Writing and Editing Services

Developmental Editing: $50/hour—averaging 12 pages an hour

The goal of the freelance editing service is to help you prepare your manuscript for submission to an agent or publisher, maintaining your vision and voice. I will also work with you to revise your work for self-publication to ensure the quality of your writing because your credibility and sales hinge on reaching your audience with your words. I respect budgets and will work out a plan with you that fits your needs.

This is a pay-as-you-go option for writers who need assistance revising their manuscripts and want to focus on specific elements of their writing. You have the option to choose the type of feedback and writing assistance you need.

Because I am more efficient than industry average of 8 to 10 pages an hour, my clients save money with an hourly rate; however, I’m happy to convert to a per word rate.

Comments focus on your vision and your writing needs. I do not follow a rubric because my goal is to take each piece of writing individually and to pay attention to the your purpose, style and the words on the page. The first reading follows the same path that a naive reader would follow--being surprised by the developments and turns any written text takes. In this reading, the focus is on clearing away the most obvious issues that might impede a reader's progress through the text. You get comments that reflect a first-hand reaction to the material. As any writer knows, though, revisions often cause new issues--with internal consistency or new structural and sentence-level issues from adding or deleting, cutting and pasting. That's why I offer a second reading. This reading involves fine-tuning the language, making sure threads of ideas are clear throughout the entire manuscript, and looking for the more obscure issues that might undermine a writer's credibility.

Sentence-level issues: sentence structure, variety and clarity; grammatical correctness; punctuation; verb tense; pronoun reference; word choice

Development issues: organization and structure; plot and pacing, characterization, setting, logical consistency of events; overall focus and theme; elimination of nonessential elements and digressions; readers’ reactions; genre conventions

Paragraph issues: structure of paragraphs; development with detail, description and evidence (where applicable); use of logic; paragraph breaks and dialogue

I work with either Word or Google docs, preferably in a font like Times New Roman, size 12, double spaced. I will provide in-text suggested changes and comments, as well as a two-page report discussing general trends and suggestions.

Ghostwriting, writing, coaching: $60/hour

Want help writing your manuscript (memoir, business, self-help, fiction)? I can work with you throughout the entire process to write a book that reflects your vision. Process described below:

Planning Session: Discussion of scope of project, goals, grammatical conventions (pronoun usage, verb tense, etc.), possible themes, basic outline of events (NOTE: I don’t know what has happened in your life and we together won’t know what events are relevant until we explore the scope of the story, so this part of the process relies entirely on what you choose to tell me), other people involved.

Interviews: I will conduct interviews with you and any other people you want to involve. I will transcribe these interviews and use them as notes for constructing the book. Interviews generally are most effective if I have background information so I know what questions to ask. Interviews last approximately 1.5 hours. Sometimes multiple interviews with one person might be needed.

Research: Depending on your topic, additional research may be necessary. You can provide research materials, or I can conduct research. Depending on your publishing arrangements, it might be required to document source material. The amount and scope of research is entirely up to you.

Drafting: Once all the notes are gathered, I will construct a draft. This involves synthesizing multiple sources of information, determining the best structure for the narrative or structure for non-fiction, deciding what will be included, interpreting information to reflect intent, fulfilling structure and genre expectations, and constructing sentences that reflect your voice as closely as possible. Once the draft is complete, you will be able to review it and make any changes you want to be sure it is accurate and reflects your vision.

Revision: Once I receive your suggestions, I will make changes and also revise to improve structure and content of the materials. This just takes time and for the highest quality book, there’s no way to avoid that—and sometimes multiple reviews will offer new insights.

Beta Readers (optional): You can select 4 or 5 readers who represent your target audience to read and offer feedback on the draft. I can help you draft instructions and questions to make this step as effective as possible. I will take their feedback and use it to make additional revisions to the draft.

Editing and Proofreading: By the end of this process, you and I will be so fully immersed in the words on the page, that our brains will be trained to see what we think is there rather than what is actually written. Honestly, there is no way to avoid this. Professional editing and proofreading may be worthwhile.