Editorial Services

     Writing can be such a lonely, isolating task. Are my characters real or cardboard? How is the story flowing? What kinds of crazy mistakes am I making that I don't even realize are there? How can I make my work better?
​ My company exists to provide services that help make sure your story, your text, your work is the best it can be. I am your first reader. Your cheerleader. Your guide. I'm tough. I'm detailed. But I'm committed to high-quality written product

Editing

Most people are unaware that there are at least four stages to a thorough story or nonfiction edit. I am listing all levels, but I only provide services for those in bold print.

SUBSTANTIVE EDIT:
This is the over-arching edit. The big picture edit.
For fiction: Are the characters consistent? Are they necessary? Realistic? Is the plot proceeding at a good pace? Are there any unnecessary plot lines? How is the overall read? Does the story make sense? The goals compelling? Does the story start too early or too late? Does every scene have a purpose that points to the end of the story? Do the characters grow or change?
For nonfiction: Is there one main focus of the work? How does the work build to the conclusion? Are the facts, examples, and vignettes sufficient and accurate to help the reader understand the concepts? Is it written in a compelling, readable fashion? Are the word choices simple but powerful?
After this edit, the writer rewrites according to the suggestions made.

LINE EDIT:
This edit takes a closer, line-by-line look at the work. Are the sentences and paragraphs in order? Are they written with the correct pacing? Are the word choices correct and accurate? Do the dialogue and actions reflect the character's personality? Is the grammar correct? Do we have repetition of concepts, words, and situations? Does everything make sense? And more. This edit continues to focus on the overall story or nonfiction work.

COPY EDIT:
This edit narrows down to word-by-word look at the work. Do we have proper punctuation usage? Again looks at the sentence structure and word choices but does not look at the story so much as the nuts and bolts of words, grammar, and punctuation. The copy editor checks quotes, verifies facts, spelling of trademarks, and names of public figures.

PROOFREAD:
This is the closest edit yet. It's the character-by-character check to make sure every jot and tittle is correct.

OTHER EDITORIAL SERVICES:
Read and Review:
This is a faster, shorter version of the substantive edit.
Short text copy edit:
This service is for shorter text options such as online text (blogs, product descriptions), book proposals, important letters, etc. This service ensures the text reads clearly and has no glaring mistakes. I do not offer copy edit services for full-length books.

Mentoring

     For the motivated writer, teachable, eager to learn, I offer one-on-one fiction-writing mentoring (via e-mail). You must have a work in progress (novel or short story) for us to focus on.

Teaching 

Offering seminars on:

  • Writing fiction: plot, structure, characterization, dialogue, overall structure
  • Show, Don't Tell
  • Self-editing
  • Story patterns
  • Writing for Teenagers
  • ​Seminars directed to teenagers on how they can begin writing
  • Elementary through high school mini-seminars on writing story, or author/editor appearance.

Keynote

Keynotes designed for women's groups, writers conferences, chapel, church:

  • The Difficulty of Forgiveness
  • Through the Gap (from God's promise/call to fulfillment)
  • Captivated by the Truth (using truth, rather than deception, to teach, motivate, encourage, call.
  • Our Stories Matter (our stories matter to God, to others, to ourselves)
  • No Pat Answers! (how pat answers hurt, not help the wounded)
  • How This Writer Got Started

Transcription

Do you have interviews you would like transcribed? A talk or sermon you or someone else has given? I offer transcription services.

Pricing

  • Editing
  • Substantive edit: $70/hr
  • Line edit: $75/hr
  • Read and Review: $550 up to 50,000 words (200 pages)
  • Short text copy edit: $60/hr
  • Mentoring: $75/hr
  • Teaching: transportation costs, food, lodging (if necessary), speaking fee per hour (to be determined)
  • Keynote: transportation costs, food, lodging (if necessary), speaking fee (to be determined)
  • Transcription:
  • 1 speaker $1.50/recorded minute
  • Each additional speaker $.25/recorded minute
  • Accent—light $.25/recorded minute
  • Accent—heavy $.50/recorded minute
  • Background noise—light $.25/recorded minute
  • Background noise—heavy $.50/recorded minute