Services I Offer

Manuscript editing

Most of what I do takes place at the manuscript stage—after a book has been written, but before it’s been laid out in designed pages. I go through the manuscript line by line, making corrections and suggestions.

Projects vary, and so do the terms that people use to describe editing. The way I look at it, though, most manuscript editing falls into one of two general categories:

• Basic copyediting focuses only on the mechanics—ensuring that grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling are perfect and that any required style guidelines are followed.

• Substantive editing requires more judgment. It can include making improvements in organization, tone, transitions, word choice, and other aspects of writing in order to better communicate with the intended audience.

Some people prefer other terms—line editing, content editing, structural editing, you name it. That’s no problem, as long as we agree on the specific tasks involved. (Read more about levels of editing.)

No matter what level of manuscript editing you request, here’s what you’ll get when I deliver the finished product:

• A manuscript thoroughly edited to your specifications.

• Online editing in Microsoft Word using Track Changes (unless otherwise specified).

• Consistently applied formatting using Microsoft Word styles (or any other style tags or codes that you specify).

• Queries entered as embedded comments, inline, or in a separate document, as you prefer.

• Separate editing notes covering overall issues, if needed.

• A style sheet (word list) showing choices made in spelling, hyphenation, and capitalization.

Other services

In addition to editing book manuscripts, I can provide other types of assistance if needed. Please inquire if you’re interested in any of these services:

• Book proposal writing/consulting—Helping authors prepare a proposal for submission to agents or publishers, including an overview, market analysis, comparison of competitive books, author bio, promotion plan, and chapter summaries.

• Developmental editing—Guiding authors during the writing stage—for example, by suggesting improvements in chapter organization.
  

• Dissertation editing—Improving sentence structure, word choice, paragraph organization, and transitions in a thesis or dissertation.
  

• Business writing and editing—Communicating clearly in reports, letters, and other business documents.

• Business proofreading—Making sure your business documents and marketing materials are letter-perfect.

Working together

How do we get started, and what can you expect during the project? Read on to find out about the process we’ll follow when working together.