Copyediting
Scott Isaacs is an ideal copy editor for nonfiction text. He specializes in medical editing, particularly in the realm of natural medicine.
You can find out more about him here.
Scott's résumé is available here.
If you are interested, feel free to reach out!
Certification: Copyediting, University of California San Diego
Styles: Chicago, AMA, AP
Office Suite Applications: Microsoft 365, Google, Apple, Toggl, Asana
Doctorate: Naturopathic Medicine, National University of Natural Medicine, Portland, OR
About the Copy Editor
Scott Isaacs is a copy editor and narrator. In 2021, he founded his business, Red Bow Tie Edits, out of a desire to see the English written and spoken word clearly deployed.
Scott enjoyed his first 15 minutes of fame when he won the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in 1989. His victory represented thousands of hours of study, indulging his love of language. He studied Spanish, French, and Latin from middle school through high school, majored in Russian in college, and took conversational classes in Mandarin Chinese as an adult.
Scott earned a doctorate in naturopathic medicine from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, being trained as a primary care doctor with expertise in natural healing modalities. Alongside his studies, he was a features writer for the school newspaper, The Naturopathic Times. Scott then maintained a private practice in Denver for eight years, seeing patients and giving talks on subjects ranging from the flu to allergies to botanical medicine. He remains involved in natural medicine and research to this day.
After private practice, Scott's interest in language returned when he became an academic and spelling coach. Over the course of a decade, he coached nearly fifty students with weekly individualized lessons. Several students qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, including top spellers seen during the evening finals on ESPN. Aside from lessons, Scott wrote blog posts on spelling and study tips, narrating several posts for his audience.
While coaching, Scott was approached by a Chinese entrepreneur who wanted to spearhead his own spelling bee program. Overnight, Scott became the academic director of Spelling Bee of China (SPBCN), a post he held for five years. He was the pronouncer for the SPBCN national spelling bee in Beijing. He edited promotional and academic materials and helped curate word lists. In addition, Scott was the pronouncer and word list manager for the North American Spelling Champion Challenge, an annual international bee for advanced Chinese, American, and Canadian spellers, sponsored by SPBCN. In all, Scott helped create multiple national-level word lists and pronounced for nearly 80 bees.
In 2020, Scott left coaching and pursued copyediting as a career. He enrolled in the copyediting certificate program at the University of California San Diego, completing the program in late 2021. Since then, he has acted as managing editor for the journal Naturopathic Doctor News and Review; edited the health text AIM for Wellbeing by Steve Amoils, MD, and Sandi Amoils, MD; and worked on a variety of business communiqués for Rado Capital.
Now, whether editing natural medicine texts, proofreading business promotional materials, or narrating nonfiction books or presentations, Scott is committed to making the text he manages as clear and compelling as possible.