The Basics
Megan Ryan has a bachelor’s degree with a major in journalism and a minor in English. She worked as a copyeditor at a daily newspaper for three years before changing gears to stay home with her kids.
Megan has been freelance editing since 2018 and is a top-rated freelancer on Upwork. She has copyedited or proofread more than 200 books as well as articles and essays. Her specialty is Christian books, but she enjoys working on other books as well.
Megan is a member of the Christian PEN (Proofreaders and Editors Network) and the Christian Editor Connection. She also serves as volunteer coordinator for the Well Conference for Christian Creatives and assistant director of the Christian Editor Connection.
You can read more about Megan in her featured editor interview on the PEN Tips blog or by reading below.
The Full Story
It’s a common misconception, but Megan Ryan was not named after the actress Meg Ryan. She was born as Megan Crockett in a little town in Michigan. Her mom knew she had learned how to read at four years old when she read off Doogie Howser’s journal entries while watching Doogie Howser, M.D.
Megan’s enjoyment of reading and books grew from there, and by second grade, she knew she wanted to work with words. In high school, she joined the school newspaper. Reporting the news combined her passion for democracy with her love of writing, and after graduating high school as salutatorian, Megan attended Central Michigan University to study journalism.
College Years
Megan worked at the college newspaper, Central Michigan Life, for several years. She began as a reporter, then also became a proofreader. In her senior year, she was chosen as a news editor at CM Life. This involved supervising a team of reporters and editing their work.
Between her experience at CM Life and her classes, Megan realized she enjoyed editing more than reporting, so she began to focus her attention on developing her editing skills. She was chosen for a prestigious Dow Jones Newspaper Fund copyediting internship with the Detroit Free Press in 2006. She was also awarded a scholarship from ACES: The Society for Editing for the 2006–2007 school year and attended its 2007 conference in Miami.
Newspaper Career
After graduating from Central Michigan University in 2007 with a major in journalism and minors in English and anthropology, Megan completed another copyediting internship at the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan.
At the end of that internship, Megan Crockett moved to Illinois to take a job as a copyeditor at the Rockford Register Star in 2007. During her three years there, she got married and changed her name to Megan Ryan. After her first child was born, Megan left the paid workforce to be a stay-at-home mom.
Freelance Era
That season of life lasted until 2018, when Megan’s youngest child started preschool. She realized it was time to put her editing skills to use again, this time as a freelance book editor. At first, she mostly found clients on Upwork, where she became a top-rated freelancer. She has since helped dozens of indie authors and several hybrid publishers polish their work.
Megan Ryan’s family moved back to Michigan in 2019. She later found the community of the Christian PEN, which has given her opportunities to write blog posts and connect with other editors. In 2025, she became the assistant director of the Christian Editor Connection and the volunteer coordinator for the Well Conference for Christian Creatives.
Continuing Education
To ensure she continues to learn and grow, Megan has taken courses and webinars from the following editing organizations: the PEN Institute, the Editorial Freelancers Association, and ACES.
In addition to attending the Well Conference, Megan has also taken part in PENCON (a virtual conference for Christian editors), the American Christian Fiction Writers Virginia Royal Writers Conference, and the Red Pencil editing conference. These conferences have helped her stay up to date with the latest changes in the publishing industry.
Faith Journey
Megan grew up attending a Catholic church, where she was baptized as an infant and confirmed as a teenager. In college, she chose to be baptized at a nondenominational church after gaining a deeper understanding of God’s grace and her need for a savior.
For much of her adult life, Megan continued to attend nondenominational churches, often serving in children’s ministry. Currently, she and her family attend a church that’s part of the Reformed Church in America. She believes that Jesus is the only way to be reconciled with God and that the Bible is God’s Word, but her background has given her an appreciation for the many expressions of the Christian faith.
While Megan enjoys working with Christian authors and on books for the Christian market, she does not limit her editing to those areas. She has edited (and reads!) many general market books as well.
Conclusion
Since 2018, Megan has copyedited or proofread more than 200 books in addition to many articles. She is on the faculty of the 2026 ACFW Virginia Royal Writers Conference, where she will be teaching about how to find and work with a freelance editor.
Outside of editing, Megan enjoys holding babies in the church nursery and riding her bike in nice weather. She lives in west Michigan with her husband and three children, but she doesn’t go to see Lake Michigan as much as she’d like.
Professional Memberships
