From Bethann Miller, author of The Invitation: Keys to Strengthen Your Marriage and Matters of Dirt and Leather: A Walk Through the Beatitudes and founder and director of Safe Place, a ministry that provides pastoral care for those serving in ministry and missions:
I worked with Elizabeth on my first book. As a first-time author, I appreciated her careful guidance and attention to what I wanted. She took the time to make sure it was “my voice” that was coming through in the wording and sentence structure. I found Elizabeth to be both professional and personable to collaborate with. I would highly recommend her (and I have) to folks who are looking for a professional editor to work with. I will most certainly be working with her again on my next book!
From Megan Norton, author of Belonging Beyond Borders: How Adult Third Culture Kids Can Cultivate a Sense of Belonging and intercultural speaker, trainer, and consultant:
Throughout the editing process, Elizabeth not only sharpened my writing but also championed my message. When I felt insecure about moving forward with my manuscript, she encouraged me to press on as she personally relates to and grasps the content and purpose of the book as an Adult TCK and one that has raised TCKs. Elizabeth challenged with care and gave actionable advice in areas that I could clarify and expand on. Her extraordinary attention to detail elevated the flow and consistency throughout each chapter. She is a kind, patient, and efficient editor!
From Lauren Wells, founder of TCK Training and author of Unstacking Your Grief Tower: A Guide to Processing Grief as an Adult Third Culture Kid and What Made That Feel So Hard?:
Elizabeth’s editing brought my manuscript to life. She maintained my voice and content while providing the technical editing that helped the sentences to flow as clearly as possible. I appreciated her stark attention to detail while still being cognizant of the big picture and how the details fit within that context. She took my work from good to great and was a joy to work with every step of the way!
From Alyson Rockhold, ghostwriter, former medical missionary, and writer at A Life Overseas:
As a ghostwriter and book coach, I know the value of a good editor. And Elizabeth is one of the best! She is thorough, insightful, and extremely helpful. We’ve worked together on multiple books, and I’m always grateful for how her edits elevate and improve my words. Plus, she’s very easy to work with, making the editing process smooth and easy.
From Anna Danforth, adult TCK and author of Sam’s Roommate Disaster, a middle grade novel for Third Culture Kids:
My book gained greater readership thanks to Elizabeth’s collaboration. Her suggestions pushed my middle grade novel to a more meaningful level of engagement with my readers while keeping true to my voice. I needed an editor who understood the complex world and nuances of Third Culture Kids, and she met my manuscript in that space full of understanding and valuable feedback. Elizabeth finished her contract early and made herself available for follow up video calls and communication, which were invaluable to me.
From Michele Husfelt, author of the upcoming Always a Reason to Celebrate:
Working with Elizabeth has been an absolute pleasure. Her keen eye for detail went far beyond simply catching typos and correcting grammar—she ensured every sentence flowed smoothly and that my writing carried a consistent tone and rhythm throughout. She also carefully checked the structure of the book, confirming that the chapters were in the correct order and that the transitions made sense, which added to the overall clarity and readability.
I am deeply grateful for her professionalism, insight, and skill. I would highly recommend Elizabeth to any author looking for an editor who brings both technical excellence and a true sense of craftsmanship to the editing process.
My final proofreader, who is a professional editor and attorney, said she’s never proofed something so well edited. So, thank you!
From Elizabeth Vahey Smith, COO of TCK Training and author of The Practice of Processing: Exploring our emotions to chart an intentional course:
Elizabeth was a tremendous help in transforming my manuscript into a book. She would comb out tangles in the text until the concepts could shine with clarity. Throughout the process, she would edify – teaching me the things to look for to elevate my writing – and encourage – dropping thoughtful and kind comments on my content. She’s a wonderful editor, helping to hone the writing into excellence, while graciously caring for the writer throughout the journey.
From Marilyn Gardner, writer and leader at A Life Overseas, author of One Cup at a Time: Recipes for Recovery, as well as two other books on cross-cultural living:
Elizabeth takes in the whole message and works with the details, helping to craft stories that are clear and readable, always reflecting and enhancing the true voice of the writer. She’s not afraid to challenge or praise.
Whether you struggle with clarifying your message or getting rid of the baggage of extraneous sentences and paragraphs, Elizabeth will work with you and gently push you into better writing and a completed essay or book that you somehow know reflects your best work. In my own writing journey, I have loved working on my writing with Elizabeth and look forward to more future projects.
From Jacob Sims, former country director for International Justice Mission Cambodia and author of the memoir WanderLOST: Stories from the Winding Road Toward Significance:
Elizabeth served as a content editor for my first book, and I was completely thrilled by her work. She substantially improved the clarity and readability of the text and asked helpful questions throughout the process which honed my thinking and strengthened my written work. She was incisive with her edits (but also kind) and worked with complete professionalism. Her rates were reasonable, and her turn-around time was speedy. I’d work with her again in a heartbeat!
From Julie Jean Francis, author of Bowing Low: Rejecting the Idols Around Us to Worship the Living God and When We Called Myanmar Home:
As I neared the end of my book writing process, I realized I needed that extra bit of help and encouragement to make my book a reality. Elizabeth provided just what I needed to make my dream of publishing a book a reality.
She was thorough in her editing, but also understanding and gentle. She provided both technical editing suggestions as well as topic and voice suggestions, giving just the right amount of criticism and encouragement.
Elizabeth worked around my own deadlines and provided timely, professional services that were affordable. Her editing improved my writing without overtaking it or changing it (a problem I had with other editors in the past).
I am grateful to have hired Elizabeth to edit my book for me as I prepared it for publishing. I know I would not have been as motivated to finish the book without her insight and encouragement. She did an excellent job and worked with me to ensure the final product was my best work.
From Shonna Ingram, founder and director of Re-entry Experts and author of Your Re-entry Path series (Restore and Rebuild):
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Elizabeth on several projects, and I can confidently say that without her guidance and expertise, my books wouldn’t have seen the light of day.
Elizabeth has a remarkable talent for taking my thoughts and ideas and transforming them into words that are not only understandable but also that deeply connect with readers. Her editing skills are truly top-notch, and she has an uncanny ability to refine and improve every aspect of the written material.
Thanks to Elizabeth’s dedication and commitment to her craft, I’ve been able to publish books that I’m proud of. Her coaching and guidance throughout the editing process have been invaluable, and I wholeheartedly recommend her services to anyone seeking a skilled and passionate editor. Elizabeth is a true wordsmith and a trusted collaborator, and I look forward to working with her on future projects.
From Nancy Burgett, author of Look at This: Seeing God’s Fingerprints in the Lives of the Developmentally Disabled:
From the beginning to the end, Elizabeth helped me pave the way to publishing my first book. Having lots of questions a first timer, she remained patient, prompt and exacting on the advice she extended. I found her billing matrix to be fair. Her ” eyes” on the text combined with recommendation of a type- setter/ cover artist turned my 10 years of writing into a book I was very proud of.
From Jacqueline Scott, author of Beauty in the Broken: A meander through the book of Jeremiah for group or personal retreat:
I wrote an article that was a bit lacking in coherence and Elizabeth offered her services to help bring it together in a way I didn’t see it needed. It was such an improvement. Then when I felt the need to have my next book edited, I naturally thought of her with her keen eye for detail and clarity. She is very encouraging and understanding. Her patience with my project gave me ample time to think things through, as well as honor her time commitments. I so appreciate her spirit and her push to excellence.
Katherine Catcher, author of King Joshua’s Mighty Princess Warriors: Elmira’s Journey Home:
Elizabeth did an amazing job of editing my first two installments in a preteen series of adventure stories. She used all her editing skills, from grammar to word choice and flow of the stories. She was an invaluable partner in the completion of my first two books, and I look forward to a continued partnership as I complete the series.
From Erin Foley, author of Where They Belong, a book about orphan care:
Elizabeth Trotter was an answer to prayer when she took on editing my book. Her experience living in Cambodia helped as she sought to ensure my writing honored all of the voices and the culture. I had two books worth of content and interviews. She asked good questions that helped clarify and hone in on what needed to be said and what was a distraction from the vital topics. When my publisher received my book, she wrote to me the next day, “I am a chapter and a half in…this is so well written and highly compelling. The editing was excellent!”
While I’m a decent writer, Elizabeth made me look like a great writer.
From Abigail Alleman, writer at A Life Overseas and author of a recent memoir on faith and mental illness:
With ease and clarity, Elizabeth has brought much needed attention to my writing. She has the ability to highlight my voice without diminishing it. I appreciate her graceful, encouraging touch and patience as she does thoughtful, top-notch work on my pieces of writing!
From Emmy Lou Lopez, writer at A Life Overseas:
Elizabeth does a masterful job of helping writers get the crux of their writing to the front and center, and she tightens up the periphery of supporting thoughts by cutting away the fluff while making sure the writer’s voice is still heard. She has the uncanny ability to clean up sentences and clarify thoughts in a way that helps the writer feel confident in their work and makes the writing itself smooth and clear.
From my experience with Elizabeth, I believe her greatest editorial strength is her ability to suggest sizable changes and cuts without making the writer feel like a failure. In the delicate balance that is editing work without breaking the writer, Elizabeth comes with a kindness and professionalism that feels authentic and completely approachable.
From Christina Miyano, author of When God Leads and I Dare to Follow:
When I was writing a book, Elizabeth Trotter was kind enough to scrutinize my work. She challenged my word choices and helped me to form a better understanding of my voice, my audience, and especially, my intended message. Her critical eye helped to hone my work and better the final copy that went to print.
Without her analysis, my work would have been lacking in precision and, in several areas, lacking in depth. I am very blessed and grateful for her honest and scrupulous advice for editing and revision — to make something mediocre into something much more.
From Matt Bohlman, author of an upcoming Christian fantasy novel:
I recently received back my first draft manuscript for my first novel from Elizabeth. I have been pouring over her corrections, notes, adjustments, and recommendations. She has been enormously helpful, and I would wager that I have taken 98% of her corrections so far. One of the greatest benefits has been her sharp eye for possible plot holes that need to be filled in. Sometimes I felt she knew my novel better than me, remembering things I had written in an earlier chapter to remind me why it conflicted with a later chapter. I often found myself thinking, “Why didn’t I see that before?”
I can highly recommend Elizabeth, and I cannot express enough how important it is to have a second pair of eyes do an objective, outside analysis on your story where the goal is not to make you feel like a bestseller, but to give you something better–honesty. Since I hope my novel will reach beyond the “compassionate purchases” of friends and family, such a critique is critical. Elizabeth will do that for you.
From Will Maxson, author of an upcoming book on cultural Christianity:
Elizabeth was excellent to work with – good communication and impressive turnaround time. Her comments and edits were very insightful. She is good at both seeing the big picture and giving proper attention to detail. She thought of things that I never would’ve, so it was so helpful to have her perspective. After months of being immersed in the research for my book, I would sometimes assume that a certain point came across clearly in my writing, but sometimes those points actually weren’t clear. Elizabeth’s feedback helped me to clarify those ideas and better understand how they might come across, while still being faithful to my vision and voice. I would definitely recommend her to others!
From Elizabeth Beck, educator, editor, and cross-cultural worker:
Elizabeth offered great insight into the editing and writing process. She was able to help me prioritize and organize the tasks I had before me and was personal and specific with her suggestions. Elizabeth offered great advice for the project I was working on, but also general instruction that I could apply to future projects.
Elizabeth’s communication throughout the whole process was great–from setting up an appointment to making sure she answered all my questions. It was a joy and privilege to work with her and would absolutely recommend her services to anyone that is looking for thoughtful insight and experience on writing and editing.
From Abigail Follows, author and creator of the Whatsoever Thoughts newsletter:
Working with Elizabeth as an editor has helped me write with less self-doubt and more confidence. I can write from my heart, knowing that in her editing she cares just as much as I do that the end result is artful, powerful, and accurate. I actually look forward to the back-and-forth process of editing my newsletters, because Elizabeth is friendly and experienced, and I learn a lot from collaborating with her.
From Dale Goodson, missionary trainer and author of Before You Go, an upcoming series for pre-field workers:
After spending nearly twelve years in New Guinea doing my best to communicate in a foreign language and to think like a member of a rainforest tribe, I emerged with a head filled with fascinating stories and discipleship lessons but an inability to effectively communicate them. I have since adapted enough to write, but as I completed Before You Go, a collection of missionary stories for missionaries, I realized that I was going to need a special kind of editor.
Elizabeth Trotter came highly recommended by a fellow writer and has proven herself to be exactly what I needed. Her prices were fair, her type-editing was consistent, and she was easy to work with. She provided accurate turn-around times, and when she caught numerous places where thoughts or concepts that made sense in my rainforest mind weren’t coming through well in English, she helped me address them so that they would. Elizabeth is both educated and experienced in the field of missions so was also able to provide critical content coaching. I consider her to be an excellent choice for my editing needs and have every intention of using her services again in the future.
From Matthew Musgrave, author of A Hedge of Fire, a Christian fantasy/allegory:
With my first book, I was worried that an editor would be overwhelmed with all my rookie writing mistakes and unconventional writing style, but Elizabeth’s editing process was easy to follow and extremely helpful. With approximately 2500 edits and comments, her work was very thorough, and I personally got excited whenever I found a plot consistency question that I hadn’t thought about or that would be answered later in the story, or when she would tell me what emotion she felt when reading certain pieces of the story. Overall, I don’t think I could ask for a better person to edit my book, and if I write a sequel, I know exactly who I’ll call.
From Silas Dayson, an adult TCK who is currently writing an academic book with relevance for TCKs and others:
Since I’m by nature a researcher, and my book project is very important to me, I looked into quite a few editors before I made my choice. For unrelated reasons, I happened to find the website A Life Overseas and started reading articles. I realized that they must have gone through an editor who—in addition to having a natural connection with the theme of my book—is very skilled. I soon chose Elizabeth as my primary editor.
For various reasons, I ended up being unable to finish the draft of my manuscript by the time I was scheduled to submit it to Elizabeth. To my surprise, she was happy to edit the bulk of the work on schedule and save the rest for later.
While my book is structured in a way that should make it reasonably accessible, it’s a thorough academic work with over a thousand endnotes. Elizabeth did an excellent job with the editing. She demonstrated great attention to detail while keeping the bigger picture in mind. She made my manuscript significantly easier to read. With her own subject knowledge and logical thinking, she also ended up functioning as somewhat of a peer reviewer. I found Elizabeth to be easy to communicate with, and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with her.
Stories Set Free 