services
Line Edits
Line edits
focus on a manuscript at the sentence and paragraph level with the aim of improving your prose and enhancing your craft. These edits address such elements as creative content, writing style, language use, emotion, tone, and clarity of prose. I’ll help you catch crutch words and phrases, make suggestions to improve your use of techniques such as showing versus telling, and offer stronger word/phrase choices to ensure each sentence works as hard as it can.
Unless otherwise specified, my line edits also include copy edits.
Timeline
Line edits should be done after you have worked with a developmental editor and made necessary big picture changes. Line edits are micro edits, so all major story parts need to be in place before we tackle prose.
What to expect
We’ll begin by touching base about the answers on your intake form. To best serve you and your story, it’s important I understand where you’re coming from and where you’re heading, both with your manuscript and as a writer.
Upon completion of revisions, you can expect 3 things:
manuscript markup
Your manuscript will arrive with inline comments and suggested revisions, all in Microsoft Word’s handy ‘track changes’.
editorial letter
This expands on inline manuscript revisions and commentary as needed, highlights overarching areas for improvement (crutch words/phrases, common grammatical errors, etc.), and offers suggestions to level up your prose for future projects.
style sheet
Customized to your manuscript, this includes everything you’ll need to keep track of the specifics that make your story yours: preferred spellings and abbreviations, unique abbreviations and terminology, and character stats and other details, in addition to guidelines and preferences for grammar and punctuation.
I’m always available to answer questions/field ideas as you’re going through your markup – this is a collaborative effort! After you’ve made changes, you may choose to resubmit for a final look, where I’ll ensure nothing’s been missed.
Investment
Investing in your prose is an important step to improving your craft. Line edits are priced at $0.03/word, with the total cost dependent on your manuscript’s word count.
Ready to polish up your prose?
