Services

Manuscript Evaluation

The purpose of a manuscript evaluation is not to identify errors on a sentence or word level. Instead, it is a broad look at the elements of your story and how they work together. Story elements include:

• Plot
• Point of view
• Characterization
• Voice
• Theme
• Setting
• Narrative structure
• Conflict

This evaluation is meant to trigger a revision of your work. I will point to areas that need strengthening or tightening and offer solutions. With a manuscript evaluation, you will receive an editorial memo, which includes my response to your writing, a critique of the story, and suggestions for revision, citing specific examples from the text. Manuscript evaluations are available for short stories, full-length novels, the first chapter, or a certain number of pages.

Line Editing

Line editing is often the most overlooked form of editing, but it’s one of the most important. Line editors focus on the flow and clarity of the writing. They identify parts that are awkward, confusing, redundant, or inconsistent. While copy editing is concerned with errors on a word and syntax level, line editing is concerned with tone, mood, atmosphere, and emotional impact. The purpose of line editing is to strengthen the author’s voice and style.

Line editors look for:

• Cliché phrases
• Disorganized sentences and paragraphs
• Vague images
• Confusing scenes or shifts in tone or style
• Information or dialogue that is unnecessarily repetitive
• Wordy, passive, and awkward sentences
• Word choice that detracts from the intended meaning or feeling

Copy Editing

Copy editors identify flaws on a technical level. This includes spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax. Copy editors also:

• Ensure adherence to a specific style guide or language variety (American English or British English, for example)
• Maintain consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization
• Check for factually incorrect statements and continuity errors
• Review tables, charts, footnotes, and endnotes

Proofreading

Proofreading is the last step before a piece of writing goes to publication. At this stage, everything should already be edited and formatted the way it will be published. Proofreaders ensure consistency and accuracy in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting. Proofreaders often fix errors that have slipped through the copy edit, or errors that were introduced in the process of modifying the format.