Collaborative, honest, and straightforward.

It can feel vulnerable to open your writing and reporting process to a fact checker. At this point, I’ve seen the breadth of reporting styles and organizational systems and am accustomed to adapting to what suits us both.

Typically I work on a few rounds of edits and contextual questions, and deliver changes over several meetings with a shared document or Word doc.

• High-stakes fact-checking interviews. I have extensive experience with sensitive sources like Weinstein’s legal team, Peter Thiel, the N.Y.P.D. and its representatives, A.U.S.A.s, and academics, among others.

• Science-driven analysis in order to accurately portray complex science like P.F.A.S., the origins of Covid-19, biological structures of Redwoods, climate change, pharmaceutical chemistry and fracking systems.

• Fluency in Spanish. I’ve fact checked with the Mexican government, for example, and vulnerable populations like child migrants and undocumented adults.

• The ability to connect quickly and earnestly with sensitive sources like survivors of medical trauma and sexual assault with a gentle, personal approach.

• Keen, thorough reviews of original documents and reporting from leaked records to background sources to medical records to fracking logs and drug facility inspections by the F.D.A.

• Collaboration on legal reads by attorneys and publishers.

• Commitment to journalistic ethics and standards.

As soon as you know you'll need a fact checker, really. The busiest times of the year for publishing schedules tend to be fall and mid-winter into spring. A book will usually take a couple-months’ time, so don’t hesitate to get in touch early. I’ll typically start fact checking just before the manuscript is accepted by a publisher, and work through at least its first proof.

I usually work on an hourly basis, determined by my experience and the annual assessment of the Editorial Freelancers Association. Occasionally, I’ll take on projects for a flat fee.

Many writers utilize grants from nonprofits like the Sloan Foundation to cover the costs of fact-checking. I’m accustomed to working within writers’ budgets and creating on a fact-checking plan to best suit a reporters needs.