Are you looking for some fiction editing or consulting help? If so, step into my office.
Please see below for general info regarding my services, and if you’re interested in discussing your specific needs, please contact me with some details about your project and the kind of help you’re looking for. I’m always happy to make custom arrangements to suit individual needs.
Services
Manuscript Evaluation (Beta Reading)
Your manuscript is somewhat amorphous, like a cosmic body that hasn’t fully formed. So, Major Tom to ground control, I’ll look at your manuscript from orbit. With line comments and a comprehensive letter on strengths and weaknesses, I can offer creative feedback to help you move forward to the next draft. No edits here, my approach to feedback is to be constructive and encouraging so that you continue to move forward with a sense of hope. I won’t coddle you, but I will respect you. This will be akin to a workshop response from a teacher. Expect creative consultation to lead to revision or rewrites.
Short Story (up to 7,500 words): $60 flat
Full-Length Manuscript: $500 flat up to 70k words, $.01/word thereafter
Developmental Editing
The big picture of your manuscript is complete, but you’re not sure what’s refined and what’s still a little blurry. I’ll take to the skies with an aerial view, even swooping down to dust some crops while I’m at it (you’re welcome). In a developmental edit, I consider none of your words etched in stone, and I look at both the mechanical and the creative for the most comprehensive read I offer. In addition to tightening the screws on your prose, I’ll consider character, plot, theme, world building, narrative modalities, structure, form, and all of the other conceptual fiction elements. Expect developmental edits to lead to edits and revision.
Short Story (up to 7,500 words): $180 flat
Full-Length Manuscript: $1,000 flat up to 70k words, $.03/word thereafter
Copy Editing
Your manuscript is mostly put together but still a little rough around the edges. By setting my boots on the ground, I can help you smooth those sharp corners out so they won’t cut anyone, and I’ll even put on a few coats of wax for that enviable shine. In a copy edit, I will look at your manuscript on the word, sentence, and paragraph levels, editing for clarity, readability, word choice, syntax, tone, audience appropriateness, and more. I’ll sort out all of those pesky errors and lapses in focus or style that you’ll thank me for, but I also will make suggestions for optimizing your prose. Expect copy editing to prepare your manuscript for proofreading.
Short Story (up to 7,500 words): $120 flat
Full-Length Manuscript: $750 flat up to 70k words, $.02/word thereafter
Face-to-Face Debrief
If you wish to talk about your work in general or after receiving my written edits or feedback, we can meet by Zoom or another video conferencing platform of your choice. The goal of a face-to-face debrief is to reach an understanding of how to move forward with your manuscript. Also, in these times where remote work is more the norm, friendly human contact is always a good thing.
Add-on: $50/hour
Standalone: $80/hour
Why Me?
Before earning my MFA in creative writing from George Mason University, I worked as a professional magazine and website editor and writer for 13 years. I have undergraduate classroom and one-on-one teaching experience in fiction writing, intro to creative writing, literature, and first-year composition. My published work includes the novels The Pillars of Dawn and Carrier as well as short fiction from Gamut, Haven Speculative, Deracine Magazine, Crystal Lake Publishing, and Inked in Gray Press. I was editor-in-chief of Phoebe Journal of Literature and Art, and I was a fellow at the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center. My fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Award, and I won the 2023 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Short Story Contest.
I also am easy to work with, considerate, and professional without being bland and stuffy. You can expect prompt responses and clear communication. With me, you’ll never wonder when or if you’ll hear back, and you’ll be consistently apprised of your project’s progress toward deadlines and due dates you can depend on.
Furthermore, I know what it means to work in a creative environment on a project one party has more personal investment in, and I know the anxiety of sharing creative work. If we work on your project together, I will respect it and conduct myself with the sensitivity every artistic creator deserves. I will handle your work with the care I know you approach it with. As your editor, I will seek to know you as well as your project so I can help you reach that next level of potential.
Ready to Get to Work?
If you’re interested in working with me in an editorial capacity on your project, please contact me with some details about your project and what you’re looking for in an editor. If you identify as a marginalized, underserved, or historically oppressed person, please ask about discounted rates.
* Rates are for independent writers. Publishing companies, businesses, and corporations, please inquire for rates.