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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No author dislikes to be edited as much as he or she dislikes not to be published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 Lakes Academic Editing

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  • The Great Lakes Academic Editing team possesses over twenty years of combined editorial experience working in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
     

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

  • A total of twelve working foreign languages (ancient and modern) are represented among our editorial team.
     

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

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At Great Lakes Academic Editing, one of our strengths lies in our experience. Our editors have provided substantive and developmental editing, copy editing, proofreading, and indexing for a variety of individual authors ranging from doctoral students and early career academics to internationally known scholars, ministry professionals, and English as a second language authors. Over the past several years, Great Lakes Academic Editing has also partnered with a variety of academic presses including (but not limited to) B&H Academic, Baker Academic, Eerdmans, Society of Biblical Literature Press, and Wiley-Blackwell. Curious what we've been working on lately? Take a look below!

  • A Greek grammatical and syntactical commentary on the biblical book of Revelation

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

  • A study on womanist approaches to the Old Testament

  • Fourth edition of a popular introduction to theology textbook

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

  • Four-volume apologetic series on the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus

  • Monograph on posthuman interpretations of the Gospel of Mark

  • Essay collection on mysticism and esoteric knowledge in rabbinic and medieval Judaism

  • 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

  • An introduction to Old Testament theology

  • Monograph on the philosophy of religious experience

  • Collection of studies on disability in Greco-Roman antiquity

  • Two-volume theological commentary on the book of Deuteronomy 

  • Introductory survey to social theory and the study of late antiquity

  • Introductory-level Aramaic handbook

  • Survey volume of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha

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

  • Two-volume series on scriptural interpretation among early Christian fathers and mothers

  • Historical study of deism from the Enlightenment up through modernity

  • Introductory volume to the study of science and religion

  • Popular-audience book on postmodernity

Interested in Working with Great Lakes Academic Editing?

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Welcome from Our Chief Editor

As a born and raised Michigander, I've spent a lot of time living in close proximity to the Great Lakes. This has meant many summer days at the beach, autumn afternoon hikes on the dunes, and chilling bouts with lake effect snow. Much like the Great Lakes, writing rigorous scholarship has its warm and welcoming days and its inclement ones as well. 
 

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

Academic writing is hard; believe me, I know. Having published a number of peer-reviewed articles, critical texts and translations, essays, and book reviews myself, I've experienced firsthand not only the joys and frustrations of producing sound and clear academic writing but also the immense benefits that come from having a good editor. From catching minor spelling errors or a misplaced Greek accent to addressing unclear prose, fixing an erroneous citation, or compiling an attentive and expedient index, a perceptive editor is worth their weight in gold. 

For over a decade, I've had the joy and privilege of working alongside some of the brightest and most inquisitive scholars across various disciplines as they've crafted their insightful research into articles, essays, dissertations, and monographs. Whether you're an early-career scholar publishing for the first time, an acclimated senior scholar working on your sixth monograph, or a university press looking for a copy editor or indexer, all of us at Great Lakes Academic Editing are ready and able to help.

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All the best,

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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

  • Three-time paper prize winner at the North American Patristics Society Annual Conference

  • Editorial team member with the Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls Project

  • Examples of some of Blake's published scholarship can be accessed here

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