Editing
"I've written my manuscript and gone through a revision or two. Now I need an expert to help me take it to the next level."
Developmental Editing
What you have: A first or second draft of a fiction or nonfiction manuscript.
What you need: An expert's assessment and recommendations; to refine your work before sending it to an agent or publisher.
What you'll receive: A thorough analysis of your work composed in an editorial letter that will give you actionable advice as to how to improve the story as a whole. The letter will include an analysis of the story's strengths and challenges pertaining to the plot, characters, pacing, and structure; analysis of your writing style; assessment of the story's momentum and "promise," or what agents and publishers will be looking for when reading submissions; and overall thoughts and suggestions. This service concludes with a one-hour phone conversation during which you may ask for clarification and receive a critique on any additional edits. I'll also suggest comparative titles for you to read that will help further your ideas.
Line Editing
What you have: A final draft of a fiction or nonfiction manuscript.
What you need: To polish your work before sending it to an agent or acquisitions editor; to perfect your work before self-publishing.
What you'll receive: In addition to the overall story edit completed in the editorial letter described above, you'll receive meticulous page-by-page edits within your manuscript on word choice, sentence structure, and paragraph structure. You'll also receive a light copy edit during which I'll correct misspellings, typos, and any glaring inconsistencies. All edits will be made in Track Changes so that you'll be able to see what I changed, ensuring that you retain creative control. Line editing entails a very close read and hours of my undivided attention; as a result, a line edit can take anywhere from a few weeks to a month.
Book Doctoring
What you have: A book that you need a professional's help executing (fiction or nonfiction); a manuscript that you'd like to have rewritten.
What you need: A final draft for an agent, publisher, or self-publisher.
What you'll receive: A more hands-on approach to the editorial process, where the edits are suggested and implemented by the editor. We'll begin by discussing what you have and what you're looking for specifically. Book doctoring takes a variety of forms, from rewriting a draft in its entirety and sending regular updates with samples to working with an author from inception to completed manuscript. After the draft is complete, we'll discuss edits to perfect the manuscript for your purposes. Each book doctoring venture is specific to the project, but ultimately you'll be getting a professional's touch on everything from the overall story to the details in terms of word choice and syntax. Since this is a more comprehensive service and regular, close contact with the author is imperative, there is limited availability for book doctoring projects.
