You will click the bright blue button and fill out my contact form. I will respond to you within a few hours. We will chat a bit; you’ll tell me about your work and send me a sample of roughly 1,000 words from somewhere in the middle of your manuscript (the middle is better than the front, trust me on this).

I’ll use Track Changes in MS Word to leave comments on what I think is awesome and what could be tweaked some for clarity. I may also make changes to your grammar, spelling, or punctuation. If you are unfamiliar with Track Changes, click here to watch a short video explaining how to use this feature.

If you like what you see on the sample, we can discuss exactly what kind of editing is needed, how quickly I could complete the entire work, establish a payment plan, and review a contract we will both sign. You’ll send me a downpayment with your manuscript, and I’ll get to work!

Once it’s completed, I’ll send you a final invoice. When the last payment is made, you will receive a multi-page, comprehensive letter detailing your successes and opportunities for improvement, and possibly an annotated version of your manuscript, depending on what level of editing was agreed upon.

Then we both raise a toast to your brilliance!

Yes, we both do. The contract helps ensure expectations are clear. You want to receive excellent service; I want to provide excellent service. A contract helps ensures the entire editing process is a positive one.

I would be delighted to recommend someone who will shine a light on your genius!

Absolutely! Let’s see what you wrote.

Writing is like building a house, and the different kinds of editing are the different stages of the building process. Below are some comparisons to help you figure out where you are and what your project needs.

• A book coach assists you in developing your ideas, maybe helps you set up a regular writing schedule. They walk with you as you draw up the blueprints, and maybe all the way through to publication.

•  A developmental/structural editor makes sure the foundation is level and the framework is sound. They might tell you to move your rooms around or maybe even add or remove an entire level. They will ensure your plot is solid, your characters have a satisfying arc, and your world is rich.

•  A manuscript evaluation is similar to a developmental edit, but the evaluator doesn’t walk with you through each step of the build. They come in for a consult, help you know what needs work, and pat you on the back. It’s a high-level evaluation offering constructive criticism.

•  A line editor is the one who helps with putting up sheetrock and laying the flooring. They might not move whole rooms around, but they’ll tell you if the sink needs to go on the other wall. For your manuscript, they will make sure your dialogue sounds natural, your characters feel real, the pacing is appropriate, and your sentence structure isn’t repetitive. They might suggest moving paragraphs or changing words.

•  A copy editor comes in to paint the walls, hang the curtains, and move in furniture. They do the nitty gritty of grammar, spelling, commonly misused words, and what most people think of when they think of editing. They’ll make sure the commas are all in right places and no modifiers are left dangling.  

•  A proofreader does all the things right before you invite folks over for dinner. They pick up the dirty laundry, sweep the floor, and wash up the dishes. Their job is closer to formatting than other editing, making sure the page numbers are all correct, there are no extra or missing spaces, the table of contents is correct, and a page doesn’t have only a single word on it. This may be the final pair of eyes before a work is published.

 Some editors may do one or all of these forms of editing, for one or multiple genres and styles of writing. But no matter what, we want to help your project be the best it possibly can be

If you’re still unsure, send me a message, and we can decide together. If it turns out you need a service I don’t offer, I’m happy to recommend someone for you.

Another excellent question. Because of the customized nature of editing, it varies from project to project, but most things will fall in between $.015 a word and $.05 a word. Factors that affect the cost include the length of the manuscript, the genre, the type of editing needed, and the timeframe. A 40,000-word romance that only needs a beta read before it goes to the publisher in two months will be different from the 130,000-word epic high fantasy that needs heavy line edits completed in three weeks or less.

Tell me a little about your project, and I can provide a ballpark estimate. Even better, let’s do a sample edit so I can see your writing and more accurately quote for you.

PayPal. If for some reason you are unable to use PayPal, we can explore other payment options.

I’m very comfortable with speculative fiction and fantasy, but I have also edited literary fiction, fables, memoirs, poetry, and nonfiction. I work with a wide range of genres; however, there is content I will not handle, such as graphic descriptions of abuse, violence against minors, etc. If you have content you are concerned about, let’s discuss it before making any decisions.