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Waves

No author dislikes to be edited as much as he or she dislikes not to be published
- J. Russell Lynes

Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing
- Joan Didion

Easy reading is damn hard writing
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Who We Are at
Great Lake Editing Services

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  • The Great Lakes Editing Services team possesses nearly thirty years of combined editorial experience working in the publishing industry.
     

  • All academic editors with Great Lakes Editing Services possess doctorates in their respective fields of expertise.
     

  • All the non-fiction editors at Great Lakes Editing Services have experience working with both seasoned authors and first-time writers.
     

  • Over ninety-five individual projects completed in the last two years alone.

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At Great Lakes Editing Services, one of our strengths lies in our experience. Our editors have provided ghostwriting, author coaching, substantive and developmental editing, copy editing, proofreading, and indexing services for a variety of authors ranging from internationally known scholars and professionals to popular non-fiction writers and first-time writers. Over the past several years, Great Lakes Editing Services has partnered with a variety of literary agents and presses including (but not limited to) B&H Academic, Baker Academic, Eerdmans, HarperCollins, Penn State University Press, Society of Biblical Literature Press, and Wiley-Blackwell. Curious what we've been working on lately? Take a look below!

  • An inspirational collection of self-help essays authored by a well-known college football chaplain

  • An essay collection on European Jewish scholarship in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

  • Inspirational autobiography of a popular reality television star

  • Fourth edition of a prolific introduction to theology textbook

  • Intensive Hebrew grammar for second-year undergraduate / seminary students

  • Memoir concerning the death of a child and the global fentanyl crisis

  • Children's storybook Bible featuring artwork from children around the world

  • Professional education book on effective public speaking techniques and tricks

  • Festschrift for a popular New Testament scholar

  • A survey volume of key theological passages in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica

  • Essay collection on gender studies and medieval literature

  • Popular self-help book addressing depression and suicide among contemporary teenagers

  • Monograph on the philosophy of religious experience

  • Collection of studies on disability in Greco-Roman antiquity

  • Collection of essays on contemporary Asian-American communities in America

  • Two-volume theological commentary on the book of Deuteronomy 

  • Accessible self-help book on human sexuality for young married couples

  • Introductory-level Aramaic handbook

  • A volume on navigating intercultural discourse in a higher education environment 

  • Memoir about life as a first-generation Hispanic immigrant in the United States

  • Historical study of deism from the Enlightenment up through modernity

  • Introductory volume to the study of science and religion

  • Popular-audience introductory book on postmodernity

Interested in Working with Great Lakes Editing Services?

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Welcome from Our Chief Editor

As the father to two young children, I've experienced a number of instances where I've had to try to elucidate for my kids or their friends what exactly I do for a living. Over the years and several less than successful attempts, I've found that the clearest and most explanation is that I help people tell stories.

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Dr. Blake A. Jurgens Academic Book Editor Great Lakes Academic Editing

Across the last decade and a half, I've had the joy and privilege of working alongside a diverse body of authors aspiring to tell stories about people and places, artifacts and traditions, paradigm-changing ideas and engrained social discourses, cultural shifts and world-changing events. Some of these stories have endeavored to imagine the landscape of the distant past; others have grappled with the distinct reality of the here and now. Some of these stories have sought to analyze or theorize about the complex world we live in; others have candidly wrestled with the deeply personal and sacred experiences of love, loss, and death.

You have an important story to tell, one that has the unique power to inform, impact, and inspire. At Great Lakes Editing Services, our goal is to collaborate with authors in order to make their literary aspirations a reality. No matter where your academic or non-fiction project might be in the publishing process, we're passionate about helping you bring your meaningful story to life. That's what we call publishing with a purpose. Got a manuscript that needs some  editorial polishing? How about that memoir that you've been wrestling with for years? We're ready to help you take that next step.

All the best,

Blake Jurgens

More about Blake Jurgens

  • Education

    • Ph.D. in Religions of Western Antiquity from Florida State University

    • M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary

    • B.A. in Philosophy and Classics from Calvin University

  • Fulbright Scholar (2013-2014) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

  • Five years of experience teaching undergraduate courses in Religious Studies

  • Editorial team member with the Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls Project

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