Handing your manuscript to an editor can feel like asking a stranger to do your dentistry. But you know what you’re making better than anyone, and certainly better than me. You just don’t have to do it alone.
Whatever you have, from fiction to non-fiction to academic essays, picture books to romantasy, I’d be honoured to work up a free quote balancing your aims and your budget, then give your work an honest read, provide practical and constructive feedback, and help you bring out its full potential.
My clients range from corporate publishing imprints to individual authors. For corporate clients, this includes Templar Books, Big Picture Press, Hot Key Books, Piccadilly Press, and Oxford University Press. For individual authors and artists, I’ve had the absolute privilege to collaborate on work by such thoroughly talented folk as Gill Arbuthnott, Bethany Christou, Helen Ward, Oliver Gerlach, Niamh Sharkey, Shaun Tan, Paul Thurlby, Jonny Duddle, Jonathan Emmett, Terri Po, Adam Allori, Romolo d’Hipolito, Paul Westmoreland, Harriet Muncaster, Matty Long, Bethany Rutter, Abie Longstaff, and more (including, hopefully, you).
Developmental edit
You’ve got the vision for your project, but the ingredients need something: a bit of chopping and changing, reworking, spinning around. Let’s work the concept together, check the plans, test the boundaries, and clean out where the gears are grinding to get your manuscript racing along. A full report for the basic method, expanding to an ongoing discussion akin to book coaching.
Editorial review
You’ve got a manuscript. Congratulations! But you can’t see the forest for the trees anymore, no matter how long you leave it in your desk (or Desktop). With multiple reads of your manuscript, I’ll write up an in-depth overview of what works, what needs work, and what to do about it. Practical, specific, candid advice and commentary, with action points that you can immediately put to use.
Structural edit
Annotating and reporting on specific and broader areas of structural strength or weakness throughout your manuscript. The bird’s eye view. A medley of notes on the text alongside a structured report.
Line edit
The room is dark. The lamp is in your manuscript’s face. It’s the classic interrogation: who does this word work for? What does it want? What is it planning? Does someone want it dead, or can it offer us something in exchange for protection? Vocabulary, grammar, syntax, voice, sentence length, rhythm, register. A direct mark-up.
Copyedit
Much the same as the line edit, except this one’s more collaborative. With your permission and goal in mind, I’ll be working on your text directly, suggesting rewrites, tracking all changes, and writing up a style guide to keep everything consistent from style to content.
Proofread
The final stage before submission to its intended readership. We’re beyond the deep content now. This is a safety check aimed at text-level errors and dangers: typos, factual inaccuracies, sensitivity concerns, formatting slips, and inconsistencies of all kinds: practical, stylistic, narrative. If you don’t have a style guide for me to work from, I will happily write one up for you here.
Polishing pitches
The spa treatment, plus tailoring and barbering. Let’s polish the concept, check your market research, tie your shoes and brush your hair. I’ll make sure your presentation is up to industry standards, true to intention, and fit for purpose.