Your Inspired Editor, Ghostwriter & Proofreader

Services

While the majority of the time I work with writers on their book manuscripts, I also do work in a variety of genres, including the following:

Books, both fiction and nonfiction
Website content
Business reports
Academic papers
Personal essays
Application-related content

My services include the following:

Content editing (also called substantive or developmental editing)
Copy editing
Proofreading
Ghostwriting
Building bibliographies (APA, MLA, or Chicago Manual of Style)
Creating book indexes
Coaching

Fees: Depending on your project requirements, service fees are either a flat rate (based on the word count) or an hourly rate with rates dependent on the turnaround time that you require.

To discuss the possibility of our working together, please contact me at editor@zoowrite.com.

To the editing wizardry of Nancy Pile, who so eloquently captured the essence of my message and encouraged me to pull out the stories and references of my responsibilities and give my process order and coherence . . .

—Susan Burlingame, author of the Kick-Ass Corporate Wife series

About

My name is Nancy Pile. I grew up in rural Kentucky in a farming family. In high school, with my parents' help and support, I was able to attend Groton School in Massachusetts. That's where I was introduced to Latin, chaos theory, and rowing (crew). I graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in British and American language and literature. I earned my master's from the University of Memphis in secondary English teaching, i.e., high school English.

I love to travel and teaching allowed me to do so. I lived and taught English literature and writing at high schools in rural Mississippi (with Teach for America), in Memphis, TN, and in Washington, DC. I served as a Peace Corps volunteer, living and teaching in a village in Mauritania, West Africa. Later, I taught for several years at a small international school in the highlands of Guatemala.

After 10+ years of traveling and teaching, I changed my role in regard to English reading and writing: I began working as a full-time editor and copywriter: editing books, supporting people in applying to universities and new jobs, editing web content, ghostwriting, building indices and bibliographies, and supporting graduate students in their research. I've worked with writers and clients on texts ranging from PhD dissertations, web content, and more than 300 books, both fiction and nonfiction.

I am really into bicycling and cyclo-touring. I've bicycled all over Alaska, including the 500-mile unpaved Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean. I visited the French Pyrenees to cycle the famous Tour de France climbs. In 2009, I did a year-long bicycling adventure, cycling across BC and Alberta, Canada, and then I followed the Great Divide south, through the USA, Mexico, Belize, and into Guatemala. I ended up stopping in Lago Atitlan, Guatemala, to take a month studying Spanish while waiting for some bicycle parts, and that's where I’ve been living ever since. You can read about this adventure and see great photos in this travel journal.

When I'm not working with writers, I enjoy bicycling, doing yoga or HIIT, walking the local trails with my dogs, making ice cream, baking fabulous desserts, and traveling (in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, in the photo below).

Writing, I’ve learned, is a very solitary process. But only up to a point. . . . [My] book was initially ideas and concepts put together. The magical flowing of thoughts came as a result of Nancy’s coaxing me to provide the connectivity between them. Her brilliant editorial work and wonderful additions have made my passionate writing sparkle. Thank you, Nancy!

—Kathy Archer, leadership development coach & author of the bestselling Mastering Confidence

Portfolio

Since transitioning from high school teaching to supporting writers, I've edited many, many books. In my portfolio below, I'm including a sampling of the most memorable, challenging, and rewarding books I've worked on.

If you are interested in working with me, please contact me, and we can talk about it. Here's my email address: editor@zoowrite.com.
Note: I am happy to do a sample edit of an excerpt of your work.