I’m an experienced writer and editor of nearly two decades. I hold an MA in Creative Writing (Master of Letters) from the University of Glasgow. My focus is always on quality, and once I get started on a project, I dig in deep. My main genres are science fiction and fantasy, and I happy to tailor my edit to what you, the client, need. Content, copy, or a proofread, I will always go in depth, and return quality results.
I edit at all lengths, from 1000-word short stories to epic novels of 500 pages.
My fees are very reasonable. A critique of a 2500 word short story, for example, would come in at $37.50, and I will give you an accurate estimate for turnaround time. For a 2500 word short story, this might be 1-2 days, although it depends on the complexity of the work.
Below, you will find a detailed layout of which services I offer, and my prices for these services.
BASIC CRITIQUES // BETA-READS
In a critique or beta-read, I will look at your characters, your plot, the structure of your story, and the consistency of your style. I will look at content, rather than the grammar or spelling or other copy-edit aspects, and suggest areas for development. I will let you know what you’re doing well and how to improve on it, as well as pointing out where your story, your characters, your pacing or style, need to be looked at again.
A critique/beta-read costs $0.015 per word.
You will receive an editorial letter of all the major points that need to be worked on and the elements that you’ve done well. There will be some suggestions for improvements to kickstart your eventual edit. An edit of this kind usually takes 3 days to 2 weeks, after which you will get a report of 1000-3000 pages. I am always available for follow-up questions.
PROOFREAD // COPY-EDIT
At the proofreading/copy-editing stage, I will assume your manuscript is as good as you can make it in terms of story, characters, plot, pacing, and consistency of style. In a proofread/copy-edit, my focus will primarily be on grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice, and typographical errors. This is pretty much the last step before your manuscript is either sent off to to a publisher, or you publish it yourself. It’s ironing out the last chinks and making the manuscript presentable to your readers.
A proofread comes in at $0.5 per word up to 10,000 words, and at $30 + $0.7 per word if your story is longer than 10,000 words.
A proofread usually takes about 1-3 weeks. I will make the changes directly in your manuscript (so keep an original copy!) with tracking on. This means you can simply accept or reject the changes I’ve made in the document.
DEVELOPMENTAL EDIT
This is a story element heavy edit, in which I will look at everything from the basic critique (characters, plot, structure, pacing, style) in more detail and suggest changes to improve aspects such as a scene’s emotional impact, the main theme of your book, and overall consistency of the book’s internal logic (in a science fiction setting, this might be consistency of available technology, in a fantasy book, this can be consistency of a magic system, however, it is not limited to either, as I will be looking at every aspect of your book except grammar and spelling-related issues in this kind of edit). I will guide you through the process of finding solutions to narrative hairballs, enhancing what you have done well, identifying and solving inconsistencies, and working on your story’s structure (for example, by identifying and ironing out plot holes). I will help you develop your characters, their back stories, and the pacing of your story. I will identify where the story sags (usually this happens in the dreaded middle) and suggest how to fix it. I will get deep into the weeds and rip them out at the root, helping you seed and grow beautiful roses in their stead.
Essentially, a development edit is similar to a content edit // proofread, but in much more detail. You will receive a report of about 2000-7000 words, depending on the length of your story.
As this is the most in depth edit, I will also be available as your sounding board for follow-up questions, and to bounce any ideas you have back and forth. I will suggest detailed questions that’ll help you improve the logic of your setting, your characters, and the plot. I will guide you towards refining your book into the vision you had when you started. I will always be available and aim to respond within a day to any follow-up queries you might have.
A development edit costs $50 + $1.5 cents per word. The turnaround time depends heavily on the size of your manuscript, however, it will usually not exceed 4 weeks, unless you send me an epic fantasy doorstopper of 200,000+ words!
HEAVY, HEAVY EDIT // APPROACHING GHOST-WRITE
I wasn’t entirely sure what exactly to call this edit, however, it is also something I offer. The heavy, heavy edit or the approaching ghost-write is an edit where I take your story and make changes directly on the page. I’ll touch up your characterization, fix holes in your plot, add description where necessary, and bridge (write) whole chunks of setting, character, and other aspects that need improvement. I will generally do all the things you don’t want to do, or that you ask me to do, to improve your manuscript.
This is as close to a ghost-write as it gets, and I will draw on my experience of writing several dozens of novels and hundreds of short stories throughout. I am always available for your feedback, as well as your ideas on what you’d like to see in the manuscript. In this type of edit, we will work together closely to tailor your book to become exactly what you want it to be. Initially, this will require some trust between both parties, and your job will be to read the samples I send you to see if our styles match, and you like what I am doing for your manuscript.
The prices for this vary greatly, as some manuscripts require more work than others, however, they will always start with a project fee of $150 for works longer than 5,000 words. Under 5000 words, it will be $1.5 cents per word.
Not sure what you need? Send me a message, and we’ll figure it out! CONTACT: https://abysspublishing.com/contact/