What do you like to write?

Mystery

Romance

Sci-fi or Speculative Fiction

Fantasy

Young Adult

Children’s Literature

Whatever style or genre you choose, I can review it for you. Some editors specialize in one genre, but I’m interested in any type, and believe that they all need—and deserve!—a high level of attention to detail in the editing process. You are welcome to send me a sample for review, to see if my process meshes well with your work. (sample may be up to 1,500 words, or one chapter)

NEW - Developmental editing: Developmental editing is the first stage of professional editing. It’s the review of high-level items: the narrative arc, character development, plot points, structure. I might suggest that you move certain sections around, or cut some material, or add more in another area. What are your book’s strengths and weaknesses? Where does it need help? I’ll help you with the overall organization of your book. I’ll begin to look at your voice and style in a broad strokes way, but we won’t get into grammar or even worry too much about dialogue at this stage.

Stylistic Editing (also known as Line Editing) clarifies your meaning. It ensures your narrative is coherent, flows nicely, and refines your language. When I do this level of editing, I will go through your story line by line. I check for jargon or expressions that might not be consistent with your setting or character, make sure that the level of language is appropriate for your intended audience, and help you establish and maintain your book’s tone/mood and style. I will make suggestions for adjustments to the length and structure of your sentences and paragraphs, to enhance the flow. During this very thorough analysis, I also include some copyediting, although please note that if this round of editing results in you making substantial changes to your manuscript, you may well need a separate copyedit. Stylistic editing is intense.

Copyediting is the review of the technical parts of your story. It’s usually the final edit to your manuscript, happening after the stylistic and structural edits, (although if you engage me to do your stylistic edit, I will include copyediting in the same process).  You have your story, your voice and structure are set, and all the elements are there.  I will then go through the manuscript looking for correctness, accuracy, and consistency. I look for errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. I also check for accidental inconsistencies in your story or plot branches (twigs?) that are left hanging or unclear. The copyediting round ensures your story is complete, clear, and consistent.

Proofreading is the final step before publication. This is it – you’ve got your finished manuscript! You’ve made all the changes you wanted, you’ve been through the process, and here it is.

Before it hits the presses, allow me to go through it for you as a last, fresh set of eyes. I will look at it for any missed details in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization. Proofreading adds that last surface polish to a finished story. Please note, proofreading is not a substitute for copyediting.

Manuscript Evaluation The manuscript evaluation is a one-off report for new authors looking for direction on their manuscript. It includes analysis feedback and advice on structure, narrative, voice, world-building (if applicable), and character development, from the point of view of an editor, but without the larger fee of a full developmental edit. The advantage of the lower fee is offset by the disadvantage of not having comments made in the actual manuscript.

Types of non-fiction work include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Books

Cookbooks

Blog posts

Resumes and CVs

I’m happy to review any of these formats prior to publication. If you have a project of a different sort, contact me and we can discuss how I can help you.

Non-fiction material needs to be reviewed for correctness, accuracy, and consistency. In addition to the standard search for errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization, I can verify that references to images or tables are noted correctly, and that the tables, figures, or lists don’t contain typos. I’ll ensure the consistency and accuracy of elements in the material like cross-references, captions, page numbers or chapter headings. I can check your table of contents, index and appendices for completeness and clarity. I’ll also check for accidental inconsistencies in your text or things that are unclear.

As an optional added service, if you have a list of sources or citations, I can verify that any web link references are correct and working, and that citations are listed correctly for the style guide that you’re following.

Conversely, if you are confident that all of the above is correct and in order, I can provide the last, simple look-over, just searching for any remaining missed details in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization.

Types of technical work include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Academic research papers or theses

Long proposal or RFP documents

Specifications

Large-format drawings

Professional Studies or reports

I’m happy to review any of these types of documents prior to final submission. If you have a project of a different sort, contact me and we can discuss how I can help you.

Stylistic Editing clarifies your meaning. It ensures your narrative is coherent, flows nicely, and refines your language. When I do this level of editing, I will go through your story line by line. I check for jargon, clichés or expressions that might not be consistent with the tone or level of formality expected by your intended audience. I will make suggestions for adjustments to the length and structure of your sentences and paragraphs, to enhance the flow. During this very thorough analysis, I also include copyediting. Stylistic editing is intense.

Technical material needs to be reviewed for correctness, accuracy, and consistency. During copyediting, I can verify that drawing notations or references to images or tables are noted correctly, and that schedules, figures, or lists don’t contain typos. I’ll make sure that acronyms and specific industry terms are consistent and properly identified for readers. I’ll ensure the consistency and accuracy of elements in the material like cross-references, captions, page numbers or section headings. I can check your table of contents, index and appendices for completeness and clarity. I’ll also check for inconsistencies in your text or things that are unclear. I can verify that citations are listed correctly for the standard guide that you’re following, and that any web link references are correct and working.

Proofreading: If you are confident that all of the above is correct and in order, I can provide a last, simple look-over, just searching for any remaining missed details in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization. This last look (proofreading) happens more quickly than the more in-depth review above (copyediting).