EDITING TESTIMONIALS:
“Bryony is an absolute dream to work with. From the very start, she showed a great deal of enthusiasm for editing my novel. She provided swift feedback throughout the process, and kept excellent notes on characterization, plot points, and inconsistencies. In addition, she researched various details for accuracy, and helped to tie up a few loose ends in the story. Even after the project was finished, Bryony continued to guide me through the post-edit revisions, and was always on hand to answer questions and offer additional feedback on a several adjustments I made to the story after the fact. Perhaps most importantly, her insight, enthusiasm, and feedback rekindled my excitement for my soon-to-be released novel. She impressed me so much that I've already hired her for another project. Do yourself a favor and hire her!”
“After working with Bryony for several projects, she has become so much more than an editor. I always hesitate to expound on her enormous contribution to my career, because I'm afraid if word gets out how amazing she is, I will have to plan books for years in advance. She is wise, patient, steady in the face of my whirlwind writing schedule, and she always has a word of encouragement when I need it the most. She knows my heart so well, and sometimes knows what I want to write better than I know it myself. She’s encouraged me at every step, answering all my questions, handling my self-doubt with grace and kindness. Her suggestions are always spot on, and she is extremely professional. I can say without a doubt that the Healing Ruby series would have never been possible without her. I only wish I didn’t have to share her with other writers!”
“Working with Bryony was a total joy. She was invested in my story from the start, months before we began the edit. She was patient when I had to put the deadline back, and, once we started work, she improved the manuscript both structurally and technically. Her communication is amazing – quick and friendly – and she always goes the extra mile in clarifying any queries (recommending books, scanning in examples, linking to helpful websites). As an author, working with Bryony has improved my book beyond measure, and as an editor, I’ve learned so much from her deep experience and scrupulous attention to detail. I would recommend her to authors of all levels.”
“I’m a fiction author, so I know anyone reading this would expect me to exaggerate. However I am not exaggerating one iota when I say I searched for a professional editor for six months, yet instantly knew Bryony was the right one once we’d made contact. She is impeccably professional and brings to her edits a blinding brightness of enthusiasm that will come across until the final page of your work. Don’t misunderstand, she won’t hesitate to provide effective feedback, but it is always diligently researched, concisely communicated and adds real value. I’ve worked with her on four books now and look forward to continuing to work with her throughout my career.”
“Bryony has been brilliant to work with. She made my debut novel, Invasion of Privacy, a much better book than the version I gave her. She was completely professional in her approach, not only editing the manuscript, but keeping a separate document to check for consistency and continuity errors (I had plenty!). I've accepted 99% of her suggested changes. Where she didn't make changes but had a thought or question, she left me a comment for me to mull over and deal with myself. Throughout the project, Bryony remained very personable while always being consummately professional—a great combination. I have no hesitation in recommending Bryony and I will be using her for my sequels. And for the record, we are not related—the shared surname is just a coincidence!!”
“The challenge for any creative is to hone their work to a respectful and marketable finish. And it takes courage to entrust another with that task. Bryony, from the beginning, opened the doors wide to easy communication. Her skill and level of attention to detail in editing my manuscript was impeccable. Not only did she sort out punctuation and grammar, but checked quotes and references and gave reasoning for suggested corrections. She was encouraging when I was hesitant and was a wonderful sounding board for what should and shouldn’t be included from the perspective of flow as well as marketability. I trusted her completely and welcomed her suggestions. Throughout, I was comfortable that no question I had was too small to ask. I found the whole experience enriching and know that I go forward as a better and more confident writer (certainly I will be more careful of affect and effect). I have already hired Bryony for another book, tucked away—I guess waiting for the right person to bring it to light. Bryony is that right person.”
Marilyn Harding
Read Marilyn's account of working with Bryony here
“Bryony Sutherland is a brilliant editor. However talented you are as a writer, your prose will be improved by her meticulous editing, eye for detail, and nose for a sloppy phrase or inaccurate reference. I could not recommend her work more highly.”
“Bryony is that rare entity—someone who knows, and loves, what she does. And what she does is make your writing a lot better than it could possibly be without her help. In an era when everyone keeps being told that it was never a better time to be an author, you need someone who can spot your errors and point out your literary foibles and expose your plot holes candidly and professionally. Oh, and let’s not forget constructively and pleasantly. A no quibble 10 out of 10. I will be back.”
“My work required a final spit polish from a pair of fresh eyes and expert hands, and I found the perfect candidate in Bryony Sutherland. Not only is Bryony a great editor, she is an absolute pleasure to work with. She's ultra efficient and an excellent communicator, and genuinely cares about your work, brimming with enthusiasm and suggestions. She completed my job a week earlier than anticipated, simply because she understood my eagerness to proceed. I absolutely loved working with this woman, and I'm sure you will, too. She comes highly recommended.”
“Bryony's professionalism, quality of work, communication, honesty and on a personal level, thorough likeability, made the whole editing process a genuine pleasure. From her very first communication I knew that I had found the perfect fit. So even when she was honest enough to say from day one that she wouldn't be able to start for over a month, I still knew that I had the right person and that she was worth waiting for. Throughout the process she communicated well to let me know how things were going—which is so important on a job that was always going to take time. She asked relevant questions when needed and always responded to my queries within hours. As for the final deliverable—faultless. Totally, completely and utterly faultless. It is such a very tired old service industry gobbledygook cliche that someone "delivered above expectations" but Bryony really did. Would I use her again? What do you think? I don't think I'd even consider anyone else now. Worth every last penny. Hooray for Bryony.”
“I found the whole process of working with Bryony Sutherland a delight. Not only did she bring along a high level of professionalism and technical ability, but she engaged with the project wholeheartedly, and seemed to understand the concept, characters and atmosphere of the book from day one. I've adopted all of her constructive suggestions and corrections, and consequently I now have a tighter and sleeker novel. I'd highly recommend you work with this extremely talented and enthusiastic editor.”
“Bryony made my life substantially easier when she was helping me put together my book. The book started as hundreds of pages of interview text, which she somehow managed to make sense of and pull into the beginnings of an actual book. It was an unenviable task, and without a doubt, I could not have done it without her. In addition to producing good work, Bryony was an absolute joy to work with. She was extremely easy-going and flexible, as well as very conscious of deadlines. She was very timely in not just her work, but in her correspondence. I would not hesitate to work with her again, and that speaks for itself.”
“Bryony Sutherland is an excellent editor: professional, thorough, engaging, and always helpful. She went above and beyond for me and my book. For my developmental edit, Bryony included thorough and well-organized editing notes, chapter-by-chapter first impressions, a character list (including conflicting character descriptions), and detailed notes on some of the plotting errors and implausible moments within the text. Her notes helped me think about possibilities for my book I'd never even considered before—and I've been working on it for several years, so that is saying something! She helped make this book far more stream-lined and cohesive, to say nothing of the many grammatical errors she found and fixed. I’m especially grateful for her help in closing plot holes and jettisoning subplots that went nowhere. I would highly recommend her services to any author looking for a developmental editor, she's worth every penny and more.”
“I would give Bryony 10 out of 5 stars if I could! She is professional and warm, an excellent communicator and an empathetic editor. My co-author and I have been working with her for the last several months and have probably sent each other 100 texts saying how much we love her and how grateful we are to have found her. I can not overstate that she has been the best part of our book journey. Bryony is an incredible editor and human. She pushed us to make our book stronger, and some of my favorite parts in our story are a direct result of her influence and insight. She is detailed to the max and went above and beyond in every aspect of her job with us. Emails from her make me smile—and often laugh. I’ll stop raving now so you can go hire her yourself. Do it and you’ll be thanking yourself for the next ten years.”
“I had the good fortune of working with several editors on my book, The Sons of Starmount. They were all fantastic and helped the book along. However, my experience with Bryony changed everything. She came on toward the end of the book, initially as a proofreader, but quickly became so much more. Her understanding of the technical aspects of editing is only eclipsed by her ability to get inside a book, find the best parts of the author's voice, and make the writing BETTER! She was encouraging, she communicated exceptionally well, and above all, made it her mission to take the book up a notch, or ten notches, challenging me to do the same. She is your book's secret weapon, I promise!”
Mark Elliott
Watch Mark’s account of working with Bryony here
“I am a first-time author and was looking for an editor and was introduced to Bryony. Bryony is lovely to deal with. She injects all correspondence with warmth and humour. She is also very fast to reply to questions, which is just what I needed. I sent her my draft novel and was frankly overwhelmed when I received her notes and suggestions. She went into incredible levels of detail and followed every reference or quote in my book with helpful comments and observations. It is clear she had invested hours and hours in my work and it emerged so much the better for it. I would recommend her without reservation. I may be a first-time author but I have already asked her to help with my next writing project.”
“I can't begin to express how thankful I am to have discovered, and worked with, Bryony! She was invested in my novel before she even saw it. She made me feel like I am special, and that my manuscript is, too. She has eagle eyes and did the ‘picking apart’ that I needed in my final draft. Although we are in different time zones by eight hours, she was very prompt and thoughtful in her replies to my questions. Bryony taught me to think like an editor through her explanations of why she was recommending changes. She also completed the project two weeks sooner than expected. I would recommend her to anyone for any service and will definitely work with her in the future.”
Colleen Eccles Penor
Read Colleen’s account of working with Bryony here
“Bryony is a fantastic editor. As a first time author, I wasn't sure what to expect during the editorial process. All I can say is that Bryony exceeded my expectations and that my book is much better off because of her valuable insight and feedback. Her communications were always prompt and friendly. The feedback was thorough and well documented, with many of her suggestions backed up by either in-depth analysis or external websites explaining her assessments. As a new writer, those notes helped me gain a better understanding of what constitutes good writing, storytelling, etc. Once all was said and done, the final product was still very much my story, just told in a much better way. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an editor.”
“Bryony Sutherland has been a dream come true for me. She is an incredible writer and editor, but more than that, she brings so much heart and passion to her work. I started my project with a very different idea in mind, and she gently guided me to change direction and focus on finalizing a book that has been sitting on my computer for a few years (and this meant it went from a writing to an editing project, so less money for Bryony, but she was recommending the best for me not for herself. I appreciate that). The book is now done and I am so thrilled, which means I better make the most of my opportunity and get it published. But it really has been such a pleasure working with Bryony throughout. She got me in order, removed my repetitiveness (and there was a lot), respected my style and who I am in my words, and probably most importantly for a new, yet-to-be published writer, she gave me confidence that what I have created is worthwhile and needs to be shared with the world. I thank her most of all for this, but I thank her for a lot of stuff. A gentle, intelligent, diligent and funny lady, Bryony is an absolute pleasure to work with and if anyone is looking for a bit of brilliance to get their book over the line and out the door, I seriously could not recommend anyone better. I will miss working with her, so better get started on my next book to keep her in my life. Thank you Bryony, I've never been happier to write a reference for someone. You are a true professional with a big heart—my favourite type of person xxxxxx”
“Coming across Bryony was equivalent to discovering gold. I knew immediately that she was the right woman for my book. Initially the timings didn't work so I had to wait a year until I had finished my next book before engaging her. The wait was well worth it. Bryony has great energy. She loves what she does and genuinely cares about the books she works on. She's an exceptional editor (and writer) and it's just as important to her as well as her clients for the final product to be the best it can be. She is professional, honest and pays incredible attention to detail. But as well as being great at what she does, she is also one of those people who you come away from being in communication with feeling great. She is someone who gives of herself and cares deeply about the people she works with. My book explores some difficult subject matter and I needed someone who I could trust to be supportive but also tough where needed. Bryony played this role with such grace and I'm so grateful. I know that my book is so much better because of her. If you are lucky enough to have Bryony as your editor then I can honestly say you are in the very best hands. Bryony is a creative guardian angel and I can't recommend her enough.”
“The edit, taglines and blurb for my novel 'One Shot' constitutes the third time in a row I've sought Bryony's editorial services, so that alone should say something about how highly I value her expertise and professionalism. Again, she did a fabulous job of picking up the spelling mistakes, syntactical errors, ironing out inconsistencies and so on. What's more, she also provided something of a manuscript assessment, pointing out several places where my book could be re-worked. She edits with an eye on the detail, but also with a sensitive understanding of the overarching story and underlying themes. What's more, she did a great job with the taglines and knocking the blurb into shape. On the subject of blurbs, I recommend other authors get assistance from Bryony on this incredibly important and difficult aspect of a book's packaging. Finally (as a bonus!) she is very pleasant to work with and delivers on schedule.”
“Bryony is a real ‘tour de force’ when it comes to editors. I love working with people who are super organised and understand their profession inside out and apply their skills to a very high standard. When I received my manuscript back from Bryony with her notes in many ways it was like winning the lottery. Unlike other edits I’ve had before where the editor has corrected my faults, Bryony took the time and explained the issues in the clearest of examples and very concisely (she’s a no-waffle person). She also gave me quality references and links to places online or books where I could get multiple examples to help me improve and understand my flaws. Everything about Bryony’s edit and approach is about helping and guidance. Whilst she cuts a mean edit, the most important thing for me was how she pointed out my inconsistencies in story, especially continuity, which she presented in a thirty-nine page document that will be my guide for years to come. I could praise her over and over but she’s a straight talker and would be embarrassed by all the fuss. Gold stars, heaps of praise, lots of whooping and hollering, finish with fireworks - 100% worth every penny.”
“I always knew that I could spin a yarn—hell, I’ve been telling whoppers since I was a kid—but I deluded myself into thinking that I could write a story well. Fortunately, I asked editor par excellence, Bryony Sutherland, to do her worst with my novel, and her response disabused me of any concept of myself as a good writer. She took my work and challenged me on every aspect of it. Our collaboration (and that is truly what it was) transformed the novel from something interesting to something wondrous. As far as recommending Bryony’s talents to other writers, I can only say this: I will never again consider writing anything of significance without Bryony’s advice and counsel.”
“Working with Bryony has been absolutely fantastic. Her suggestions were absolutely spot on and as a first time author I'm extremely pleased with the final edit. I can't recommend her enough and I'm so glad I decided to get my first book professionally edited. THANK YOU :)”
“Bryony came along at exactly the right moment. I had started to give up on this novel when a friend recommended Bryony as someone who could help with the final edit. The process and the results were entirely positive, both for the book itself and for my confidence in it. Her suggested changes were made in a friendly and encouraging way, while at the same time she brought a discipline and focus to a project that I had been struggling with on my own. I couldn’t recommend working with her enough.”
“Bryony Sutherland is a godsend for writers. Think of her as a personal trainer for writing—except she won’t make you sweat, and she’s a sweetheart to work with! She helped me to take my seedling of an idea and grow it into an amazing 100,000-word thriller novel. Her insightful suggestions are matched only by her steadfast “you-can-do-it” attitude. She has every attribute that authors seek in a dream editor: she is smart, patient, savvy, fun, and thorough. I would highly encourage authors, from first-timers to veterans, to choose Bryony Sutherland as their content/copy editor.”
J. P. Doyle
Read J. P. Doyle's account of working with Bryony here
“Everything went well, and I'm pleased with her work. But please don't hire her. I want to make sure she is available the next time I need her. Just kidding! Hire her—you can't go wrong.”
“Well, what can I say? I've used a lot of proofreaders in the past, but none as good as Bryony. She really is an expert in her field. But more importantly, Bryony has been supportive in her advice, super efficient in regards to deadlines, and an absolute pleasure to work with. I am so grateful to have worked with her.”
“I could not be happier. Bryony delivered beyond any editor I have dealt with before. She is not only a true professional with an amazing gift of editing and creating flow in any writing piece, she is amazingly personable. I will be forever grateful she gave my book the edits, flow, style and thorough feedback to bring it to the standard my message deserved. I will never look further for another editor! Thank you so much, Bryony.”
“Bryony Sutherland is a true professional. She understands plot, character, timing and pace, grammar, punctuation and form. She is meticulous with details, and catches things you wouldn’t even have thought about. Her feedback and remarks are right on the mark. Always responsive, enthusiastic and understanding, she is a delight to work with. A writer’s dream. I highly recommend her for any writing project.”
“Gold stars across the board. I am SO happy with my Bryony-fied manuscript. She gave me notes, advice, encouragement, and all the reasons why what she said was legit. Her editing work, for content and grammar: excellent. She’s such a pleasure to work with. I was already excited to work with Bryony after reading the reviews left by my fellow writers, and she totally lived up to the hype. She took the time to understand my style and my voice, and kept the work authentic. A-1 editor and an A-1 person. Can’t wait to work with her again.”
“I hired Bryony to help me structure my book, proofread and edit and I have to say she has exceeded my expectations. Bryony was professional, completed everything earlier than expected and the quality of her work was excellent. I will definitely be working with Bryony again in the future and I highly recommend her work.”
“Bryony is incredible. She is a thoroughly experienced, highly skilled, top-end professional editor and I could not have been happier with the results. Sensitive and thoughtful, her insightful feedback and meticulous editing lifted my work from a rough diamond to a commercially competitive level. If you're serious about producing truly polished, professional work that retains its heart and soul, hiring Bryony is striking gold. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Sonya Melbourne
“Bryony has blown me away. This is my first time writing a manuscript and I could not be happier. Bryony has been an inspiration. She has held my hand throughout the process and her comments have been insightful and thoughtful. With her help, I have a tighter story and am becoming a better writer. I now have a fully edited manuscript and a 55-page developmental brief. The next steps are all on me but she has made it so much easier to move forward. Again, I could not be happier. Thank you Bryony!”
David Sobel
“Bryony Sutherland has guided and inspired me to expand plus write new scenes which have significantly improved my book. Her editing has provided me valuable tools for future work. I would recommend Bryony to anyone who wants to take their stories to the next level. She is prompt, straightforward, and great to work with. Bryony Sutherland is a breath of fresh air and I highly recommended her.”
Dan Kaplan
“Bryony impressed me from the moment she submitted her proposal to the end of the job. She had big boots to fill; my mentor of five years and initial editor of the manuscript is considered one of the fathers of Australian publishing. Bryony's job was to polish the memoir for prepublication. Her skills, thoroughness and professionalism are impressive. Importantly, I also found her friendly, good humoured, honest and direct. I highly recommend her.”
Jenneth Barry
“I have over 18 years' experience of working with editors/proofreaders and I have a strong sense of what makes an editor proficient with taking the written word to a higher level. Bryony not only delivered exceptionally with her creativity and editing style, she was quick in her turnaround! I immediately hired her again for another project.”
Anne Ribley
“Bryony Sutherland nailed it. From the start she was clear and professional in her approach, and personable in her manner. I would not hesitate to work with her again.”
Mitul Thobhani
WRITING TESTIMONIALS:
“The day I discovered Bryony was, without doubt, one of the best days for our business. She is the epitome of everything you could want in a freelancer. She is fast, accurate and has given me exactly what I wanted and requested. She's also a pleasure to work with. I can't imagine looking anywhere else in the future for this type of work.”
Tim Fearon, Director, FitSteps
“Bryony is without a doubt one of the top writers you can find. Her articles are exceptional - engaging and well written. She knows how to adjust the tone of each article to match the topic and even managed to present scientific material in a very engaging and interesting way, which not many people can do. Highly recommended!”
Natalie Smith, Founder, Redonomics
“Bryony presents an excellent level of work in each piece she writes for us. I can not recommend her highly enough! I don't know what we'd do without her.”
Aisling O'Donoghue, Content Manager, Giraffe
“Bryony was a delight to work with. Carefully made sure we both understood what I wanted and exceeded my expectations. The result was beautifully crafted pieces with good depth and perfect tone of voice. No hesitation in recommending.”
Alison Quill, Founder, BrightMinds
“Bryony is great to work with, her attention to detail is second to none. She is extremely professional and her work is of an excellent standard.”
“Consistently high quality and professional work that perfectly captured our brand tone-of-voice. Thank you, Bryony!”
“Absolutely superb supplier. I added to the project brief and she handled this effortlessly and did a very good job...she exceeded expectations and really delivered on a job that needed thought and care. Will use again. Definitely.”
“Bryony's writing is truly amazing. She is the best and really takes the time and genuine interest to gather all necessary information so that she may execute top level. She is now my go-to writer for anything. Really amazing work and energy—I am so happy I found her. Absolutely the best!”
“Bryony was fabulous to work with. Incredibly responsive—no inordinate lag between messages—completely on the ball. She's extremely professional in her communication and delivered right on time, as promised. Bryony is also up there with some of the best writers I've come across; as a copywriter myself, this is a great find as I'll be happy to entrust her with many jobs in future as a result of this project. Thanks Bryony!”
“Bryony is such a pleasure to work with, and her work is excellent! From the quality of her work, I can see that she takes the time to research the subject matter in detail before writing, and she really tailors the writing to the client's requirements. She also pays a lot of attention to the details and is incredibly responsive in her communication. I am looking forward to working with her again on future projects!”
Kian Ann Tan, Monsters Under The Bed
"Bryony did a great job on copy for MyTutor and I have no hesitation in recommending her. I worked with Bryony at a very early stage in the development of the website and she took my concept and brought creativity as well structure and order to the web pages. She was able to write in an authoritative and fun style which was very important for this educational family audience. She had great enthusiasm for the work and never missed a deadline even if this sometimes meant working late into the evening. She is very precise and pays great attention to detail, ensuring consistency and accurate grammar, syntax and punctuation. She advised on all other aspects of the website design and reviewed and gave useful feedback for the video script.”
Robert Grabiner, Founder, MyTutor
“Bryony has been fantastic to work with. She provides a very professional and consistent service. She is very focussed on the quality of work and how that will impact and affect both the client and her. One of the many qualities I rate in Bryony is the way she can view her writing and the needs of her client from an outside perspective. Her ability to work this way provides extra input to articles, eBooks and blogs which others wouldn't normally think of and is highly valuable. I have no hesitation in recommending Bryony as she holds many great qualities, two of which are she is extremely professional and very personable—a great combination. In summary, a fantastic person to work with who adds real value.”
Kevin Ashcroft, Founder, Blinkered Media
“I commissioned Bryony to help out on writing/checking definitions, examples, and collocations for online vocabulary development for Japanese students of English. She was quick to learn and showed a natural flair for language and editing in a database environment and never missed a deadline. I wholeheartedly recommend her for fast, reliable writing and editing.”
“I commissioned Bryony to write three film biographies for Aurum Press from 2001 onwards. Bryony and her co-writer came up with a number of very commercial ideas for new books and they were able to deliver on time work of the highest quality. Bryony has exceptionally high standards; she is also an absolute pleasure to work with.”
Karen Ings, Commissioning Editor, Aurum Press
“Bryony is a very talented writer and editor and it has been a pleasure to work with her for so long at Atomic. Her writing is always thoroughly researched and superbly executed. Bryony has a real talent for turning her hand to any subject matter and displaying an effortless understanding of the audience through the use of appropriate language. Her editing and her proofreading are expertly detailed and thoughtful, being careful to correct grammar and sense without losing style or meaning. An experienced businesswoman, Bryony uses her varied background to bring creativity to any commission. She is a fast learner, unafraid to turn her hand to anything new, and maintains high professionalism, integrity and diligence in all her work. I would wholeheartedly recommend her work in all fields.”
Lucy Ellis, Writer and Director, Atomic Partnership Ltd
“As Bryony’s co-author on our labor/labour of love, Being Biracial: Where Our Secret Worlds Collide, my experience working with her is not as a client/freelancer but the relationship is very similar. I have hired freelancers for years for my content marketing agency and I have developed a keen sense of what to look for. For me, professionalism and personality edge out expertise because I have worked with people who were excellent at what they do but in truth were a nightmare to work with. Bryony is that wonderful blend of all three, and so I feel like I hit the trifecta collaborating with her on our book. One thing I quickly learned is that while Bryony is indeed an accomplished editor and writer, she has no ego about her work. She was completely delightful to work with. Our collaboration was not only smooth, but I learned a lot about the business from her. But probably the most important aspect is that I came away with a deeper respect for her as a professional and it deepened our friendship. If you are considering collaborating with Bryony on a project such as ours or considering hiring her to ghostwrite or edit your manuscript, please do so without any hesitation. She will put everything she has into it and then more that you weren’t expecting.”
Sarah Ratliff, Co-author,
Being Biracial: Where Our Secret Worlds Collide