Joan Steinau Lester

EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL EDITOR

Dr. Joan Lester is a compassionate and wise editor, skilled in multiple genres, from academic prose to fiction, memoir, essay, and narrative non-fiction. She's worked with many first-time authors as well as those who've published widely.

Her specialties are organizing and trimming material. Vigorous pruning, she finds, improves most manuscripts. Clarify yours by contacting JoanLester@​JoanLester.com


"Working with Joan has helped me tremendously, both personally and professionally. It has boosted my self-esteem more than years of therapy and helped me realize my lifelong goal of getting a book accepted for publication!"
--Marti Kheel, Ph.D., author of Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008).

"Joan is simply the best! She provides warmth, encouragement, and a killer editorial eye, not to mention her vast knowledge of the writer’s path, which she generously shares. Joan helped me turn years of ruminating about law and equality into published articles that have created a national audience for my ideas. What a gift!"
--Charlotte Fishman, attorney and Director, Pick up the Pace

"Joan is one of the best editors I've had. She's able to see big picture issues, helps with structural problems and is just as wonderful when it comes to fine-tuning sentences. Her uncanny ear has untangled many of my knottier paragraphs."
--Marissa Moss, best-selling author of the "Amelia's Notebook" "series and publisher of Creston Books.

"Joan Lester guided me through the exuberant underbrush of my early drafts, helping my voice, point of view and subject matter to emerge with clarity and skill. She is a painstaking and sensitive guide, companion and teacher."
--Sandra Butler, author: Conspiracy of Silence, and Cancer in Two Voices

"I feel so fortunate to have connected with Joan Lester and to have her support and insights as I work on my writing. Joan's coaching and editing have been invaluable as I've developed both my skills and my confidence. Since I have been working with her, I've gone from getting published occasionally to being a regular columnist."
--Sandy Blaine, columnist: Yoga International Magazine