Name:
JoEllen Nordstrom
Business Name:
FirstEditing
Website Link:
Social Media Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/firstediting-com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firstediting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstediting/
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/FirstEditing
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Firstediting
What services/products does your business offer?
FirstEditing helps nonfiction authors move from “I know my manuscript needs work” to a clear, professional path toward publication. Since 1993, we have served more than 50,000 writers with human-led developmental editing, content editing, executive content editing, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, editorial critique, manuscript preparation, and book formatting. Rather than asking authors to guess which service they need, we start with a free professional editing sample and recommendation so they can see our work on their own manuscript, understand the right next step, and invest at the correct editorial level. Start here: https://www.firstediting.com/editing-services-samples/
Why should our community members hire you?
NFAA members should choose FirstEditing when they want to avoid paying for the wrong type of editing—or doing the right work in the wrong order. That is one of the most expensive mistakes an author can make. We begin with a free professional editing sample and recommendation on the author’s own manuscript, so they can see the editor’s approach, understand whether they need developmental, content, line, copy editing, proofreading, or a sequence of stages, and make a confident decision before committing to a full edit. Our work is human-led, manuscript-specific, and focused on strengthening clarity, structure, flow, consistency, and reader experience while preserving the author’s purpose and voice.
What do you enjoy about working with nonfiction authors?
Nonfiction authors usually come to us with something valuable already in hand: expertise, research, lived experience, a method, or a message they genuinely want to share. What I enjoy most is helping them turn that raw value into a book readers can understand, trust, and use. Strong nonfiction is not simply accurate; it needs a clear promise, logical structure, momentum, and a reader-focused path from idea to outcome. When those elements come together, the manuscript becomes easier to read—and far more capable of reaching the audience the author wrote it for.
What is the origin of your business? When did your company begin and why?
FirstEditing began in 1993 with a simple problem to solve: writers needed professional editorial help, but many did not know what kind of editing they actually needed or how to evaluate an editor before committing. We built the company around making that decision clearer and safer for the writer. More than 50,000 writers later, that is still the core of our model: help authors identify the right editorial path, show them real editing on their own manuscript through a free sample, match them with the appropriate professional editor, and prepare the work for publication at the correct level.
What piece of advice would you like to offer authors?
Do not buy “editing” as though it were one generic service. First determine what stage your manuscript has reached. A book with structural or content problems needs a very different intervention from a manuscript that is ready for sentence-level polish or final proofreading. Choosing too light a service can leave the real problems untouched; choosing a later-stage service too early can mean paying twice. If you are unsure, start with a professional sample on your own manuscript and ask the editor to explain what level of work they recommend and why. The right editing level, in the right order, protects both your budget and the quality of the final book.
Would you like to provide blog readers with a special offer or link?
Yes. NFAA readers can start with a free professional editing sample and recommendation from FirstEditing. We will review part of your manuscript, show you how our editing works on your own pages, and recommend the editorial level that best fits the manuscript before you commit to a full edit. Start here: https://www.firstediting.com/editing-services-samples/ NFAA members also receive 20% off professional editing services with discount code: NFAA20.
