Client Testimonials
"Working with Nancy is above all fun. She injects energy into the writing process, which for technical, or indeed any written communication, is essentially a creative process. I have produced over 200 professional papers, reports and articles, and do believe I can speak with some authority. Nancy is a thorough-going professional. Respect and collegiality are cornerstones to her professionalism. Among her strengths is assuring continuity of the narrative, while making the significant points stand out." – Dr. Peter Apedaile, Author of Nurturing Ethics in Governance: Taming Our Rascal Within
"Nancy Mackenzie is professional, informed, agile, calm, and a fabulous editor. Nancy not only understands citation styles, but also interacts well with writers, plus is a writer in her own merit… Whether the project is large or small, Nancy believes an editor ought to be the writer’s most valuable ally and wisest counsellor – which she is." – Dr. Susan Minsos, Author of Culture Clubs: The Real Fate of Human Society
"Sphinx like, my wise, barely yielding hyphenated tormenter, Nancy
Narrows her Chicago-Manual-of-Style eyes to stare down my latest indiscretion."
--Dennis Apedaile, Poet and Author of Collected Scraggles
"Nancy has been the proofreader on a number of book projects for the press, both scholarly and non-fiction trade titles, and I have been very pleased with the quality of her work. She is a good communicator and asks appropriate questions if something is unclear, and she has been punctual in returning project son the agreed schedule. In my experience with her, Nancy has been very professional and lovely to work with." – Kelly Laycock, former Managing Editor, The University of Regina Press
"Nancy and I have partnered on several projects over the past few years. Having worked with numerous colleagues over nearly 30 years as a communications professional, I thoroughly enjoy working with her.
Beyond her facility and creativity with language, she is delightful to work with. She is down to earth, respectful, has great integrity, and is the epitome of common sense. If you have the opportunity to work with Nancy, take it. You will not regret it for a moment."
--Lynne Melcombe, Communications Specialist
"Budget Accuracy: Her proposals for budgeting are always on-target and within range of competing or similar proposals from other contractors.
Meeting of Timelines: Nancy has worked on a range of projects in our sector and has met all timelines agreed to and carefully considers the timelines before proposing or accepting projects. Nancy always ensures she has a clear understanding of intent and scope of the project before beginning the work.
General Comments: Nancy is an elegant and crisp writer/editor with a wealth of experience writing/editing for many audiences, on many topics and in many formats. She is an excellent researcher, is responsive to feedback and is dedicated to writing/editing for clarity."
Catherine Walker, formerly with Alberta Education
Writing, Editing, and Consultation Services
My range of services at Bronze Horse Communications is designed to meet your diverse writing, editing, and educational needs. Whether you require assistance with policy documents, professional writing, editing, or teaching resources, we're here to support you every step of the way.
Writing Services
Over the years, Bronze Horse Communications has delivered communications plans, final reports with recommendations, toolkits, PowerPoint presentations, video scripts, facts sheets, newsletter articles, style guides, tables of contents, white papers, and more than a dozen environmental management frameworks.
Crafting policy documents is not just about putting words on paper – it's a collaborative endeavour that involves a myriad of subject-area experts and stakeholders, often including the public. My approach to this intricate process is akin to assembling mathematical theorems using plain language – it requires careful gathering and structuring of information to ensure a coherent and logical flow.
Clients have included:
The City of Edmonton
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
Alberta Justice and Solicitor General
Alberta Education
Alberta Environment
Alberta Seniors and Housing
Alberta Energy
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
Tailored Service to Meet Your Needs
Furthermore, I offer services such as conducting environmental scans, conducting literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, and researching and writing articles for publication. I'm dedicated to delivering high-quality writing services tailored to meet the diverse needs of my clients.
Editing Services
As an editor, my role is to advocate for the reader by maintaining a consistent style. At Bronze Horse, I utilize a range of style guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style, CP Stylebook, MLA Style Manual, and the APA style guide. Additionally, I can prepare customized style guides tailored to your branch, division, department, or organization's specific needs.
Scholarly and Literary Editing
The skills I apply to editing scholarly and literary works often involve developmental editing, where I help the client shape their thought. Of course, with scholarly editing there are additional details such as proper citation, notes, and references. Yet in both cases, it is the author’s voice that I pay attention to.
I’ve been editing both types of texts for university presses and trade publishers as well as through a partnership I have with two others, called Three Rascals Press. We provide publishing services for authors who want to self publish. Some of our titles are shown in the photo.
Technical Editing
As a technical editor, some projects involve, synthesizing input from diverse sources and presenting it cohesively with a unified narrative voice.
Other projects involve changing the nature of the material as when I edited the Reforestation Manual of Alberta from a 330+ page manual into 24 Standard Operating Procedures, or when I took two academic papers about water law in Alberta and revised them into a series of 10 Q&As and a PowerPoint.
Educational Publishing
With a strong background in educational publishing, I have authored multiple student texts and edited numerous others for renowned publishers such as Oxford University Press, Nelson Thomson, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill.
Learning and Teaching Resources
When it comes to learning and teaching resources, I have a proven track record of creating educational materials tailored for teachers, administrators, and K–12 audiences. Drawing on 28 years of experience, I've developed various print and web-based resources, ensuring alignment with reading levels, curricular requirements, and learning objectives.
Consulting Services
Throughout my career, my involvement with Government of Alberta secretariats has equipped me with the skills and expertise needed to navigate complex multi-stakeholder engagements effectively. I've had the opportunity to co-facilitate important meetings between First Nations education directors, Elders, and school jurisdiction superintendents, helping to shape critical terms of reference, reports, and agreements.