Hello! I’m Dr Amy McKernan and I’m an academic and educational editor.

I started out my career as an admin assistant for a PR firm, which was where I was first told that I had a talent for editing (specifically, I was ‘the best copyeditor one firm directors had ever known).

I am quite naturally pedantic, I suppose. But what makes me a stellar editor these days is not my capacity to pick up errors at forty paces with one hand tied behind my back (although that might be part of it), it’s my deep understanding of the nuances and complexities of language in context.

Having written a whole PhD on representations of confronting history in museums, I have a stronger grasp on the contextualised uses of language than most people. Correct grammar and spelling do matter, of course, but it is equally important to ensure that your written texts are contextually appropriate, engaging, and functional. That is, we have to make sure your texts do what they’re supposed to do.

I’m a qualified secondary teacher, an established academic, and an experienced educational editor with a lot of knowledge about how language works in academic and educational contexts.

I’ve worked with clients in early childhood, primary and secondary schooling, disability services, universities, and TAFEs.

I’ve led and contributed to research and writing projects in social inclusion, socio-emotional learning, differentiated instruction, teaching and learning with confronting content, and online education. You can read a list of my research and other publications here. Because I’ve done so much of it, I really understand academic publishing, including all the stresses and challenges authors face along the road to publication (I’ve been there, believe me!).

If you’d like to read a longer summary of my experience and qualifications, you can find my CV here.