Reviews of My Book Editing

Please take a moment to assess the following client reviews and comments about my book editing to help you determine the value and quality that I can contribute to your project.

Working with hundreds of authors and 28 trade publishers and imprints over the years (including three of the Big Five: Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster), I’ve drawn heavily from this high-quality talent well. Along with my editorial expertise, I apply my publishing insights and insider experience to each and every new manuscript. These reviews of my book editing highlight my ability to make meaningful improvements.

Whether you are a high-calibre bestselling author, a Big Five or boutique publisher, a break-through emerging writer, a veteran or newbie indie author, or someone who wants to improve their writing no matter the medium, I am dedicated to bringing out the best in your project. As you read these reviews of my book editing, be confident that you and your manuscript will be treated with the same care as remarked upon below.

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather Sangster has been the primary copy editor of my work for the past 31 years and my publications owe a great deal to her services. She is meticulously thorough and thoroughly professional.”

“Many thanks are due to...Heather Sangster of Strong Finish, the demon copy editor who picks every nit, including those yet unhatched.”~Acknowledgements,
The Testaments

~ Margaret Atwood

Internationally bestselling, multi-award-winning author

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather at Strong Finish would always be my first choice as editing partner for any writer looking to improve his or her professionalism. I have an English degree and copy-editing training myself, so I can be quite critical of a person’s command of grammar, style, and expression, but I can safely say that every edit Heather suggests is completely justified and only makes the finished product stronger. When Heather edited my teen novel Girl Reinvented, she maintained my voice and authenticity while encouraging me to question both larger questions of content and minor hiccups with sentence structure and word choice. I endorse Heather’s work without hesitation.”

~ Ann Moore

Girl Reinvented

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather Sangster is a prodigiously gifted editor. She has an instinct for understanding what writers are seeking to achieve and the knowledge to ferret out any inconsistencies or ambiguities that could stand in the way of writers reaching their goal. Heather is ever patient and always pleasant. She is, in every way, an excellent colleague.”

~ Gail Bowen

Award-winning author of the
Joanne Kilbourn Shreve Mysteries

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather Sangster is a highly professional editor with a gimlet eye for detail and a large and distinguished clientele. She transformed my manuscript.”

~ Hilary Brown

Groundbreaking journalist and
author, War Tourist: Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather has a deeply intuitive sense of writers’ voices and intentions. She has lent her clear and precise editing eyes to my memoir, fiction, and an anthology of other contributors’ writing, always with prompt and respectful communication. Even while writing this testimonial, I know she will fix my terrible commas and be kind about it. Heather’s grounded and calm style is an asset to any author.”

~ Julie Devaney

My Leaky Body and Mess: The Hospital Anthology

Rated 5 out of 5

“Professional and fastidious…devoted to understanding our organization’s mission and our hopes for each piece of material we produce, which allows us to present our work to the community and to the country in the most meaningful and effective way.”

~ Alison Faulknor

Former managing director, Dominion Institute

Rated 5 out of 5

“Invaluable and creative wordsmith skills, and the ability to work quickly with our house style and turn around projects fast, which brings peace of mind and confidence to important projects. Money well spent.”

~ Tania Freedman

Former director, Corporate Communications, VISA

Rated 5 out of 5

“I worked with Heather Sangster at McClelland & Stewart from 1992 until I retired from the company in 2007. During those years she was copy editor to the best authors in the land. I know that she was, to use the language of grammar, ‘superlative...of the highest degree.’ She was also a delight to have as a colleague. I think it is very appropriate that her company name uses the words strong finish.”

~ Douglas Gibson

Editor and publisher, Douglas Gibson Books;
former president and publisher, McClelland & Stewart;
author of, among others, Great Scots: Celebrating Canadian Writers with Links to Scotland

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather Sangster in my opinion is one of the best editors in the business. I have engaged her editorial services for substantive editing and copy editing and her work is first rate, of the highest calibre. She is detailed-oriented and sees the microcosm as well as the macrocosm—zeroing in on both the big picture and the microscopic details of a manuscript. She is a perfectionist and strives for excellence in making your work shine in the strongest finish. I highly recommend Heather Sangster’s editorial services for any serious author wanting to make their work shine in the best light.”

~ Kagan Goh

Piñata de Amor (forthcoming)

Rated 5 out of 5

“As I was working on The Way It Works—the only book I’ve ever written—the publisher at M&S kept telling me of the crucial role a copy editor plays and promised to retain the services of one of the best in the business for me. When I saw the product of Heather Sangster’s work, I realized just how right he was on both counts.”

~ Eddie Goldenberg

Lawyer, senior policy advisor to former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and author of The Way It Works

Rated 5 out of 5

“An invaluable in-depth understanding of the entire publishing process.”

~ Lynn Henry

Publishing director, Knopf Canada;
former publisher, House of Anansi

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather copy-edited an essay for me that needed a quick turnaround. She was professional, her edits were consistent and clear, and my work was much stronger for her deft and intelligent touch. She also went over and above and made a few content-related comments that brought my writing to the place it needed to be for publication. I’m so grateful.”

~ Jessica Hiemstra

The Thinking Heart

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather has copy-edited my books, websites, and promotional material for many years. She nails it each time on time!”

~ Dany Lyne

Sacred Tree for All Seasons

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather is a remarkable talent. She has such a keen eye for detail and an innate understanding of voice, character, and narrative. Heather treated my work as if it was her own and I couldn’t imagine placing it in any other hands.”

~ Karen McBride

Crow Winter

Rated 5 out of 5

“Professional, dependable, astute, and enthusiastic.”

~ Pamela Murray

Senior editor, former managing editor,
Random House

Rated 5 out of 5

“They say experience is the best teacher and Heather Sangster has plenty of that. I knew my book was in good hands and am delighted with the final copy edit. Heather was patient, didn’t rush, and gave me a professionally finished document. Thank you, Heather.”

~ Carol Newall

Outside the Gate

Rated 5 out of 5

“Invaluable, patient, and dedicated during the unusually intense delivery of my book.”

~ Noah Richler

Journalist, broadcaster, and bestselling, award-winning author of This Is My Country, What’s Yours? and What We Talk About When We Talk About War

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather Sangster’s insights, care, famous timelines, and other tightly woven nets, destined to catch even the most pesky of inconsistencies, bring final lustre to the books she works on.”

~ The late Ellen Seligman

Legendary publisher and fiction editor,
McClelland & Stewart

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather brought my novel to its absolutely perfect conclusion by making a brilliant suggestion about the last act. It was a moment of magic that sometimes occurs between writers and editors.”

~ Linda Spalding

Bestselling, award-winning author of
The Purchase and A Reckoning

Rated 5 out of 5

“Without the great work of Heather at Strong Finish, many of The World Remembers’ text materials would be in shaky shape. It is a great service: fast, thorough, and considerate of editorial parameters.”

~ R. H. Thomson

Producer, The World Remembers

Rated 5 out of 5

“Thanks would not be complete without mentioning Heather Sangster of Strong Finish Book Editing, who has the incredible skill of making me sound much more polished than I am able to on my own.”

~ Christine Conway, CFP, CHS

The Debt-Free Lifestyle

Rated 5 out of 5

“Heather Sangster is an absolute gem. She is professional, insightful, intuitive, and expert in bringing out the best in your work. She has been a partner in making my writing the best that it can be. Thank you, Heather, for your patience and commitment to help me produce the quality in my work that I was seeking.”

~ Fred Dawkins

The Noah Project and My Camino: Things I Learned Walking with Our Grandson

Rated 5 out of 5

“I am in such good hands....I want to thank you for the care and time you have taken with your feedback [in Edit 1]. It’s a pleasure to read your thoughts and insights—something not always true of notes. So far I am excited by what you have revealed and contributed.”

“Thank you again for your excellent work on Edit 2….I can already see how your second pass subtly yet significantly elevates the book….Your notes, revisions, and ideas continue to improve what I had, in ways both subtle and far-reaching—I’m getting excited to release the novel to the world.”

~ Ian Ginn

Producer, screenwriter, co-creator & showrunner of the Netflix series Keizersvrouwen / Women of the Night, and author of SERUM 8: Amsterdam 2045

Rated 5 out of 5

“A big thank you, Heather. I wanted to say how much we all appreciated your work. It wasn't just the copy editing itself, which was both observant and sensitive, but the level of attention you brought to everything around it...You caught issues none of us would ever have noticed.

This was Sayoshi Books’ eleventh publication, and I have no hesitation in saying that you’re the best editor I’ve ever worked with, especially as you were working in British English. I certainly want to collaborate again on future projects. In fact, I know what they are already—but one thing at a time. As the Americans say, ‘I’ll be back!’”

~ Oran Kivity

Acupuncturist, publisher of Sayoshi Books, and co-author of Manaka Made Simple, among others