Are you contemplating a memoir, novel, screenplay, thesis, dissertation, guidebook, article, blog, or website?
I can serve as wordsmith to perfect your creation.
Massaging others’ beautiful ideas into clarity, accuracy, and eloquence brings me joy. I am grateful to have this strange and wondrous ability, and I love sharing it. Here’s how the process works.
First, you tell me about your project. If it sounds like a good fit for my skills and availability, you send me a chunk of text for a trial. I do my magic, send it back to you, and tell you how long it took.
After reviewing my suggestions, corrections, comments, and questions, you decide whether my style fits your needs and whether the projected cost (based on the length of the sample, the time I spent on the sample edits, my hourly rate, and the length of the entire opus) fits your budget. This part is free, should we decide not to work together.
Once we have agreed to move forward, we discuss the details: stylistic conventions, handoff schedule, version control, deadlines, cost parameters, and so forth. While my preference is for flexibility, I can work within a tight time line if need be.
For short documents, Google Docs is simple and easy. For longer texts, Word is best. In either case, the process involves an iterative two-way conversation that typically begins with line editing and concludes with proofreading.
I can best assist you when you are getting ready to submit your written work for publication or to self-publish, as my editing superpowers involve the trees rather than the forest. Therefore our work together will flow more efficiently when your project is in a near-final state. A content or developmental editor is a better choice for a manuscript needing revisions that involve tracking plot development or moving chapters around.
I have references. I’m happy to put you in touch with any of them. Just ask.
“Kathryn was my THIRD line editor for my book and by far the best. She caught the 100’s of little items missed by the previous two I had employed. She was thorough, conscious, and made some excellent suggestions for improvement. She was my LAST editor for the book, and I’ve used her several times since for short pieces. When book #2 comes out, she’ll be the person I’ll call”
Line Editing
Line editing occurs at the sentence and paragraph level and focuses on the way the language communicates: Is it clear? Does it flow? Are atmosphere, emotion, and tone appropriate and consistent? Might different words convey a more precise meaning?
Are there redundancies? Stilted, sloppy, or unconvincing dialogue? Absent or awkward transitions? Lost or tangled threads? Irrelevant, distracting, or murky references?
Even the most brilliant and satisfying document typically contains one or more of these at its inception. Even yours …
I will suggest upgrades—in a kind, instructive, and often humorous way—to make your narrative tighter, brighter, and more pleasurable to read. You always have the option to accept, reject, or play with any change I may suggest.
In the end, your creation will sing in its sweetest voice.
Proofreading
The line editing process described above typically involves two or three iterations. Finally, when you are completely satisfied with the integrity of the work, I will polish it to perfection.
Here I’m going after the fine-grained details that may have been overlooked or introduced during the line editing process: errors involving grammar, spelling, punctuation; funky formatting, typos, and graphics that might have strayed from their intended placement.
And the seriously nit picky stuff: Em dashes or commas or parentheses or ellipses? Single or double quotation marks? Italics or regular text? Indent here or not?
To the proofreader—and to a good percentage of your potential readers—these things matter. I will obsess over them so you won’t have to.
The result? A creation you can present to the world with confidence.