Editorial Services

I offer an array of proofreading, line editing, copyediting, authenticity reading, book coaching, and developmental editing services for both fiction and non-fiction projects. Books are my primary medium, but I am comfortable editing website or blog/article copy as well.

Not sure what you need or what it costs? My services and accompanying rates are listed below, and I provide free consultations to determine what type of editing is best for your project, a time estimate, and a price quote.

Developmental Editing

You've got the lay of the land: your book is mostly or completely drafted, and you have a solid outline blocked out. But from the top of this vista, you're unable to predict the dead-end roads hiding in the vales of the landscape, and though you have a rough map, it seems to be missing some key waypoints and markers. What now?

Enter your custom tour guide: the developmental editor. You may have lived in this story land your whole life, but just like in the real world, we often don't realize what marvels lie in our own backyards until an outsider regales us with their wonder.

Allow my fresh perspective to highlight hidden treasures and new possibilities as we set out to discover the full richness of your narrative together. We will solidify the perfect route to bring your readers through the journey you have prepared for them, enticing them to immerse themselves in deep world and character development and steering them clear of any p(l)ot holes. The same goes for any non-fiction work: I will help you ensure that no important detail has been overlooked, no argument left unfinished or persuasive point unsharpened.

Whatever it is you need to make the visionary substance of your book a reality, I can help you pull all the pieces together into a compelling, engaging, complete work with a developmental edit.

Non-fiction base rate: $.04 per word

Fiction base rate: $.03 per word

Once you've plotted a clear path through the countryside of your manuscript, it's time to start paving gravel roads, widening narrow trails, and building sturdy bridges to get your readers smoothly from Point A to Point B and all the way through to the grand finale.

Just as with real-world road construction, line edits are where many writers get stuck and can even stall out: it's undeniably a tedious, lengthy process! Far easier to blaze through with a quick copy edit for the most egregious errors and call it good . . . but you might risk bewildering your readers on backroads of background character development, tangling them in stop-start subplot traffic, or simply losing them in the dust of the long dirt drive up to the main character's introduction!

A good line editor can save both you and your reader untold hours of angst by clearing up confusion, eliminating discontinuity, sorting out pacing issues or awkward phrasing, and smoothing flow at the paragraph and sentence level. This is the writer's equivalent of a photographer's post-production process: indispensable, whether you do it all yourself or hand it over for a colleague to finesse.

Now that I've handily mixed those metaphors for you, I invite you to engage my line editing service the next time you find yourself baking away on the abstract asphalt of your manuscript. Leave the tedium of the line edit construction zone to me--not only am I faster than a government crew, I'll free your narrative of delays and detours so that your readers can cruise on through to the amazing destinations you've prepared for them.

Non-fiction base rate: $.04 per word

Fiction base rate: $.035 per word

Line Editing

Copyediting

So you have a solidly constructed narrative or argument, clear organization, thorough development, careful continuity, and smooth paragraph flow. You might be tempted to think your work is done! Yet a few more key steps remain before your book is truly ready to hit the presses and launch your audience on their epic voyage through your masterpiece.

Copyediting is where business gets nitty-gritty: I check for misspellings, grammar errors, missing or misrepresented facts and citations, potential faux pas, and other middling to minor accidents. Think of a copy edit as akin to putting up proper signage and laying down fresh lane paint across your literary thoroughfare. Pretty necessary to have exits and highways clearly marked even in the age of GPS and Google Maps, isn't it? In similar fashion, a copy edit will help ensure your readers get where you need them to go without any uncomfortably awkward mishaps along the way.

Non-fiction base rate: $.025 per word

Fiction base rate: $.02 per word

Proofreading is the final waypoint of your authorial adventure--the last pit stop, the end stretch, the consummate polish. A thorough proofread catches lingering typos, punctuation errors, and typesetting or layout issues: all the odd oversights that tend to crop up at the last minute, like a forgotten traffic cone rolling its way across a busy and otherwise pristine intersection. Think of proofreading as a bit of final cleanup and landscaping: not strictly necessary, but goodness, the professionalism of those last few touches really does leave a lasting impression!

Non-fiction base rate: $.02 per word

Fiction base rate: $.0175 per word

Proofreading

Authenticity Reading

At any stage of the drafting process a writer might find herself in a bit of a dark passage: the subject matter at hand has stretched somewhat beyond your expertise or experience. The contours of your attempted portrait have become clouded, the description vague, perhaps ill-fitting or an unintentional stereotype.

Hiring an authenticity reader is a wise move when you find yourself wandering in unfamiliar territory outside the scope of the terrain you have already mapped out. Sometimes, surprisingly, you will find that hidden vale embedded right in the middle of the land you thought you knew: a side character with a history you've never lived yourself, a perspective you're not altogether familiar with, or an identity you've not encountered among your close associates. In non-fiction this befuddlement can manifest as inaccurately presented motives for an alternate or opposing viewpoint or as misrepresentation of persons, groups, or ideas you may be friendly to but are not closely acquainted with.

When in doubt, humility and deference will go a long way to preserving your reputation and rapport with your audience, and a sensitivity/authenticity reader can render the assistance you need to exercise both. No single authenticity reader can review every possible questionable angle, however, so it is of primary importance to find one (or more) who specialize(s) in the trouble areas you have targeted in your manuscript (and a copyeditor or developmental editor can help you suss out potential issues if you are unsure what those may be).

I offer sensitivity reads on three distinct areas of focus: neurodiversity, trauma and abuse, and cis/het women's concerns. I have extensive lived experience with all of these, so I am confident in my ability to speak to how they can be accurately and respectfully represented. I do not do authenticity reading for any other perspective.

Base rate: $.01 per word

Sometimes you have a brilliant idea for a story or a ground-breaking memoir concept, but you're not sure how to get it out of your head and onto the page. Or maybe you have completed half a draft only to become completely stuck in the middle. Maybe you've actually written a full draft of a book and then realized, with a terrible sinking feeling, that it needs a full rewrite! These are hard places for an author to find themselves, but you're not alone. A book coach can help you flesh out your concept, pin it down into a firm outline, anticipate and address problem areas, set and keep writing goals, and pace you through the drafting process until one day you wake up to find you've created a whole entire manuscript you're truly proud of!

Don't give up on your dreams when the road gets difficult: I've set my book coaching service at an affordable a la carte rate that can be tailored to suit any project, big or small. Get in touch via my contact page with the deets of what you need, and I'll give you a free quote!

Base hourly rate: $100

Book Coaching

Packages

If a manuscript consultation reveals that it is a good candidate for one of my editing package deals, I will happily offer one:

Line + Copy Edit: starting at $.045/word for non-fiction, $.04/word for fiction

Copyedit + Proofreading: starting at $.035/word for non-fiction, $.03/word for fiction

Get a Quote

Want a bird's eye view of your manuscript to help you get the lay of the land?

Contact me to start a conversation and receive a quote!

Consultations are free, and I also offer package deals if your project could benefit from a variety of services.

I am also pleased to be able to offer discounts to abuse survivors as they seek to share their stories with the world.

Reach out and let me see what I can do!