Hello, I’m Tess Marie, freelance proofreader of clean romances
At a young age, my love of reading led to a love of writing, and I knew the only job for me was one that involved working with words. Growing up, I enjoyed novels by Phyllis A. Whitney, Victoria Holt, Dorothy Eden, and countless other romance authors. These memorable stories warm a special place in my heart. I’ve since published four novels of my own—three of them romances—all highly rated. I live with my husband and five children in the Midwest, which has provided rich inspiration for my novels’ settings.
Through the years, I’ve honed my natural proofreading skills with plenty of study and experience. After working as an associate editor on a university literary magazine, I proofread listings for a local volunteer center, then moved on to proofing assorted website content, articles, nonfiction, and fiction. But clean romance remains one of my favorite genres. I’m a full member of the American Copy Editor’s Society (ACES) as well as a graduate of the College of Media and Publishing.
Be sure to view author testimonials of my work through my other proofreading site, ChristianProofreaders.com. (Yes, I’m a Christian and adhere to an ethical and moral code of conduct, but I do proofread nonreligious romances—I merely ask that they be fairly clean.) You can also view additional novels I’ve proofread through NovelProofreader.com.
My Credentials
College of Media and Publishing
• Proofreading and Editing course (level 4 diploma), with distinction
– CPD, EIDL, & IADL accredited
Centre of Excellence
• Proofreading and Editing diploma, with distinction
– CPD accredited
One Education
• Proofreading and Copyediting certificate, with distinction
– CPD accredited
Proofreading Academy
• Becoming A Proofreader course, with distinction
American Copy Editors Society
• Poynter ACES Certificate in Editing
• ACES Academy Webcast: Grammar Arcana
• ACES Academy Webcast: Small Changes, Big Difference
Editorial Freelancers Association
• Copyediting Fiction course
• Proofreading and Copyediting with The Chicago Manual of Style
The Publishing Training Centre
• Editing Fiction course
Training course by editor Louise Harnby
• Editing Fiction at Sentence Level
Training course by editor Jacquelyn Landis
• The Keys to Effective Editing
Training course by editor Jennifer Lawler
• Copyediting and Line Editing for Fiction
The PEN Institute
• Editing Romance Novels 201 Lesson Pack
• Copyediting Fiction 101 Lesson Pack
• Proofreading 101 Lesson Pack
American Christian Fiction Writers
• Virtual workshop presented by Tessa Afshar
– The Essentials of Editing
IAP Career College
• Book Editor Certificate
Ed2go courses and certificates
• Advanced Fiction Writing
• Write Fiction Like a Pro
• Romance Writing
• Publish and Sell Your E-Books
• Writing Essentials
• Grammar Refresher II
University of Michigan, via Coursera
• Writing and Editing: Word Choice and Word Order
University of Wisconsin-Waukesha
• AAS Degree, with focus on English and writing
– 4.0 GPA
– Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
– English department honor award
– Associate editor of the Windy Hill Review literary magazine