As an editor and coach I help writers no matter where they stand in the creation journey. Starting with a full draft of your manuscript? Maybe you’ve begun and need fresh eyes to evaluate your work. Count on my 38 years of editing and publishing work to polish and advance your book.
Many books benefit from development editing, which can include a bit of line editing. Full Spectrum editing does this combination. Evaluations cover narrative, vocabulary, structure, and voice, with my notes inside Word as deep annotations, as well as an editorial letter. Development editing improves books in progress. You better understand choices about story flow, deciding what to include and what can be set aside. Development editing is 3 cents a word. I work with unfinished manuscripts; that is often the best time to get a development edit.
Every writer needs copy editing. Some editors refer to this step as line editing. I consider copy editing a more comprehensive level of line editing. I’ve edited nonfiction books, memoirs, novels, magazines, publications, and journals. My standard rate for copy editing — cleanup of grammar and punctuation, revising sentences, along with maintaining consistency, style, and your voice — is 2 cents per word.
The difference: Copy editing is for a finished book that needs its language polished before you offer it to an agent or publisher. Development editing helps you create the best book from the ground up. Together we craft story structure, plot, characters, and themes. An editorial letter, plus notes in the margins, will polish your choices in a development edit.
Proofreading: A book which has been through development and line editing needs to be proofread as the final step before publication. It’s a different kind of edit, designed to catch typos and clean up behind the copy edit you’ve gotten for your book. Many proofreaders are also copy editors. It’s not unusual to get light copy editing as a part of a proofread. Don’t skip this step. It’s easiest to see flaws of a less-than-professional book by finding typos — and since that’s so easy, your reviews might reveal those mistakes, too.
Try it: I’ll test-edit a 10-page double-spaced sample of your book for free, so you can decide if we’re right for each other. Send me your file to get your sample edit.
Let’s talk about your project: 512-657-3264
Editors and agents want to see your story summarized before deciding to read more. A book blurb is your introduction. For traditional publishing deals, a brisk synopsis and a compelling query get your foot in the door and demonstrate you know your book and its theme. I can develop from the start alongside you for these proposal tools, or edit and revise your existing query and synopsis. If you’re trying to lock down how your query’s Compel paragraph looks, we should talk. Compel is one of the Four C’s of a query letter.
Agent and title research: Using the latest industry databases and published-comparable book searches, I’ll help you track down the agents to whom you’ll submit queries, synopses, and manuscript samples. Your comps show an agent or an editor that you know where your book fits in your genre or field. Comps work in two aspects, the add-to and the also-bought. If you can complete the sentence that starts “This book is for readers of” then you’ve begun your work on comps.
Proposals: These are a blend of development editing, copy editing, and research. A proposal is a marketing tool that’s powered by samples you’re selected from your book, plus a concept of who might buy it and what can be done to promote and sell it.
How it all works
We start with a 30-minute introductory meeting via phone, or over Skype, FaceTime, or even Google Hangouts. I get to know you and your project. There’s a straightforward Services Agreement we complete. You send me a complete file with your work and we establish the deliverables, payment schedules, and set goals and deadlines.
The biggest boost to your success as an author will be the investment of your time to revise after you receive your development edit. We’ll find practices to keep you creating, too. When you keep working, you are making progress toward completing your book. Finishing School, another workshop service, is a six-week program to discover your habits and align your efforts to achieve completion.