The Process
Ready to jump in? Here's how to start.
If you think I might be a good fit for your story, this is how to get on my schedule. I know it looks like a lot, but I promise it's easy.
Here are the basic steps:
Contract, Deposit, & Onboarding
Get In Touch
Using either the Contact Me page OR any of the Contact forms at the end of each page, shoot me an email and tell me about your project and its needs. I will then email you back within 48 hours to give you a pre-project questionnaire, talk about schedules, and request a full copy of your manuscript as a Word document. Then I will set about creating a sample edit for you.
Sample Edit
Once I receive your manuscript, I will do a sample edit of the first 15-20 pages of your novel. The sample edit and a short memo letter will be returned to you within 7-10 business days of manuscript receipt.
Once you receive the sample edit and memo letter, review it carefully - it's a snapshot of my editing style and voice and what it will be like to work with me. If the spark's not there, then no worries! Receiving a sample edit, memo, or quote from me is not binding in any way.
But if you feel that I connected with you and your work, that I understand your vision and direction, then I'm the editor for you.
Contract, Deposit,
& Onboarding
If you decide that I'm the right editor for you, then I will send you a Letter of Agreement that defines my schedule, the services and deliverables you will receive from me, my fee and payment schedule, and your rights as an author during this process.
Once the Letter of Agreement is in order, you sign and return it to me with your down payment that secures your place in my schedule. After that, I will contact you to schedule a free video conference as part of the onboarding process to talk about your project in more detail and give you the opportunity to ask me any questions.
First Read
Once your scheduled slot arrives, I get to work! I read your manuscript at least twice (probably more); get invested in your plot, characters, setting, world, and ideas; and start making edits using comment bubbles and the Track Changes features in Word.
Using these edits and my knowledge of your vision and intentions for your story, I will start drafting your other deliverables, like the editorial letter, cover letter, book map, etc., depending on the services I'm providing.
Post-Edit Consultation
(optional)
This step is only available to those receiving a Developmental Edit or Manuscript Evaluation
After my first read, I will contact you about setting up a post-edit consultation. This will ensure that the direction of my edits will fit both your vision and objectives for publishing.
This contact would be either a phone call or Zoom meeting where I can ask you follow-up questions about your novel, now that I've had a chance to read it in its entirety.
This consultation is optional, but highly recommended as it's a step that I take to make sure my edits are as closely tailored to your vision, ideas, and goals as possible.
Second Read(s) &
Delivery
Once we've consulted, I prepare your deliverables and give everything to you via email in a nice, neat package - all meant to guide you through the dark, dense woods that is the revisions process and towards the light.
The final payment is due upon delivery of your package's deliverables.
Email Support (optional)
After I've delivered my edits to you, you start your revisions. But revisions, even for experienced authors, can quickly become fiddly, tedious, frustrating, confusing, overwhelming, exhausting, or all of the above. It can make you want to give up entirely - but you aren't alone during your revisions process.
With email support, you can send me questions, frustrations, confusions, anything that comes to mind - and I will respond within 48 hours with encouragement, resources, ideas, examples, and other helpful tools to help you along your journey.
After receiving a Developmental Edit or Manuscript Evaluation from me, you are entitled to a certain number of hours of email support. Additional hours outside of the included amount will be billed separately at my rate of $60/hour.
Interested?
Contact me for a free sample edit!
