Clients

“I had the opportunity to work with Barbie Halaby when I enlisted her services as a line editor for my memoir, The Spirits Called My Name. Her fee was reasonable, and she stayed within the timeframe that we agreed upon to review my manuscript. Whenever I needed to contact her, she swiftly replied to my questions and requests. The quality of her work was outstanding, and I was more than satisfied with her suggestions and revisions. I would recommend Barbie to anyone who is interested in retaining a highly competent editor.”

—Roberta Rosnik, The Spirits Called My Name

“Every writer needs a strong editor and Barbie Halaby is one of the best. The manuscript for my memoir—The Last Helicopter: Two Lives in Indochina (2020)—went to Barbie replete with spelling inconsistencies, who/whom grammatical confusions, oblique references, and other flaws. She caught every one. Barbie not only makes the easy fixes but she is quick to do research into areas of content that may be unfamiliar to her and then offers great suggestions.”

—Jim Laurie, The Last Helicopter: Two Lives in Indochina

“I was under huge time pressure to whip my manuscript into the final shape for submission to the publisher. Barbie had prior commitments and yet she worked extra hard and extra long to accommodate my special request. She came through big time. The quality of her line edit didn’t suffer one bit; it was excellent.

How good was her work? The publisher required next to no effort in editing the manuscript. I was told it was in superb shape.

I heartily recommend Ms. Halaby for line edit of any document!"

—Sardul Singh Minhas, PhD, The Power of an Atlas: An Immigrant's Tale

"I’ve gone through all the edits and want to say how happy I am with the job you’ve done! You don’t just edit but challenge the writer to excel. ... Let me thank my hardworking editors, ... without whose critiques and professional assistance the book would simply not have made it to the finish line. They are able to take a suit off the rack and turn it into a tailored Versace! Ciao e grazie!"

—Stephen Goldhahn, Beneath the Maize

"It wouldn’t be the book it is without your keen eye. I’ve already recommended your services to a mastermind writing group I’m in."

—Jennifer Lauer, Girl in the Zoo

“The thing I like best about Barbie is that she doesn’t try to change my voice while she’s editing or try to take over my work. When she does feel the need to make suggestions about my writing, she always does so with extreme tact and respect. I have always been impressed with the diligence of her research and her attention to detail that I feel many other editors would not provide. She really knows what she’s doing. Barbie respects the integrity of my work.”

—L.N. Cronk, author of the Chop, Chop series, The Pirate’s Revenge, and The One I Trust

“Through the hundreds of pages you proofed I had a sensation while going through your mark-ups that was something close to a mind-meld. Throughout the volume of all that you put down on my draft none of the suggestions ever made me feel like you were pushing in any direction other than where I wanted to go. I did not expect that, and I found it to be a remarkable thing.”

—Matt Rohde, author of When Eternities Met

"Barbie was a joy to work within a process that was unfamiliar to me as a first-time author. Her detailed suggestions and encouraging comments helped make me a better writer. I look forward to working with her again someday!"

—Jane Ver Mulm, Finding Paradise

“Copyeditors are the academic equivalent of stunt doubles. Under-appreciated magic-makers…. I'm super grateful and impressed by your thorough and brilliant copyedits! Your help has meant a giant upgrade to the text. Thank you.”

—Jillian Deri, author of Love’s Refraction

“As a debut author, I feel like I lucked out with Monocle Editing. I had a ton of questions, which Ms. Halaby answered insightfully and with obvious sincerity. She was flexible, open to new ideas, and paid close attention during the editing process to some extremely specific questions I had about my manuscript. In the end, the answers she provided to those questions and many others were thorough and extremely useful. All in all, I left my experience working with her feeling like my manuscript had come a lot closer to turning into a book. That's a pretty exciting feeling. I hope many more authors, debut and otherwise, will get the chance to work with Monocle Editing in the future. It was a fantastic experience. Thanks a million!”

—Dan Davidson, science fiction writer

Memoirs

“Monocle Editing was a tremendous help when it came time to edit my novel, Clarissa Jean, Homecoming Queen. Barbie provided excellent feedback and suggestions that helped me tighten up my writing, resulting in a book that I am extremely proud of. I will most definitely be in touch with Monocle Editing for future projects!”

—Jessica Goodwin, author of Clarissa Jean, Homecoming Queen

"Barbie Halaby was a great help to me during the editing process of my book Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy. Attentive, precise, scrupulous, patient, imaginative, perceptive, and knowledgeable, she helped to hone my book into its final shape. She is a superb editor. I highly recommend her work to writers who are moving their manuscripts towards the book-publication stage."

—B.W. Powe, PhD, author, poet, Associate Professor of Literature, Department of English, York University, Toronto, Canada

Barbie has copyedited many of our books over several years, and she continues to give the same high level of care, attention, and professionalism to each of them. She is meticulous, thoughtful, consistently responsive and reliable, and a joy to work with. I can always trust that she will be able to tackle whatever project I send her and meet her deadlines. Our books are better because of her amazing work, and our authors enjoy working with her as well.

Katherine Wong

Production Director
Encounter Books