Editorial Services
How Can I Help?
During my 25-year career as an editor, I've worked on pretty much every type of document there is. I enjoy editing everything, but I really want your fiction — novels and short stories and everything in between! My Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing teachers provided me with great tools that have made me a better writer, and I'd like to use them to help you improve your fiction, too — whether it's at the plot, structure, and characterization level, or cleaning up spelling, grammar, and style.
I can also edit your fiction-related elements: synopsis, query letter, blurb, web copy, or outline. (Need any of these written before you self-publish, or submit to agents or publishers? Visit the Query Letters & Blurbs page and let me help you sell that novel!)
I provide clean, clear copy, fast, to give you peace of mind. And if I'm not the right editor for you, I'll try to suggest someone in my editing network who is.
Levels of Editing
Before you get in touch, ask yourself what level of edit you need:
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Manuscript Evaluation: Notes on the "big picture"; advice on strengthening your novel's plot, characterization, dialogue, and structure. Great for early drafts!
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Line-Editing: The nitty-gritty. You're happy with your novel or short story's content (plot, characterization, structure) but need the mechanics checked, before you self-publish or submit to an agent, publisher, or literary journal. I'll review the punctuation, grammar, spelling, and formatting, to ensure all these elements are correct and consistent throughout. I'll also look at style, suggesting changes to any awkward phrasing to ensure the language reads as smoothly as possible, without changing your voice.
Free Sample Edits, and Rates
I offer free sample edits, so you can "try before you buy": I'll edit 5 pages (or 1,500 words) of a book-length manuscript, and 500 words for shorter documents, just to give you an idea of my editing style and to help me come up with a price quote for you.
My rates are in accordance with the guidelines of the Editors' Association of Canada and the Editorial Freelancers Association, both of which I'm a member. To give you an idea of what to expect, the Editorial Freelancers' Association provides a handy rate guide.
Areas of Specialization
General fiction, literary fiction, science fiction, thrillers, romance fiction, fantasy, screenplay, software engineering (network engineering), artificial intelligence, music, mining, geology, ophthalmology, public health.