Services

Beta Read

You’ve probably had all of your friends and family read your manuscript at this point, dying to get any constructive feedback you can get.

But you’ve realized the type of feedback you have received isn’t the type of feedback you need, even though your family and friends had the best intentions for helping you out with your novel. Or perhaps their eye isn’t quite as trained in the story arts as you need. Regardless, you know your story doesn’t quite feel complete. You need that extra bit of help to get your story ready for a developmental edit.

A great beta read will provide you with criticism on character development, pacing, conflict, plot, hook, and an overall opinion of your book from your reader’s perspective. It will help you tie up loose ends and polish your manuscript.

I will read your novel and provide you with, at minimum, a one-page write-up detailing my thoughts on the novel, identifying major issues and/or concerns with the plot, character development, conflict, etc. I have a ten-question survey I answer as I read through your novel to help me identify any major concerns. This questionnaire is shared with you prior to booking services.

Feedback will be provided within your Microsoft Word document via Comments to point out specific areas that read in a confusing way, major inconsistencies that jump out at me, and any major structural issues that scream at me as a reader.

Please note that this service does not replace any stage of the editing process. An actual edit will dive into these issues fully, at length, and at a higher level of detail. However, a beta reader can assist with bringing your novel to completion. This means that your beta read could help lessen issues for your developmental editor to have to correct later, which could potentially help you save on editing costs later.

Book Blurb Critique & Edit

You may be trying to cut costs on editorial services. But your book blurb is the one place you should not cut costs. Your blurb is what is going to capture your reader’s attention and inspire them to actually buy your book, take it home, and read it.

For this service, I provide an overall critique to assist you in building a blurb that portrays your story in the best way possible while leaving the reader hooked and anxious to read more. In addition to a critique, the blurb will also be copyedited to ensure correct grammar and easy readability. This service includes two passes between editor and author to ensure the blurb ends up where you want it.

Line Edit

A line edit focuses on the style and structure of paragraphs and sentences. This edit will go line-by-line through your manuscript to ensure the language is sharp and clear for your reader to have the best reading experience possible. Word choice and syntax will be analyzed to make sure they contribute to the overall emotion and tone of the manuscript while maintaining the integrity of the author’s voice.

All changes will be made in a Microsoft Word document via the Track Changes feature. Comments will also be left throughout the manuscript to target pain points and query the author for suggestions and rephrasing for clarity.

This service does not include developmental comments and/or suggestions.

Copy Edit

A copy edit ensures all mechanical matters—spelling, capitalization, hyphenation, punctuation, treatment of numbers, etc.—are consistent and used correctly.

The storyline and details will be reviewed throughout the edit to ensure consistency in details and timelines. All changes will be made in a Microsoft Word document via the Track Changes feature. Comments will also be left throughout the manuscript to target pain points and query the author for suggestions and inquiries.

This service does not include developmental comments and/or suggestions.

A proofread is the service you are seeking if you are looking for that final read through to ensure the manuscript is free of grammatical errors. Proofreading is typically the last stage of the editing process and assists in ensuring the document is free of errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Your chances of avoiding the slush pile at the literary agency are slim to none if you have a query letter riddled with errors. It’s also not helpful to leave the agent wondering about the critical elements of your query.

This service consists of a thorough review and edit of your query letter to ensure it is structured well and contains the details needed by literary agents to understand your submission.

The option to upgrade your service to include a synopsis and chapter edit—based on what the agency requires—are available.