An experienced copy editor, based in beautiful Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, with nearly 40 years of service to Canada's thinkers and writers. Economic and social policy, political science, and general non-fiction (especially military history) are my specialties.

Senior business people, labour leaders, federal and provincial politicians, civil servants, the national media, international scholars, and informed people everywhere read the publications I edit.





Do you have a manuscript that could use some fine-tuning? Do you need to communicate the results of your research in a readable way that will get the attention of decisionmakers?

As the in-house editor at an influential and respected Canadian think tank for 18 years, I helped writers turn their manuscripts into polished, published reports that made a significant contribution to debates on public policy issues. As a freelancer, I have added general and academic non-fiction to my specialties.
 
My clients and authors trust me to give their work the sympathetic but thorough going-over that will help them reach their intended audience.


Services


  • Structural editing
  • Stylistic editing
  • Mechanical copy editing
  • Proofreading
  • Fact checking
  • On-screen or traditional hard copy mark-up

 


A few of my editing projects


Without the State: Self-Organization and Political Activism in Ukraine,
by Emily Channell-Justice (University of Toronto Press, 2022)
Winner, 2023 AAUS Book Prize,
awarded by the American Association of Ukrainian Studies


Lost on Division: Party Unity in the Canadian Parliament,
by Jean-François Godbout (University of Toronto Press, 2021)
Winner, 2021 Seymour Martin Lipset Best Book Award
from the Canadian Politics section of the American Political Science Association


Varsity's Soldiers: The University of Toronto Contingent of the
Canadian Officers' Training Corps, 1914–1968
,
by Eric McGeer (University of Toronto Press, 2019)
Shortlisted, 2021 Heritage Toronto Book Award


At the Ocean's Edge: A History of Nova Scotia to Confederation,
by Margaret Conrad (University of Toronto Press, 2020)
Shortlisted, Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing, 2021


Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers: Canadian Internment Camp B,
by Andrew Theobald (Goose Lane Editions, 2019)
Winner, Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing, 2020


Living with China: A Middle Power Finds Its Way,
by Wendy Dobson (University of Toronto Press, 2019) 
Runner-Up, Donner Prize for the best book on
Canadian public policy published in 2019–20
Finalist, 2020 National Business Book Award


Lviv's Uncertain Destination:
A City and Its Train Terminal from Franz Joseph I to Brezhnev
,
by Andrij Zayarnyuk (University of Toronto Press, 2019)
Winner, 2021 Omeljan Pritsak Book Prize in Ukrainian Studies, presented by the
Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
Winner, 2018-2019 American Association of Ukrainian Studies Book Prize
for the best scholarly monograph-length work in Ukrainian Studies


Sources of Knowledge and Entrepreneurial Behavior,
by David B. Audretsch and Albert N. Link (University of Toronto Press, 2019)
Winner, CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles of 2019 (American Library Association)


Remaking Policy: Scale, Pace, and Political Strategy in Health Care Reform,
by Carolyn Hughes Tuohy (University of Toronto Press, 2018)
Winner, The Seymour Martin Lipset Best Book Award from the
Canadian Politics Section of the American Political Science Association


One Job Town: Work, Belonging, and Betrayal in Northern Ontario,
by Stephen High (University of Toronto Press, 2018)
Winner, The Clio Ontario Region Prize (Canadian Historical Association)
Winner, 2018 OHS Fred Landon Award (Ontario Historical Society)


Canada's Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests,
by Peter H. Russell (University of Toronto Press, 2017)
Winner, 2018 Donald Smiley Prize
Winner, John T. Saywell Prize for Canadian Constitutional Legal History



Redesigning Canadian Trade Policies for New Global Realities,
edited by Stephen Tapp, Ari Van Assche, and Robert Wolfe
(Institute for Research on Public Policy, 2017)
Winner, 2018 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize


Income Inequality: The Canadian Story,
edited by David A. Green, W. Craig Riddell, and France St-Hilaire
(Institute for Research on Public Policy, 2016)
Winner, 2017 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize


Brewing Legal Times: Things, Form, and the Enactment of Law,
by Emily Grabham (University of Toronto Press, 2016)
Winner, Socio-Legal Theory and History Prize (Socio-Legal Studies Association)


Arab Dawn: Arab Youth and the Demographic Dividend They Will Bring,
by Bessma Momani (University of Toronto Press, 2016)
Hill Times' List of the Best Books in 2016


Letters from Beauly:
Pat Hennessey and the Canadian Forestry Corps in Scotland, 1940–1945
,
by Melynda Jarratt (Goose Lane Editions, 2016)
Finalist, Writers' Federation of New Brunswick Non-fiction Award, 2016


Joining Empire: The Political Economy of the New Canadian Foreign Policy,
by Jerome Klassen (University of Toronto Press, 2015)
Winner, CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles of 2015 (American Library Association)
Winner, Errol Sharp Award (Society for Socialist Studies)


Understanding Climate Change: Science, Policy, and Practice,
by Sarah L. Burch and Sara E. Harris (University of Toronto Press, 2015)
Winner, Outstanding Rated Title (University Press Books Committee)


Tax Policy for a New Era:
Promoting Economic Growth and Fairness
, Benefactors Lecture, 2014
,
by Kevin Milligan (C.D. Howe Institute, 2014)
Winner, 2015 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize



Fire in the Belly: How Purdy Crawford Rescued Canada and
Changed the Way We Do Business
,
by Gordon Pitts (Nimbus Publishing, 2014)
Longlisted, 2015 National Business Book Award
Winner, Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-fiction), 2015


The Ballad of Jacob Peck,
by Debra Komar (Goose Lane Editions, 2013)
Finalist, Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing, 2014

 
Facing Eugenics: Reproduction, Sterilization, and the Politics of Choice,
by Erika Dyck (University of Toronto Press, 2013)
Shortlisted, Sir John A. Macdonald Prize, 2014
Shortlisted, Canada Prize in the Social Sciences
(Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences)



Governance in Northern Ontario: Economic Development and Policy Making,
edited by Charles Conteh and Bob Segsworth (University of Toronto Press, 2013)
Shortlisted, Speaker's Book Award (Legislative Assembly of Ontario)


Toward Improving Canada's Skilled Immigration Policy: An Evaluation Approach,
by Charles M. Beach, Alan G. Green, and Christopher Worswick
(C.D. Howe Institute, 2011)
Runner-Up, Donner Prize for the best book on
Canadian public policy published in 2011–12

 
 Canadians At War: A Guide to the Battlefields of World War I,
by Susan Evans Shaw (Goose Lane Editions, 2011)
Ottawa Citizen Top Ten Travel Books, 2011


The Top 100 Canadian Singles
,
edited by Bob Mersereau (Goose Lane Editions, 2010)
Silver Medal for Performing Arts, Independent Publishers Book Awards, 2011


Gravity Shift: How Asia’s New Economic Powerhouses Will Shape the Twenty-First Century,
by Wendy Dobson (University of Toronto Press, 2009)
Finalist, 2010 National Business Book Award


“Once on the Lips, Forever on the Hips:
 A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Fiscal Stimulus in OECD Countries,”
by Bev Dahlby (C.D. Howe Institute, 2009)
Winner, 2010 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize


SS Atlantic: The White Star Line’s First Disaster at Sea,
by Greg Cochkanoff and Bob Chaulk (Goose Lane Editions, 2009)
Winner, Dartmouth Book Award (Non-fiction), 2010
Winner, Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing, 2010
Winner, Historical Non-fiction, 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards


The Top 100 Canadian Albums,
 edited by Bob Mersereau (Goose Lane Editions, 2007)
Finalist, Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, 2008


A Camera on the Banks,
by M. Brook Taylor (Goose Lane Editions, 2006)
Finalist, Dartmouth Book Award (Non-fiction), 2007
Finalist, Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, 2007


Signposts of Success: Interpreting Ontario's Elementary School Test Scores,
by David Johnson (C.D. Howe Institute, 2005)
Runner-Up, Donner Prize for the best book on
Canadian public policy published in 2005–06


The Right Fight: Bernard Lord and the Conservative Dilemma,
by Jacques Poitras (Goose Lane Editions, 2004)
Finalist, Atlantic Booksellers' Choice Award, 2005


Two Percent Target: Canadian Monetary Policy since 1991,
by David E.W. Laidler and William B.P. Robson (C.D. Howe Institute, 2004)
Winner, Donner Prize for the best book on
Canadian public policy published in 2004–05


Most Favoured Nation: Building a Framework for Smart Economic Policy,
by Jack M. Mintz (C.D. Howe Institute, 2001)
Winner, 2002 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize
Runner-Up, Donner Prize for the best book on
Canadian public policy published in 2001


Social Canada in the Millennium: Reform Imperatives and Restructuring Principles,
by Thomas J. Courchene (C.D. Howe Institute, 1994)
Winner, 1995 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize


The Great Canadian Disinflation:
 The Economics and Politics of Monetary Policy in Canada, 1988–93
,
by David E.W. Laidler and William B.P. Robson (C.D. Howe Institute, 1994)
Winner, 1994 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize



Contact me;
I look forward to
working with you!

 


Barry A. Norris
1142 Hwy 242
R.R.1
River Hebert, Nova Scotia
Canada B0L 1G0
telephone; (902) 251-2104
e-mail: barry.norris@bellaliant.net

 


 

Also please have a look at the
websites devoted to:


 

Love to Laurie