Editorial audit
A close review of your content, voice, workflow and editorial strategy, delivered as a written plan your team can act on.
$2,500–$3,500one time
Ask about an auditFractional editor-in-chief to publishers, founders and storytellers
Stories readers trust. And act on.
AI made content easy. It didn’t make it trusted. I’m a fractional editor-in-chief and writing coach who has led subscription brands to $18M+ in initial launch sales and 70%+ retention.
I help clients create content that moves fast without sounding assembled, and a voice readers want to open, read, and renew.
Work with me, and you get a magazine editor’s judgment on an AI-powered workflow: the speed, without losing the soul.
Working on your own book, essay or newsletter? See coaching and editing for writers
“Stephanie is the editor every writer dreams of having. Sharp-eyed, ruthless, kind, and witty, she elevates even strong writing and makes it better.”Dena Harris, author of Who Moved My Mouse? (Ten Speed Press/Random House)
Who I work with
- Newsletter publishersIndependent and subscription newsletters that need a steadier editorial hand, a sharper voice and launches that sell.
- Financial and subscription brandsPublications where every claim has to hold up and every issue has to earn the renewal.
- Travel and lifestyle publicationsStories that turn readers into travelers, expats and buyers, without sounding like a brochure.
- Ad, PR and content agenciesAn editor who thinks like a marketer: campaign copy, press-ready stories and client content that sounds human and holds up to scrutiny.
Services
How we can work together
Every engagement starts with a conversation. You'll get a clear scope and a firm price before any work begins.
Writing for yourself or a one-person newsletter? Coaching from $150 an hour, or editing from $250.
See writer servicesFractional editor-in-chief
Part-time senior editorial leadership, with a set number of hours each week agreed up front. Typical work:
- Editorial strategy, standards and voice
- Editing flagship content
- Coaching writers and editors
- Building faster, AI-assisted workflows
$5,000 a monththree-month minimum
Ask about fractional leadershipHuman Voice in an AI Feed
A working session for editorial and marketing teams on using AI where it helps—research, drafts, production—while keeping the voice and judgment your readers actually pay for.
$2,500–$5,000per session
Ask about a workshopFor writers
Your book, your newsletter, your voice
Two ways to work together, for writers working on memoir, travel writing, newsletters and books.
-
Coaching · $150 an hour
“Coach me while I write.”
One-on-one sessions while your writing is still taking shape: structure, voice, your newsletter strategy, or an AI voice system that keeps your drafts sounding like you. Book a single session, or a standing slot of four or more sessions at $125 each.
Book a coaching session -
Editing · From $250
“Edit this—I can’t look at it anymore.”
Big-picture editing of the pages you’ve written, priced by the project. You get a firm quote once I’ve seen them—no surprises after we start.
- Essays and newsletter piecesfrom $250 each
- Book proposalsflat quote after I see your draft
- Manuscript assessment (editorial letter and a call)from $1,500
- Full developmental edit, book-lengthfrom $3,500
- Ongoing editing for solo writers and small newsletters: up to four posts a month, plus a monthly strategy callfrom $1,500 a month
Need line editing or something else? Email me and I’ll quote it directly. Self-publishing? Ask me for referrals to professionals who can help you bring your book to market.
Selected work
Read it for yourself
A few recent pieces. More samples, including before-and-after edits, on request.
International Living · Feature story · Wrote
The Best Places in the World to Retire in 2025
IL’s flagship annual Global Retirement Index: 20 countries scored across seven categories, with Panama at No. 1.
Read the introduction (PDF) All the Legroom · Travel memoir · WroteWhat It Was Like to Travel Syria as a Western Woman
A Season on an Archaeological Dig, Part 1 of 3: The Binder Clip.
Read the story All the Legroom · Reported feature · Wrote and editedI Travel Solo, Stay in Beautiful Homes, and Rarely Pay For It
The overlooked travel hack that comes with cute pets, local color, and fewer hotel bills.
Read the featureThe hand came around slowly, the way a hand does when it’s betting you won’t notice until it’s too late to object. … I lead with this not because it was the worst thing that happened to me in Syria—it wasn’t—but because it showcases the smugly naïve woman who entered the country. The woman who flew out was quietly rearranged.
How it works
Three steps, no meter running
A 30-minute call
Tell me what you publish, who reads it and what isn't working yet. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.
An audit or a scoped plan
Either a full editorial audit or a short written scope: what I'll own, what your team keeps and what success looks like at 90 days.
Steady leadership
Part-time, hands-on editing, standards and coaching, for as long as it's useful. Most engagements start at three months.
What colleagues and writers say
I've worked with an untold number of writers and editors in my 40-plus years in journalism, book writing, and newsletter publishing. I can count on one hand those who truly stand apart. Steph is one of them. … One of the best hires that anyone in the word business can make.
Stephanie Reed is the editor every writer dreams of having. Sharp-eyed, ruthless, kind, and witty, she elevates even strong writing and makes it better. Her recommendations and edits to my book proposal were invaluable. They didn’t just improve the proposal; they changed the way I thought about the structure and theme of my book. Count yourself among the fortunate if Stephanie takes you on as a client!
Stephanie is one of the chosen few who can “see the matrix” when editing. She's able to untangle the argument, smooth the prose, and add just enough magic to make great reading out of the toughest pieces of copy. She's also an incredibly hard worker, a pro at ego management, and one of the sunniest presences on the team. She's missed!
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Stephanie Reed as a magazine feature writer, and I would work with her again in a heartbeat. … Stephanie’s critiques are always constructive and insightful; she inspired me and made my writing shine. Her academic background and love of art and history give her depth of knowledge that most editors don’t possess. From concept development to the final proof, she’s a professional, enthusiastic, and highly skilled editor.
About
Before media, I read cuneiform.
- International LivingEditor-in-chief, reporting to the publisher
- Curzio ResearchCo-founder and editor-in-chief
- University of ChicagoThesis preceptor, mentoring graduate writers
I trained as an archaeologist at the University of Chicago and Harvard. I excavated a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian city, studied ancient Greek and cuneiform, taught ancient history, and mentored graduate students as a Thesis Preceptor. Then I spent two decades in media, where I learned that a clay tablet and an investment newsletter have the same problem. Both are dense, specialized, and easy to get wrong, and both only work once someone finds the human story inside.
That’s still the job.
As co-founder and editor-in-chief of Curzio Research, a financial subscription brand, I published work where every claim had to hold up, because readers were deciding where to put real money. As editor-in-chief of International Living, I commissioned and edited stories that turned readers into expats and overseas property buyers. Along the way, I ran newsletter launches end to end—editorial, copy, design, and marketing. My standard is simple: the work has to earn trust, and then it has to move the numbers.
Today, through Reed Editorial Consulting, I work as a fractional editor-in-chief for newsletters, publications, and agencies. I build editorial strategy and systems, edit for performance, coach writers, and design AI workflows that cut production time while keeping the writing unmistakably human.
I also write All the Legroom, a Substack for single, childfree women travelers. I grew up on an alligator-infested Louisiana bayou, I speak passable French, and I will drop everything for truffle fries.
Contact
Let’s talk about what your content needs, and what it could be doing for you.
A 30-minute call is the easiest way to start. Prefer email? That works, too. I answer every message within two business days.