Book Editing
Beta Read
Are you ready for front-line feedback from the perspective of the reader to make sure your book is on the right track?
I'll read the entire book, give feedback in areas you're concerned about or passages that don't jive, and provide a 1-3-page write-up from a reader's perspective.
As an editor, I come with professional editorial knowledge of the overall structure and creative writing elements in case they need attention. I perform beta reads at $.01/word.
I offer a quick turnaround, so you can dig back into revision with fresh ideas.
Manuscript Evaluation
First drafts are designed to capture the events in writing. It's hard work, but it's only the first step. The second step is to organize those events, bring out the thoughts, observations, and insights of the narrator, and to reveal all of it through detailed scenes, thoughtful prose, and suspenseful or tension-filled narration. I'm here to help you discover the story beneath those events.
I'll review these creative writing elements for you:
- Structure – Is the real story there, or do we need to bring it to the forefront of the events with in-depth scenes?
- Characters - Are they developed and strong enough to act consistently on their own? Do they keep the reader engaged through cause and effect? I'm looking at you, memoirists!
- Point of View – Could the story be stronger told from the first person instead of third? Or vice versa?
- Voice - Does your voice or style of narration resonate with readers? Let's make sure.
- Other high-level items
I'll provide a 3-5 page written evaluation of the above elements along with recommendations, a 5-10 page sample of scene-level edits, and then we'll review the findings together, so you leave with a plan for a healthy rewrite. I like to call it a creative roadmap.
Developmental Edit
Done with rewrites? Ready for a quality check? Here’s how a developmental edit can help.
First, I review the structure, character development, and point of view, just like the manuscript evaluation above. If these holistic elements are in place, then I dig deeper, editing at the scene level throughout. This is where I review:
- Narrative elements: Dialogue, actions, descriptive details, thoughts, and exposition
- Style elements: Paragraph and sentence structure, language, and writing faux pas like repetitive words or phrases, summarizing, show/don’t tell opportunities, etc.
- Scene structure – Do your scenes include enough details, tension, and a decent pace to keep the reader engaged? Do they advance the plot?
- Literary elements – Is there depth to the story or just an event-after-event narrative? Is the underlying message or theme identifiable?
The result will be a professionally-written report of the findings, feedback in the manuscript, guidance, and next steps.
*NOTE: I don't believe in charging for scene-level edits throughout a book if character or structure issues need to be resolved first. In this situation, I will provide a manuscript evaluation for discussion, and together we'll determine next steps. Fees will be adjusted accordingly.