The difference between the almost right word and the right word
is the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

~ Mark Twain


My name is Michel Pharand and I am a freelance copy editor and proofreader in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I have a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Ottawa and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Penn State University. 

My clients include individuals as well as commercial publishers and academic journals, among them McClelland & Stewart, Broadview Press, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, and Studies in Canadian Literature

As advisory editor for Broadview Press, I copy edit scholarly editions covering a wide range of genres and disciplines: from literature, criticism, and philosophy to anthologies and essay collections. As advisory editor for ELT Press, I assess the suitability for publication of book proposals, essays, and monographs. In addition, as general editor of the SHAW JournalI coordinate our editorial board’s peer assessment of submissions and guide prospective authors through the publication process.

I have also taught literature, language, theatre, and drama courses at universities in Canada, the United States, Iraq, and Japan. For more on my teaching background, please see my curriculum vitae.

Below is a summary of what I can do for you. For details, please go to Services


Stylistic editing.  Eliminating jargon, and editing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Substantive editing.  Clarifying and reorganizing for content, meaning, and structure.

Proofreading.  Checking for errors and for adherence to a journal’s or publisher’s style guidelines.

Indexing.  Compiling a detailed index from your manuscript file and then from a publisher’s proofs.


My clients.  I work with commercial publishers, academic presses, scholars and professors, college and university students, and fiction writers.

My work.  I edit or copy edit monographs, dissertations, theses, essays, journal and magazine articles, funding proposals, media releases, newsletters, speeches, etc.

My rates.  My rates are competitive. If you tell me about the nature and scope of your project, I’ll give you an hourly rate and a timeline.


Blot out, correct, insert, refine,
Enlarge, diminish, interline.

~ Jonathan Swift