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Professional headshot of Ellie Barton, certified memoir editor and nonfiction book coach with over 20 years of experience

Qualifications

Put your book into the hands of a qualified editor and book coach

I've lost count of all the webinars and conferences I've participated in, and all the books on writing I've digested over the past 23 years as a freelance editor. When you work with me, you reap the rewards of my obsession with life-long learning!

Degrees and Certificates

BA, English and History (Honours), Trinity College, University of Toronto

MA, English (Canadian literature), Queen’s University

Bachelor of Education, Queen’s University

Certificate in Publishing, Metropolitan Toronto University

Nonfiction Book Coach Certificate, Author Accelerator

Memoir Book Coach Certificate, Author Accelerator

Sampler of Recent Training

Memoir Plus: The Key to Writing Memoir That Sells, with Jennifer Leigh Selig. Craft Talks

Research Agents and Publishers Like a Pro. Webinar with Jane Friedman

The Dreaded Comp Titles: A Necessary Evil That Can Launch Your Career, with literary agent Amy Collins. Craft Talks

What’s Wrong with History and Biography? Webinar with Charlotte Gray, Ken Whyte (publisher, Sutherland House), and Dan Wells (publisher, Biblioasis). Hosted by the Creative Nonfiction Collective

Memoir Bootcamp. Three-week intensive with Allison K Williams, hosted by Jane Friedman

You Could Make This Place Beautiful. Four webinars with Brooke Warner and Linda Joy Myers

All Details Are Not Equal: The Power of Movement and Desire in Literary Description, with Dinty Moore. Craft Talks

Preparing to Publish: Making the Right Choice. Webinar, Writers’ Union of Canada

Line Editing: Fiction and Creative Nonfiction. Two 4-week courses, with Christina Frey, Editorial Freelancers Association

Courses I Teach

From 2014 to 2020, I taught WRIT265: Editing in Academic and Professional Contexts, at Queen's University. I developed this course with Maureen Garvie. Since 2020, I've been teaching two courses in the Editing Certificate program at Simon Fraser -- Continuing Studies.

EDIT330: Structural Editing. I revised this course substantially in 2021.

EDIT320: Stylistic Editing. I will be revising this course in early 2026. 

I've been teaching editing at the university level for over a decade. I'm grateful to my students, many of whom are now working as editors.

Portfolio

I've worked with over 75 authors who have published with HarperCollins, Douglas & McIntyre, Jessica Kingsley, university presses, and small presses, as well as authors who have chosen the path of self-publishing. Here is a selection of books I’ve worked on.

Memoir
Memoir Plus 

(personal story + research and reader takeaways)

Nonfiction

Explore my editing and coaching services

Artful editing for memoir and narrative nonfiction

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