After being friends with Sherry for more than a decade, I finally turned to her for advice on my latest book (in frantic progress), THE BLOODIEST QUEEN. What an idiot I was to wait. THE BLOODIEST QUEEN will be my thirty-third published book; I've grown lazy and jaded and had thought there was little anyone could teach me. (Hah!) I went to Sherry just to see her reaction to a particular scene — whether I was able to pull off a fast one on the reader or not — and wound up being blown away by her editorial acumen. She understood all the nuances of the scene in question better than I did — and pointed out exactly what wasn't working, and why. She then gave me a suggestion which was nothing short of brilliant in terms of making the whole thing work beautifully. (And then gave a dozen other suggestions which will make the book so much better...) Long story short: Sherry's going through the entire manuscript for me. And I'm so impressed that she's going to be my best pal during the writing of my next book, too. Trust me, Sherry is an honest, top-notch professional editor. Whether you're an aspiring writer or an established professional, if you're writing a novel and could use some help, please consider Sherry.
— Jeanne Kalogridis, author of I, MONA LISA, THE BORGIA BRIDE, and dozens of other published novels

Selecting Sherry Gershon was one of the smartest moves I've ever made. Most so-called book doctors seemed more interested in keeping you happy than transforming your work into a publishable manuscript. Sherry, on the other hand, provided an edit that was thorough, incisive and, where necessary, brutally honest. She is a real professional and a gifted editor.
— Anthony L. Iaquinto, author of NEVER BET THE FARM (Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint)

I went to Sherry Gershon for advice while rewriting my first novel, TRUST. Her help was timely and effective. Sherry takes the words "tough love" to a new level, pushing you to write better than you think possible: I’m sure my novel wouldn't have gone as far as it did without her expert advice and (sometimes not-so-gentle) encouragement.
— Charles Epping, author of TRUST (Greenleaf Book Group Press) and A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO THE WORLD ECONOMY (Vintage Books, Random House)

I just finished the first seven chapters, adhering to 99.9% of your edit, and I can't believe how much better they sound. Initially, the red ink kept throwing me off (and I was cursing and screaming) but once I typed in the changes, then read the final copy, I was awestruck. You are an editing genius, probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thanks a million!
— Lee Chavis

I hired Sherry through my literary agent. In my case, we were looking at a major rewrite and she cut the book in half. Sherry recommended that I switch heroes, remove a rather contrived romance, scratch the preachy ending, and change the title; in other words, we had a lot of changes to make on my book.

What I like most about Sherry's work was that she worked fast and she didn't pull any punches. An editor is there to fix what is broken, not be your best friend and tell you you're the next Faulkner. What you get with Sherry is a very hip English teacher; the grammatical error, the forgotten quotes, the mixed metaphor — she catches them all. You might forget what you said earlier in the text, but she won't. Dialog that doesn't sound right, self-indulgent rambling, unnatural plot twists — Sherry scratches them all with her heartless red correcto pen. If your error is more complicated than the simple removal of the offending passage, she puts a Post-it on the page with a brief explanation of what you need to do to correct the problem. Sherry also provided suggestions for spicing up the book so that it was much more interesting.

By the time we had finished, I felt I not only had a better book, but I had learned how to be a better writer. Sherry conditioned me to be aware of flowery language, superfluous description, and getting in the way of the story. If I didn't agree with her analysis, I was free to argue my case.

With Sherry you get more than mechanical editing, and her critical review helps bring a ring of truth to the final product. Sherry is a no-nonsense editor who obviously knows what it takes to make a good story, and she brings that understanding to her editing. As far as I'm concerned, the money I spent for editing was a very good investment.
— Stephen B. Carr

Sherry Gershon worked with me on my manuscript for my novel Glint, published by St. Martin's Press. I do not hesitate to say that without Ms. Gershon's help and suggestions, I might still be trying to figure out what I should be doing. In other words, her editing accelerated my learning curve by at least a year, if not more. I don't know how to put a value on it, except to call it immeasurable. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to work with her and I hope to work with her again in the future.
— Joseph Valentinetti

As an agent, I have noticed that as the fiction market has become ever more competitive and the lists shorter, that it is up to us agents to represent fiction that is virtually publishable, or at least in a final draft. Existing conditions now force me to use a book doctor for some work that shows great promise, but is not quite there. If you have a novel that needs some reworking, please consider using Sherry Gershon for the job.
— Sandra Watt, Literary Agent

I received your edit and critique of my partial manuscript today, and I have to tell you how impressed I am with your editing skills. I combed several sources (the LMP, online directories, Web indexes, and personal recommendations from writers) to find the best and most qualified editors for my work, and came up with four names that, as far as I could determine, were the "cream of the crop." One of these editors was too busy to take new work, but I hired all three of the others (you were one of them) to go over the first part of my manuscript. I have also worked as a professional book editor, and so I did a final self-edit and critique for comparison, and asked several amateur writers on the Internet to critique the manuscript as well… You were the only editor who caught all the things my own self-critique caught, and several more very important points that I (and all the other professional editors and amateur critics) missed completely. Your line edit was also by far the most thorough and on-the-mark. Nearly every one of your edits was clearly necessary to tighten, sharpen, and smooth out the pacing of the work. Every place you suggested a change did indeed need a change – if not always exactly the solution you proposed.

You were the most expensive of the editors I hired when measured on a per-page basis. But considering the outstanding quality of the job you did, you were a bargain compared to the others…

In short: Bravo! As an experienced author who has both worked as a professional editor and worked with many professional editors, I would recommend Sherry Gershon immediately to anyone who thinks their manuscript deserves "the best."
— Sincerely and gratefully, Dick "Cedar" Oliver