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EDITING:
Editing is a very individual and subjective process that varies
with each manuscript, each writer, each editor. My goal will be
to help you polish your manuscript into an interesting,
professional and ultimately saleable book.
Send me a sample of 10 pages of your work and tell me what kind
of editing you're looking for. I will go over the 10 pages and
give you my feedback, assessing how much or how little editing
your work may require. From there, we can decide if we
understand each other and can work together toward the same
goal.
While I will give you suggestions on how you might improve your
manuscript, you are the author and ultimate authority. I will
not change your work without telling you; all my suggestions
will be clearly visible.
My preference is to work on Word documents with track changes
on. This way my suggestions are quickly evident and I can leave
comments when needed. Contact me about other formats.
I used to break my editing fees down by type: Developmental
editing, copyediting and proofreading. Developmental means
looking at the whole book, the story arc, the character
development, the plot points, etc. Copyediting concentrates on
sentence structure, grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation and
continuity. Proofreading is a last read-through to catch any
typos or minor errors. What I found, though, was that if I was
hired to do a proofread and I happened to see some holes in the
plot, some inconsistencies with a character's words or actions,
I could not in good conscience ignore that, and I would let the
author know. What this means is that I do it all, regardless of
what I'm hired for, so I have rolled all editing into one type,
one price. My fee is
$1.00 per 100 words; $50 minimum. (i.e. 50,000 word ms = $500.)
Q: Do you edit all genres?
A: No horror or poetry.
Q: What's your background?
I've been writing, editing and publishing for over 40
years in various formats: books (both fiction and non-fiction),
short stories, newsletters, blogs, and articles. I am a
self-described "grammar and punctuation police" and hunt down
typos with a vengeance. I am a regular contributor to
Indies Unlimited
and strongly recommend the site for aspiring writers. The
archive of articles there is a treasure trove of information.
What others are saying:
"You caught things that got past four other editors!"
"I paid thousands to an editor and you caught many more errors
than she did, plus the ones she added in!"
"Before finding Melissa, I searched a long time
for an editor. I'm so glad I kept searching because she is
definitely a gem. On one level, Melissa is professional and very
knowledgeable about writing and editing, having extensive experience
as an independent author and editor. Yet her approach is friendly
and personal, like talking with a good friend. She makes insightful
and constructive suggestions that take your work to a higher level,
above where you ever thought it could be. She always responds
quickly to any concerns or questions no matter the time or day.
Melissa took my book from bare bones to completed and ready in no
time. She is passionate about writing and editing and it shows. I
would work with her again in a heartbeat."--M.A. E. |
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