Services
Contact me and I can help you determine the best editing package based on your goals and where your manuscript is right now. I am happy to review a 20-page sample gratis and provide you with a quote.
Manuscript Evaluation
- When to Consider: This type of edit is useful as a first edit, when the text has not received any feedback or other reads yet. It’s also helpful if you have some high-level questions about the work. I can give you a prioritized road map for moving forward, which is very useful if you’re feeling stuck.
- Purpose of the Edit: To assess how the work holds together on a global level (bird’s eye view).
- What I Provide: Editorial memo (no margin comments or work in the manuscript). Communication as needed over email + an optional 1-hour phone call to discuss the feedback.
Developmental Editing
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When to Consider: This type of edit will give you the most feedback on both a global and granular level. This is a good next step when you have taken the manuscript as far as you can on your own (with perhaps a few outside reads) and are ready for a full, in-depth, professional edit.
- Purpose of the Edit: To identify issues on a global level (bird’s eye view) as well as a granular level (worm’s eye view). For nonfiction I assess structure, content, pacing, flow, clarity, and voice. For fiction I assess narrative development, character, continuity, conflict, structure, voice, pacing, tension, thematic development, style, and execution.
- What I Provide: Editorial memo as well as editorial feedback in the form of margin comments in the manuscript using the Microsoft Word Comments feature. Communication as needed over email + an optional 1-hour phone call to discuss the feedback.
Line Editing
- When to Consider: This type of edit is appropriate when a manuscript has already undergone a developmental edit and the structure and content are “baked”, but the overall readability (including clarity, continuity, consistency, flow, style, and voice) could use some feedback. I can help your book read better on a prose level. Note that “line editing” is not the same as what is referred to as “copyediting” in the publishing industry – I don’t assess grammar or spelling.
- Purpose of the Edit: To identify issues on a granular level (worm’s eye view).
- What I Provide: Editorial feedback in the form of margin comments and rewording suggestions in the manuscript using the Microsoft Word Comments and Track Changes features. Communication as needed over email + an optional 1-hour phone call to discuss the feedback.
Book Proposals
- I can help nonfiction authors develop winning book proposals to submit to agents and publishers. Whether you need support in refining your target audience, assessing the state of the marketplace in your subject area, coming up with marketing and publicity ideas, brainstorming a great title and subtitle, figuring out the structure of the book, or refining your sample text, I can help. Contact me for more details on this.
Inclusivity/Sensitivity Reads
- Inclusivity reads (also called sensitivity reads) are useful when authors are writing about marginalized identities and experiences that the author does not share or is not an expert in, to ensure that the portrayal is nuanced and does not perpetuate harm.
- My inclusivity reads focus on LGBTQ+ identities and experiences, specifically queer, lesbian, and bisexual. I also have a working understanding of transgender and nonbinary identities. Happy to read fiction and nonfiction. Contact me for more details on this.