Editing

No matter how many times you scrutinize and comb your writing project, you can’t catch every error. That’s why it helps to have a fresh, unbiased set of eyes see your project. There are many different types of editing, so be sure to know what you need before agreeing to pay anyone for an editing service.

What I Do/Do Not Edit

I only edit Christian and/or Clean. Christian means Bible-based. No Evolution, no “all ways lead to Heaven”.

*MPED reserves the right to turn away service for anything going against MPED’s beliefs

I will edit:

  • Essays and articles
  • Blog posts
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Stories of any length
  • Adult, YA, and Children’s
  • Book Proposals

Genres and Subgenres:

  • Historical
  • Romance – contemporary and historical
  • Biblical fiction
  • Suspense
  • Speculative Fiction – fantasy and its subgenres; science fiction and its subgenres; steampunk; supernatural (if approached from a Biblical perspective); and dystopian.
  • Western

Magic is not an issue as long as dark magic and occult are not glorified and presented as good.

What I will not edit:

  • Anything with vampires or zombies.
  • Anything promoting dark magic or occult practices.
  • Erotica
  • Books containing any profanity, anti-gun, pro-choice, and pro-abortion.
  • No promoting Evolution or anti-Biblical values, ideals, and beliefs.
  • Nothing promoting anything Covid related
  • Anything with excessive gore. I don’t mind bloodshed, suffering, and casualties. I do mind detailed descriptions of wounds and dead bodies.

If I agree to edit your work then discover I have been lied to regarding one of the unacceptable elements, I will immediately terminate the edit with no refund. I want to help your book succeed, but please be honest regarding content.

Types of Available Editing

Developmental Editing

This focuses at the broad range, or “big picture” of your writing project.

I look for and at:

  • General plot and character inconsistencies
  • Lagging areas – also known as a stalemate and if your writing is going 15 mph in a 45 mph zone. Basically, if your writing is too slow for the plot.
  • Chapters and paragraphs to see if they’re the right length and location based on the general flow of your story.
  • Flow – I look for potholes and speed bumps in your writing.
  • General syntax and grammar – if you have a pet word or consistently misuse or misunderstand homophones.

Character Formation

This focuses specifically on your main character(s).

I look for:

  • Inconsistency in personality, responses, and actions.

I fine tune:

  • Character weak spots.

Copy Editing

This begins to fine tune your manuscript.

I look for:

  • Grammatical errors.
  • Incorrect punctuation – if you have a Standard comma instead of Oxford, a misplaced apostrophe, double periods, etc.
  • Spelling errors – if you interchangeably use British versus American spellings or just have those typical, unavoidable spelling mistakes.
  • Dialogue tags – if you overuse, underuse, or need more variation.
  • POV/Tense – if you have an incorrect POV or accidentally integrate the incorrect tense. This is most common if you’ve switched your book’s POV/Tense.

Line Editing

Also known as Stylistic Editing. This solely focuses on the flow and content of your prose, ironing out any issues within your characters’ conversations.

I look for:

  • Awkward sentences.
  • Run-on sentences.
  • Sentence fragments needing to become proper sentences.

Proofreading

This is the eagle-eyed inspection, and the last type of edit used before publication. Do not get a proofreading edit if you’ve not had a developmental and copy edit.

I look for:

  • The mistakes that have survived the other editing rounds.

Once again, this is the final edit. If your book is ready for publication, but you want someone to look over your manuscript and catch any slippery mistakes or glitches, you need a proofread edit.

Pricing

Up to 50,000 words: $0.003 a word per edit.

51,000 words and over: $0.002 a word per edit.

Writing Improvement

Does your writing need strengthening? I will look at your manuscript and help you tighten and strengthen your writing. This can include: marking areas of weakness in your writing, helping you show rather than tell, and finding pet/crutch words and phrases.

Pricing:

Up to 50,000 words: $0.004 a word

51,000 words and over: $0.005 a word.