An informal, results-oriented collaborative
process will help you shape and organize your text, identify gaps and clarify your narrative.
Starting from a sample chapter, I can offer recommendations about the level of editing your
manuscript needs.
If the author accepts my recommendation to edit in depth, I'll offer my best
estimate of the number of hours required before starting work.
What you can expect from the editing process will include a close review, and
proposed corrections, of such language basics as spelling, punctuation, grammar and word
usage. But in addition to this basic copy editing, the process will address fundamentals
of the story itself. That's true of both fiction and non-fiction.
I'll identify any gaps or omissions that may require additional information or
explanations. I'll suggest ways to clarify language that's hard to understand, or that can
be read with more than one meaning. I'll offer thoughts about how the organization might
be improved. I'll comment on specifics of plot, character and description.
In all cases, my objective is to ensure that the author's meaning comes through
as intended, and as clearly as possible. I also strive to preserve the writer's distinctive
voice. Whether that tone is dryly professorial or wildly quirky, I'll respect your style
while polishing any rough spots that interfere with clarity.
Substantive editing also includes correcting errors of fact or context, spotting
inconsistencies in such details as dates and names, and clarifying time sequence, cause and
effect and other continuity issues.
Because much of this process is subjective, it's normal to have give-and-take
between author and editor. I may interpret a passage in a way the writer didn't intend, but
after hearing an explanation can suggest a less ambiguous wording. Expect me to ask questions
to ensure I totally understand every detail of a manuscript.
I use the "track changes" and "notes" features in Microsoft Word. This ensures
the author can see exactly what I've changed, and why. The marginal notes let me put questions
in context, and explain my proposed changes. The writer can accept or reject each editing
change, and the Word document will keep track of every step, no matter how many times the
manuscript goes back and forth.
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Get a critical reader's feedback before you publish.
A fruitful editing process doesn't have to be face to face, as in this scene from the 1940
newsroom farce His Girl Friday. It does need to be a candid, respectful collaboration between
editor and writer. (Here, the editor is played by Cary Grant and the writer by Rosalind Russell.)
A good editor's critical eye, questions and suggestions can make the difference between a
promising failure and a brilliant publishing debut. I can help you shape and organize your work,
whatever your level of experience as a writer.
To request a rate quotation, 
to query form.
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