Understanding the ideas behind the ideas

A white man with glasses, very short dark hair, and a moustache smiles as he looks into the camera against a white background. He wears a buttoned-up dark green shirt.

What’s the Idea Professional Editing

Hi there! I’m Matt Long, a Canadian-based editor and writer. I offer a comprehensive range of editing services, including copy editing, proofreading, structural editing, and stylistic editing, with a client base that includes authors, publishing houses, creative entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

It isn’t easy to create content that impacts your readers in the ways you want. If any of the following apply to you, professional editing might help:

  • You’re satisfied with the text, but your final product, whether for a book or magazine, online article, or business materials, tends to contain errors and inconsistencies.

  • You need help ensuring your writing is ready for publication.

  • You want to write or create content for a specific audience, but you need help ensuring your content meets the needs of your audience.

My testimonials and portfolio page showcases the positive impact I’ve had on my client’s work. My pricing is generally in Canadian dollars and based on the Editorial Freelancers Association’s rate chart, but I offer flexible rate packages and payment options.

The “What’s your idea” interview series

Matt speaks with artists, editors, writers, business owners, and generally interesting people to discuss the ideas that inspired the product or project of their choice in long-form conversations. These conversations are intended to be informative, honest, and inspiring for anyone driven to bring their ideas to reality.

Recent interviews

A man stands against an all-white background. He's visible from the waist up. He wears a blue buttoned-up shirt with a dotted pattern, and blue oval-shaped glasses. He's a white man with gray hair that is thinner on top. He smiles into the camera.

My conversation with author Daniel Coleman about his book Grandfather of the Treaties (2025). In part one, we discuss the development and writing of the book, while in part two, we explore in greater detail the ideas driving the book, including the impact of language.

A white woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and glasses smiles into the camera. She holds the book Birdology. She stands in front of an all black background. She wears a black t-shirt, open white dress shirt, gray pants, and a heart-shaped necklace.
A man holds two thick cases for the movie "The Hitcher." He wears a black T-shirt that says "Alligator" and aviator sunglasses and a camaflouge hat. He stands in front of a red wall with "Staff Picks" and movies lined on it. He smiles.
Hollay with a dog beside her. They are inside a house that has pictures hanging. Hollay wears a blue shirt and has shoulder length brown hair. She smiles into the camera. The dog is small and it has gray and black fur and a blue bandana.

My conversation with Hollay Ghadery is published over three parts. Part one is focused on her memoir Fuse (2022), part two is focused on her poetry collection Rebellion Box (2023), and part three is focused on her short story collection Widow Fantasies (2024). We discuss the journeys to writing and publishing these honest and thoughtful books.

Catherine stands outside in front of a wooden fence that has a few vines growing. She has her hands in her front pockets and is wearing all dark blue clothes. She has long gray-brown hair, white skin, dark eyes, and a big smile.
Connor and Lindsay stand beside each other, both smiling. Connor has short dark hair and a beard. He wears a white shirt small shapes on it. Lindsay has long brown hair and wears a white frilly dress. Lindsay holds their book upright.
A white woman with short red hair and bright red lipstick stands outside, her arms crossed. She is looking directly into the camera. She's wearing a blue shirt with rectangles of different colours in various spots. Blurry tree and fence in back.

Featured articles and reviews

This section features original content that highlight Matt’s interests, reviews of physical media, and more information about the projects Matt is working on.

A booklet held close to the camera. The movie's title American Nightmare in the middle. Top half is a woman's face looking at the camera with a microphone beside her face. Her face is tinted red. Lower half has a collage of seven young white people.
A painted image with Eastwood's character in center. He's a cowboy with a gun, bandaged hand, cowboy hat, smoking a cigarello, stern look. Face of another man over one shoulder, a woman embracing someone over other shoulder, plus images of buildings.
Norm Macdonald stands on the right side, pointing at the words "Dirty Work," which are in bold yellow text. MacDonald is looking into camera, pulling sunglasses down, wearing blue jeans, blue striped shirt over white T-shirt. Brown background.
Two movies case are side by side on a red cushion. The movie on the left is Miami Connection. The movie on the right is Voyage of the Rock Aliens.
Three Blu-rays cases standing up in a line, covers forward. The movies are Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Little Darlings, and the Keep.