One of my fiction editing services
What it is
A fiction developmental edit includes an initial round of reading, during which I take careful notes on all the big-picture elements that are helping or hindering your work. That includes attention to character, plot, worldbuilding, narrative flow, pacing, cohesion, voice, and overall satisfaction as a reader. I also consider your specific genre conventions, chosen readership, and your goals for the text, to see if you are on track to successfully meet them.
Then, in a second round of reading, I will go into the text and leave you questions, comments, suggestions, and generative challenges in the margins, to help you along the path to revision. Depending on your preferences, I may also relocate text to fix issues with organization or tweak sentences that are key to your written clarity.
Finally, I will draft an editorial report detailing all my findings and revision suggestions. When appropriate, I also provide a proposed new outline for the text.
When it’s helpful
I most often provide this service to authors who have a rough draft of their whole text–whether that’s an short story, novella, or novel–and are looking for detailed feedback on whether or not that text is working. It can be really hard to tell close up! So, I provide advice on what’s successful, and what could be even more successful with the right tweaks.
However, this service is also useful to folks who are just getting started on something new and looking for generative advice on what to do with their ideas, or for folks who are totally lost somewhere in the midst of their manuscript and looking for a smoother path forward.
How much it costs
$150 + $.03-$.07/wd after 5k words
That range per word reflects the variety of texts I look at, whether or not they use my particular fiction-writing expertise or historical knowledge bases, what shape they’re in, and if I am working double-time as a cultural consultant (sensitivity reader). I also use that range to affect a sliding scale that makes space for writers from traditionally under-represented groups.
Lodestar Editing & Coaching 