Developmental Editing

As a developmental editor, I will read your story with a focus on the big picture including structure, plot, and characters. I won’t look for sentence-level edits. If you’re looking for a copy editor to check for spelling and punctuation, I recommend Pam Cyran. I will bear your target audience in mind and assess the work - as best I can - to industry standards and expectations. I am not an agent so I can’t guarantee you a fast track to publication but I am a life-long writer/reader and have been diligently studying the craft for a number of years, so working together we can certainly make your project as strong as possible.

My primary market knowledge is in Picture Books, Middle-Grade, and Adult novels. I can read most genres except erotica, high fantasy, and deep sci-fi. Please no hate, propaganda, excessive violence, or violence toward children as a central theme. I am happy to read memoirs but I'm not the best for most other adult non-fiction. Children’s non-fiction I am happy to read.

As a former professor, my editing style is direct but always delivered with a balance of what you did well as well as what needs work. If you only want to hear rainbows and sunshine I may not be your best fit, but I am never cruel. I want your project to succeed and want to feel like we're a team working on it.

My process is to request the first ten pages of your book along with a statement about what you envision is the market for the book and what your goal is for the process. This gives me a chance to honestly evaluate whether we are a good match. After that, if we both agree it’s a good fit, I’ll dive in. I’ll take the whole manuscript along with any questions you have that you want me to specifically answer. I charge a rate of $14 per 1000 words - half due before I begin and half due upon completion. I’ll have one Zoom call with you after I’m done to go over my feedback and answer questions. Further work we can discuss at that time.

I look forward to working with you! Contact me to get the process started.