What makes Annie such an effective editor is her ability to both consider the big picture argument and stakes of an article, as well as the mechanics of how individual sections of the piece work together in complementary fashion. This is especially important for interdisciplinary projects that draw from cinema and media studies, American studies, and communication. Throughout the revision process, Annie offered construction suggestions on the page and ideas for additional primary and secondary sources to consult. She also has an incredibly sharp eye for catching everything from typos to repetitious phrasing, idiosyncratic spelling, and formatting inconsistencies.

Annie Berke is a brilliant scholar, a seriously incisive editor, a hilarious feminist comedian, and a deeply generous and energetic colleague. I’m proud to say I’ve had extensive opportunities to work with her: we co-chaired the “Comedy and Humor Studies” Scholarly Interest Group and we co-edited a journal issue section on the same topic, both for the Society of Cinema & Media Studies. We’ve edited each other’s articles for various venues, and it’s always been a profoundly enjoyable and rigorously inspiring experience. She is the future of the field and a delightful human being.

Working with Annie was a pleasure. Her editorial feedback was the best kind: not just insightful and efficient but the generous kind that motivates you to rethink some of your choices — and realize she’s right! As an editor (of New Review of Film and Television Studies for the past 4 years) I admire her skills immensely. I hope we get to collaborate again soon.

Annie Berke is eveything you would want in an editor: clear, generous, incisive, detail-oriented and bold. Often in an essay, there are those places where you bury your main idea because it’s not yet clear to you; you over-quote because you’re too lazy to paraphrase; and your ending falls flat but you can’t figure out how to make it sizzle. Annie steps in, shakes the essay out, reads it with a fresh eye and zeroes in on all those weak spots. And then she does it again, working through the polished draft to help the piece shine even more. The result, for me, has been writing I couldn’t have gotten to alone, and a process that feels enjoyable and empowering. I wish every piece I write could cross her desk before moving out into the world.

I’ve worked with a lot of editors over the years, at magazines like The Atlantic and Written By, as well as academic and trade presses, and Annie is the best editor I’ve ever had. She found my argument when I couldn’t, and she pushed me to take a deeper approach even as she buffed and polished what I thought were already good sentences. Annie is a big-picture thinker who has a poet’s ear for rhythm and a jeweler’s eye for flaws.

I’m very pleased and proud of my essay, and I owe much of that to Annie, a super-smart and professional editor who also conveys genuine warmth. She is a dream to work with.

I pitched to Annie on my very first attempt at public scholarship, and she made that process feel effortless—even fun. Annie pays careful attention to tone, style, and argumentation, making sure that an essay’s most important insights are placed in the foreground and that specialized claims are balanced alongside context and exposition. She does all of this and more with exceptional humor and generosity. In my case, the result was an essay that meant a lot to me both personally and in the context of my research. I couldn’t be happier with the piece or with Annie’s incredible work as an editor!

Without a doubt, Annie is one of the best editors I’ve worked with out in the freelance world. Her edits are rigorous and fair, she always makes herself accessible to her writers, she’s a fantastic communicator, unfailingly reliable, and her editorial instincts are sharp. The essay I wrote about Black horror film history and theory was transformed by Annie’s patient and incisive edits.