April Michelle Davis is preparing to publish her first chapter book, A Princess in Disguise. April Michelle began writing this book almost 20 years ago in the height of her fascination with princesses. A Princess in Disguise was her first literary love, and now April Michelle desires to share the book with the world. You can be instrumental in making this happen by your generous donation. Beginning September 14, and lasting for 45 days, April Michelle and Iguana Books (her publisher) are running a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the book publishing costs. All supporters will be rewarded for their generosity with either a thank you note, a signed print of the book’s cover art, a digital copy of the finished book, or a print copy of the limited-edition version of the finished book.

Like many young girls, April Michelle wanted to be a princess when she was growing up. A Princess in Disguise is a coming-of-age story about a princess on a mental journey, which she decides to turn into a physical odyssey as well. The princess is searching for who she is, who she wants to become, and in the absence of her mother, she is being forced to marry a stranger whom her father has chosen.

As a teenager April Michelle noticed while watching TV shows and movies that the princesses often had no mothers present. April Michelle wrote this book to show the struggles that princesses can face and to answer the question of where the mothers are.

April Michelle Davis is a freelance editor, indexer, and proofreader. She is the chapter coordinator for the Virginia chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association. She is also the Social Media Marketing Expert for the National Association for Independent Writers and Editors and a lifetime member of the American Copy Editors Society. In addition, she teaches courses through Editorial Inspirations, associations, and colleges on topics such as editing, indexing, grammar, writing, and macros.

April Michelle Davis has lived in Richmond, Virginia, since 2007 and is originally from Northern Virginia.

April Michelle Davis was given recognition twice in the Winter 2015 edition of ACES Tracking Changes.

April Michelle and Editorial Inspirations were profiled, and April Michelle was accredited with her persistence to get into the business, her ability to prove her talents within the business, and her drive to make a good name for herself in the business.

April Michelle was also recommended as a resource for newbies and for those who want to reaffirm their skills by taking April Michelle’s webinars offered through Copyediting.com and privately through her own company, Editorial Inspirations.

April Michelle Davis was invited back, for the third time, on January 21, 2015, to speak to the student body and faculty of Randolph-Macon College. April Michelle spoke from the array of topics presented in her workshop, Working with an Editor: The Editorial Process. April Michelle spoke on such topics as what an editor does, tips for working with an editor, the benefits of working with an editor, and the steps to becoming an editor. As a professional editor herself, April Michelle shared personal experiences, both success stories and stories that showed the challenges of the industry and what lessons she learned, as well as how they proved invaluable to her professional growth.

In addition, April Michelle spoke to the group about what drove her and what she did that was responsible for her success as an editor. She shared the creative methods that she developed to get her name out to her targeted audience, including the many speaking engagements at conferences and for college classes on freelancing and related topics. April Michelle also talked about how her determination to become a respected editor contributed to her accomplishments in the industry such as being named the social media marketing expert for the National Association for Independent Writers and Editors, the chapter coordinator for the Virginia chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association, and the chair and the website administrator for the Mid- & South-Atlantic chapter for the American Society for Indexing.

This new edition of Phylogenetics captures the very essence of this rapidly evolving discipline. Written for the practicing systematist and phylogeneticist, it addresses both the philosophical and technical issues of the field, as well as surveys general practices in taxonomy. Major sections of the book deal with the nature of species and higher taxa, homology and characters, trees and tree graphs, and biogeography—the purpose being to develop biologically relevant species, character, tree, and biogeographic concepts that can be applied fruitfully to phylogenetics.

I diligently worked on preparing this manuscript for publication in the allotted three weeks I was given to copyedit it. Because this manuscript was written in technical language, I worked to ensure consistency throughout the manuscript and within the technical realm of the industry, and in doing so, the client’s satisfaction with the final product solidified our working relationship for future jobs.

April Michelle Davis spoke before approximately 25 members of the Agile Writers on September 30, 2014. April Michelle presented her workshop “Working with a Freelance Editor: The Editorial Process” and shared personal work experiences to include her uniquely tailored work style when editing a manuscript. April Michelle enthusiastically entertained many questions related to the topics, led an interactive discussion on how and where writers can find editors, and answered other questions that were of particular interest to the members of the group. The time quickly spanned the allotted 2 hours before adjourning.