“The old man found that the large, colorful fairytales heated the small house best overnight; their heat reached almost to the back of the kitchen. Books of verse worked well during the day.” – Eliza’s Forever Trees, by Stephanie Lisa Tara, winner of the Gold Mom’s Choice Award. 

What is book editing or book development?  As an editor, I read for line errors including spelling, grammar, punctuation, or facts. I also advise on structure, plot, characters, dialogue, and edit for style and consistency, ensuring a high standard of quality. If asked, I look at the book’s potential to be sold to a literary agent, whose job is to sell your book to a traditional publishing house.

Books, no matter their genre or publishing method, must be easy to read and understand, and appeal to their target audience. An editor also needs an excellent understanding of the publishing industry, including knowledge of why books sell, what’s selling now, and what will be selling in two years.

Some of the authors I have worked with have found success with self-publishing, or found a literary agent, while others have won national awards for their books.

I specialise in book development services.  I often perform more than one, or all, of the services below for my clients when editing their books:

• Critiques – I read your work, and give you a constructive written assessment, including advice about re-drafting, characters, description, world-building, genre / category and marketability.
• Content editing – I advise you on, and edit for, plot / character development and structure, including: genre-appropriate language; style; character dialogue and actions; description; and world-building. I make sure you have a sellable and plausible plot and characters, and that your dialogue makes sense. Please note, this does not include line-by-line editing.
• Copy editing – fact-checking content and ensuring consistency of style.
• Line editing – this is the final editing stage, checking line-by-line for style, consistency, grammar, punctuation and spelling, to ensure a high standard of quality.
• Querying – If you are interested in traditional publishing, I can assist with querying literary agents, who negotiate with publishers on your behalf, to sell your book.  I also recommend literary agents.
• Writing coach – I can help you by providing encouragement and advice throughout the writing process.

Every writer needs a cheerleader, who will keep them going when there’s no end in sight, and the words aren’t good enough. I work with authors who are traditionally published, authors who want to be traditionally published, and authors who wish to self-publish.