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Congratulations! You’re ready to take the next step in getting published: hiring an editor.
Whether you’re planning to self-publish or publish traditionally, poorly edited novels distract readers as well as agents and publishers. Grab their attention with a clean manuscript, unforgettable story, strong voice, and memorable characters.
My services aim to help you do just that; I’m in your corner promoting your narrative voice. If you’re feeling uncertain about working with me, please request a free sample edit!
Proofreading
Last call before publication! Take a load off and send your finished novel out for a final polish with a thorough proofread. This is where I catch any distractions, grammar and beyond, that may have slipped through the rounds of formatting and editing. All your hard work is shined and polished in this last step leaving you looking amazing.
What’s Included
A full, prepublication check
Using the Chicago Manual of Style, I will read through your piece word by word and fix those itchy errors that distract your reader. I will focus on
- Consistent spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and hyphenation
- Dialogue punctuation and tagging
- Standard paragraph indenting
- Paragraph and section breaks
- Homophones and homonyms
- Removal of extraneous letter and line spaces
A style sheet (available upon request)
Investment: $0.01 per word
Manuscript Evaluation
You know your story is stellar, yet it’s tricky to pinpoint what may not be working. An objective editorial assessment of a novel, manuscript evaluations dig into everything from story flow to dialogue.
Bringing to light both the strengths and weaknesses of a manuscript, an evaluation gauges how effectively your novel will engage your target reader. It’s an honest and fresh perspective to help propel your draft revisions.
The written evaluation (also known as an editorial letter) walks through focused reader notes and details the why behind what’s working, what could be improved, and offers guidance on next steps.
What’s Included
An in-depth, critical read through analyzing:
- Plot beats, pacing, flow, and structure
- Character motivation, interaction, and development
- Story tone and voice
- World building
- Narrative point of view
- Overall narrative consistency
Evaluation letter/road map
- A manuscript evaluation is where I come along side you as an editor and encourage you to build on what works, while pointing out places to strengthen the story. My evaluation is a diagnostic tool, a suggested road map meant to enhance your creative goal. To that end, after critically reading your novel I will compile my notes into a letter that highlight
- Editorial concerns presented in context by using specific examples from your novel
- Explanations why and how the concern affects the reader’s connection with the book
- Suggest at least one potential solution or strategy to resolve the issue
Investment:
- For works under 80,000 words – $800 flat
- For works under 120,000 words – $1,000 flat
- For works over 125,000 words – $1,500 flat
Please note that the turnaround time for works 100,000 words or greater will take 8 or more weeks to evaluate due to the story length. Thank you for your understanding while I work to give you quality feedback!
Developmental Editing
Is an amazing story idea giving you the runaround? Don’t abandon it yet! More than an evaluation, development editing ensures the bones of your story are strong. Together we’ll distill the big picture elements so you can run away with details and nuances. We’ll comb through characters, events, setting, and themes already present in your current draft to unearth the story you are telling and an enthralling way to tell it.
I’m your sounding board. I offer insights from a reader perspective of what’s not jiving in the draft. From there, I offer editorial suggestions of how to align and enhance your story elements.
This story is yours. My role and goal in this process is to enhance the story by guiding deep edits authentic to your writing voice.
What’s included
- An in-depth, critical read analyzing
- Plot beats, pacing, flow, and structure
- Character motivation, interaction, and development
- Story tone and voice
- World building
- Narrative point of view
- Overall narrative consistency
- Regular, deep discussions on what you want out of the story, your goal for writing it, and the elements that are essential to the story.
- Weekly (or scheduled) readings of new draft material with focused feedback, guidance, and suggestions informed by genre, your writing goals, and story themes.
Investment: $0.03-4 per word
Full Line Edit
You’re happy with your story and structure and want to keep readers transfixed to your pages.
Full line editing focuses on enhancing your novel’s unique voice at the sentence level. We remove distractions poking out of your prose by focusing on the use of language while retaining the integrity and style of your narrative voice.
What’s Included
Line by line read through
This is where I dig into your use of language and how it impacts the reader’s experience of your story. I will read line by line through your novel focusing on
- Syntax, spelling, grammar, capitalization, and hyphenation
- Character voice word choice and authenticity
- Character consistency
- Pace and flow: special attention to unnatural phrasing or repetitive prose
- Dialogue or paragraphs that can be tightened
- Confusing or cliché metaphors
- Consistency in tense and point of view
- Dialogue tagging, punctuation, and style
- Proper page formatting: spacing of words, lines, and paragraphs, and chapter sequencing
An editorial letter
My observations and reactions (or aka reader’s notes) from editing your work will be collected in the editorial letter. I’ll walk you through the logic behind my comments and suggestions. As well as provide context for decisions concerning spelling, numbering, capitalization, punctuation, and other textual elements.
Investment: $0.02-$0.04 per word depending on the length and complexity of the novel. Individual quote made after reviewing a sample.
Vibrant Editing 