and FootprintsâThe Memoir of a Man Who Spent Fifty Years Battling His Inner Demons (Joe Bell Publishing; Kindle/Smashwords Editions)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Joe is a good example of how my book manuscript critiquing service can result in a much better book and lower editing costs at the same time.
After critiquing his manuscript before editing, he wrote: âI'd written this 106,000-word âslab of beefâ memoir and asked Barbara to take a look at it. What I learned from her critique enabled me to rewrite and self-edit the manuscript from 106,000 to 67,000 words, during which time I turned it into a âfilet mignonâ suitable for her editing. It was magical for me.â
"I felt as though I had struck gold when I found Barbara Brabec on the Internet. I was pleasantly surprised to find a helpful, friendly voice at the other end of the phone, someone I felt quite comfortable to talk to, even though at that point, I did not know squat about the editing process. I knew right off the bat that I had hooked up with a winner. Barbara led me through the editing process with an extra dose of patience since she had to teach me what my part of the editing would consist of. Barbara is a grammatically exceptional editor . . . very knowledgeable and professional at what she does; is accurate, timely, consistent, and a true gift to those who need her services. She is also very affordable. I thank God that I found her. " - Faith Stoddard, author of My Life With Tourette Syndrome: Just a "Tic" Away from Divine Intervention (Kindle book)
"Barbara puts her whole heart and mind into helping authors be at their best. Her considerable technical knowledge and skill at editing (grammar, punctuation, formatting, etc.) is equaled by her experience and wisdom at navigating the worlds of authorship and publishing. As important for me, she understood the 'what and how' of the ideas I was attempting to communicate and the best way to do so. For example, she helped with clarifying and shortening complex sentences with more concise, less awkward wording. And, it's a blessing that her rates were so reasonable for such quality services." - Michael Dinius, author of Targeting Teamwork: How Bosses and Other Performance Managers Can Build and Sustain Team and Organizational Excellence (Performance Management Consulting, Kindle and Smashwords editions)
âThere is an old sayingâ'God moves in mysterious waysââthat couldnât be truer than in my literary world. When He brought Barbara into my life years ago, I did not know a hanging participle from a curse word. With candor, professionalism, and great skill, Barbara has successfully guided me through the writing, editing, and publishing process of two books. I say this with bluntness: I could not have done it without her.
     "Through the years, Barbara has become like a fine wine that gets better with age. She is constantly updating her skills by investigating, researching, and painstakingly learning new things for her repertoire, and she always gives her clients the best service money can buy.â â Shawn Smith, author and publisher of Godâs Truth or the Liberal Lie: America at the Crossroads, and Find Happiness! How to Fill the Void in Your Life (Knight for Christ Publishing)
"I could not be more pleased with the editing process guided by the well-qualified wisdom and experience of Barbara. She provided in-depth comments that demonstrated a wealth of knowledge of the complete writing and editing process. She provided me with resources ... assisted me in determining how to write my copyright page, and made me aware of how to check to see what the requirements were for using Bible verses. She reworked my Table of Contents page and expressed concern about similar chapter titles which led to my rethinking the entire chapter-title concept. What resulted from that were new and improved chapter titles that clearly reflected the âjourneyâ within each chapter of the book. Barbara is an excellent Christian editor, so if you have a book with a Christian theme, I would recommend her services without reservation." - Lynn Dehnke, author of Meditate and Declare: A Journey with the Apostle Paul (Life Sentence Publishing, Paperback and Kindle editions)
"Thank you for editing my book, Purpose-Centered Public Speaking. I could not be happier with the job you did. You have been much more than an editor through this long and arduous process. (A better title for you is editor/consultant.) I cannot count the number of times that heeding your wise counsel saved me time and money. In addition to doing a prompt and thorough job of editing, you made helpful suggestions and treated my book as if it was your own. As an independent publisher, you helped me navigate through the process and pointed me to people and resources that gave me great support along the way. Further still, you took considerable pains to help me to understand the reasons for your edits in the hope of helping me avoid repetitive mistakes. I can honestly say I learned more about the English language from you during this process than I did in school. You were a joy to work with, and I feel like I received so much more than I paid you for.â - Dr. Gary Rodriguez, author of Purpose-Centered Public Speaking and President of LeaderMetrix (Publisher)
"I'd like to offer you a huge thank you for your first-class editing work on my book. If I compare the current version with the one I sent you for editing, they are like chalk and cheese (as we say in England). Your editing of the text made the book much more readable, and the structural changesâthe suggestion to bring the history together at the start of the book and the inclusion of sub-heads added a new dimension. You have taken the book to a new and better place." - Peter Shirt, Ukraine, author of Among the Ukrainians (Paperback; The Laundry Press)
"Barbara is not just an editor, but a friend who goes beyond the boundaries to help. Her direction is filled with sage advice and wisdom while still letting the writer's voice shine though. Barbara is a blessing." - Bryan West, author of Asperger's, God and MeâLiving with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (Lulu)
When I first began my search for some editing/self-publishing help, my burdened concern was who could I trust? Prayer led me to Barbara Brabecâs website. All my fears were laid to rest after a pleasing phone exchange and following correspondence. Barbara graciously helped to put me on a path of accuracy and acceptable writing habits that made better sense by way of her tenacious tutoring. She is a wealth of experience and prose ... she takes more upon herself than what she should in behalf of the client. She made me want to be a better writer.â - Mark McCall, author of The Adventures of Tibby, Natureâs Awesome Extraterrestrial Guardian, and Tibby and the Haunting of Beggar's Swamp