Services
Copy & Line Editing
Your book is as good as you can make it, and now needs polishing and finalizing before formatting and publishing.
$0.01 CAD/word |
Copy & Line Editing Plus
You hope your book is ready for publishing, but you're not on a tight schedule and you're willing to make story edits based on feedback.
$0.015 CAD/Word |
Developmental Editing
Your book is a work in progress. You're looking for experienced feedback and guidance to make your book as good as it can be.
$0.20 CAD/Word
|
|
|
Copy and Line Editing
I know what it's like to read a piece fifty times and still miss piddly details like double words or spellcheck pass-overs, to desperately need a second person to look over your work who has an eye for function, flow, and style, not to mention a patient and discerning mind.
I read every piece twice. The first pass catches the more egregious errors and disfluencies. The second pass acts as a proof, and I'm better able to comment on redundant information, elements planted and not paid off, and maybe some minor comments on the story, where appropriate.
For you I will:
- Edit for errors, style, grammar, sentence structure, flow, impact, punctuation, redundancy, etc.
- Use track changes so you can follow what I've edited and approve or reject edits.
- Make a style sheet to help with standardization in the future.
- Include a write-up of potential technical issues.
- Contact you with any questions that I might have pertaining to your book.
Copy and Line Editing Plus
A "Copy and Line Plus" is a middle ground between a developmental edit and a copy and line edit. In essence, I'll do a copy and line edit, provide substantial feedback on your story, and then send the manuscript back to you to review before making another editing pass. Sometimes a story simply needs some final tweaks to character or pacing, or some particular aspects emphasized, or even excised, to reach its maximum efficacy, while not requiring the in-depth tinkering of a full developmental edit.
For you I will:
- Edit for errors, style, grammar, sentence structure, flow, impact, punctuation, redundancy, etc.
- Use track changes so you can address the edits, including many site-specific comments on character, story, or technical elements I feel could use attention.
- Send your book back to you after my first pass with a write-up outlining elements of the story I think should be addressed, suggestions for tweaks or improvements, or even notes on what aspects I think are working really well.
- Do a second editing pass over your piece, and include another write-up of potential technical issues or story elements that may need addressing, if necessary.
- Make a style sheet to help with standardization in the future.
- Contact you with any questions I might have pertaining to your book.
Developmental Editing
Developmental edits require an openness to suggestions, and frequent communication to discuss your book. In my experience, the best results come from being inquisitive about your own writing and seeking feedback and second opinions about the work, which is where I come in, and am happy to provide.
I read every piece twice (with a targeted third look), and make frequent site-specific comments along the way using track changes, typically about style, characterization, gaps in the story, redundant scenes, repeated information, impact of details, pet phrases, repeated words, inconsistencies within the plot, common pitfalls, etc -- along with any endemic technical concerns where appropriate.
- After the first pass, I try to return a write-up of the book and its potential issues via its characters (Some editors prefer a chapter to chapter review; however, I feel that's not a great metric unless every chapter is a cliffhanger.), but every book, like every author, is unique, and thus every dev edit is different. Even when the book has a common issue, it's usually still implemented in a way unique to you and your style.
- Key to a good developmental edit is assessing the piece structurally for what might be MISSING. This tends to rely on genre, and author expectations. Most commonly, these are elements like story beats, suspense, or other factors that need to be emphasized to flesh out the narrative to the fullest.
- Moreover, I also like to discuss OPPORTUNITIES in your book, elements that I feel could be expanded or made more explicit to better effect, or which you perhaps aren't taking full advantage of at the moment.
- I feel it's important to note what parts of the book WORK for me the best.
- Overall, I like to make a number of SUGGESTIONS. I think I make pretty good suggestions, and if it’s not a strong suggestion I will say so. However, more to the point, I find suggestions an extremely useful tool for helping a client understand their piece, as often, even if a suggestion isn't right for you, while considering it you have to decide why it isn’t right, and usually acquire a better idea of what you would prefer instead.
- After the first pass, I return your piece with a detailed write-up and track-change comments.
- We'll stay in contact while you make alterations. I'm available for answering questions, and being a sounding board for your ideas.
- I'll make another pass over the edited piece, with a second write-up, if necessary.
- It usually is, though not usually as long, and often more about surface-level details.
- It usually is, though not usually as long, and often more about surface-level details.
- After you've reviewed the second round of edits, I'll review a further ~10% of the book's word count.
- The impulse of course is to want the whole book read again, but by the third reading that's not productive, while a targeted look at specific sections can hone in to assess alterations.
As an author, I've won local awards. I've been a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest.
If you'd like a sample of my own writing, you can take a look HERE.
If you'd like a sample of my own writing, you can take a look HERE.
